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“Constant danger lurks in the Darkage. You will return to your kingdom and complete the honor bargain.”
He said nothing of them together. Unease slinked through her. “How will I see you?”
He grew distant. “You are my leika wherever you are. I will come for you when the danger passes.”
Saieke’s heart pounded. “When I return you simply cannot ‘come for me’ Drac,” she said. “I am the heir to my throne.”
Do you want me to relinquish you?
The king of all help her, but she did not. It was…dangerous, but she wanted him. No
He smiled and it was such a beautiful sight.
“There are many that yearn to find a mate. I did not. I understood the beast within us allowed us to mate for life, yet it was not a concept that consumed me like it did others. I hated the very idea of having a mate that could be used to manipulate me. It would be inevitable for me to love her. And if she died…I would become a monster. I could have lost you today…and I would have slaughtered all who played a role. But I do not think I would have lost control as my brother did. My brother had not bonded with his beast when he lost his mate, but I have. I have a deeper understating with my demon…camaraderie if you will. Whether you are a Darkan or Borean…I want you. You are something I could never have dreamed. I’ve found you, and I am never letting you go. You are the Princess of Boreas, but you are also mine. I will come for you when the turmoil of the realms lessens,” he said with finality in his voice.
That could be years. The second Great War lasted for fifteen years.
Yes
Pain sliced deep. I see
You are hunted…and the safest place for you is your kingdom. You were only harmed after you left its protective walls. It is more dangerous for you here. While I believe in my will to suppress my demon if serious harm befalls you…I do not want to tempt it. At your castle, your Queen’s blades will surround you…a shield of protection. In the Darkage, I cannot tell who our enemies are. The elder who attacked you was a trusted council member.
She shifted in his lap as the implication of danger lurking in the Darkage settled inside her. Danger to him would be something unimaginable to her, yet she’d always felt the dark kingdom was death waiting to happen. I had no intention of abandoning my realm.
He kissed the corner of her lips. “I know…but I will not have you visit either until the threat has passed.”
“That could be dozens of years.”
Yes.
She closed her eyes. Do you know why I am hunted?
The Mevians attacked you to prevent your marriage to the Nurian king. The emperor intended to marry you himself. If that proved impossible, your death would have sufficed.
She let out a startled laugh that choked off. “You are jesting!”
She remembered the attack on her way to the gateway and how they had held themselves back from hurting her. Then the sudden shift to kill her in the dark forest when they thought they would have lost her. “I am a royal,” she breathed. “To kill me would incite war.”
“Your kingdom is without alliance or allegiance. Your people would only receive death.”
Her soul shook at his words. Her father, the king had desperately wanted an allegiance because he saw weakness where she did not. Yet, if a nation as powerful as Mevia were to declare war with Boreas, they would be in desperate need of an alliance to even resist. She flinched at the implications of her actions for her kingdom. She leapt off his lap and paced. “There is no reason for war; the seven kingdoms have been at peace since the last Great War. My father spoke of rumors of war and that we needed to position ourselves strategically, but I never imagined a nation would simply declare war on us!” she cried raggedly. “We no longer live in dark times. Why would there even be rumors of war?”
She raked her fingers through her mass of hair. “My father all but sold me to the Nurian king. When I pressed him, he simply said we needed an allegiance. Why not make me privy to the happenings of the court and nations so I could make more informed decisions!” she yelled in the room in rage.
Drac observed her pacing form and felt satisfa
ction she was fully healed. She worried for naught. She was his mate, and anything that concerned her was also his concern. Whether or not Boreas had an alliance or allegiance with the Darkage, to attack his mate would be an attack on him and the Darkage.
If she were a Darkan, she would have been made fully aware of the threats and intrigue that surrounded their kingdom, instead of being cosseted. She was so much in the dark about the webs and deceptions within the seven realms to even ponder why anyone would incite conflict with her kingdom. Mevia could simply decide to take and plunder, and war would be declared. Without an alliance or allegiance, one kingdom could be ravaged and consumed by another.
“I will have to make my parents aware of why I was attacked so we can prepare ourselves.” Saieke hesitated. “Is it possible they would have been aware and not informed me?” she asked tremulously.
“It is possible. Your lieges seem more of a mind to protect you than to inform you.”
She now wondered if she had done the right thing in fleeing. Yet, to not have known Drac was an unbearable thought. “Did I do the right thing in fleeing?”
She tilted her head as he appeared in front of her.
