Gods, how had that only been a day ago?
“She’s getting some rest, which is much needed for all of us, but I wanted to come in here to say thank you and to apologize,” I answered.
His brows flew up his forehead. “You want to apologize? Why?”
“I never should’ve asked you to leave last night. I wasn’t aware of your skill set in battle, yet I was pleasantly surprised when I saw you out there holding your own. Also, for involving you in my lie to her. I never should’ve done that or felt the need to in the first place, but I also shouldn’t have involved you or anyone else, for that matter.”
He blinked at me. “It’s okay.” His words were barely a whisper.
I let out a chuckle. “Actually, it’s not. I came here to let you know that I’m aware of that, and I truly am sorry for it.” I crossed my arms and nodded to the door behind me with my chin. “She was very worried about you, but she’ll be pleased to see you’re already well enough to talk.”
His gaze narrowed on me, meeting my own with a bit of fire in his eyes. “I told you to make me useful. I meant that.”
I smiled. “You’re a good soldier, Landon.”
I turned to walk out the door when I heard Finnian step toward me as he said, “Avery told us that you came back here before leaving once more. What happened where you all went today? Did you attack them?”
I halted in the doorway and barely threw him a look over my shoulder. “Your sister will need to be the one to tell you all of that.”
I quietly moved down the hall once I clicked their door shut behind me and peeked through the crack of the one that led to the bathing chamber down the hall.
Lia was lying in the bath, surrounded by the bubbles that she loved so much, as her arms were stretched out and draped over the edge of the tub.
I pushed the door open with my boot and watched a smile form as she lifted her head to me.
“Hi,” she greeted, voice raspy yet filled with mirth. She sucked in the swell of her bottom lip and held it between her teeth as she stared at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked gently.
Her smile dropped, and her lips pressed into a tight line. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, but I know lyingto you will do neither of us any good. Stupid mating bond,” she huffed jokingly. “I just want to focus on today’s victory.”
“Of course, my Lia.”
Her smile returned at the use of my name for her. “Not sure if you noticed, but I’m no longer covered in the carnage of battle,” she taunted as she motioned to her body hidden beneath the water.
“Oh, I noticed,” I answered as I quickly kicked the door shut and moved toward the tub. “Please allow me to be of use to you. A distraction, if you will.” I winked.
Her giggles echoed and bounced off the walls of the bathing chamber as I jumped into the tub with her, not even bothering to remove my clothes, and then claimed her mouth with mine.
Chapter nine
The Queen
My entire world hadsuddenly been ripped from beneath my feet, and an ear-shattering scream of agony tore through my throat as the unbearable sensation of hollowness flooded me.
My body shrank against the wall of my bedroom chambers as I desperately pulled on the tether, the bond that tied our very souls together, to be met withnothing. There was nothing and no one on the other end of the line that I had become so dependent on since I was just seventeen years of age.
Tears rushed down my flushed cheeks as pain, mighty and unfaltering, erupted through my chest, echoing through every vein as our bond was severed. The world around me instantly lost its vibrancy; the colors of my vision dulled as the realization slammed into me that Callius was truly gone.
Every corner of the castle would now forever echo with his absence. His booming laughter that we only shared in the privacy of my chambers late in the evenings for all these centuries. His constant presence at my back to make sure I was always safe and the comforting rhythm ofhis breathing as we slept together in secret for nearly the entirety of our lives.
Suffocating loneliness enveloped me. My gaze wandered up to the empty space in my bed, which would now indefinitely remain vast and cold, a constant reminder of what I'd lost—my mate. His scent lingered in the chamber, and I found myself desperately searching for any piece of him, clutching them tightly in the need to capture his essence.
My grief was relentless, swarming through me like a sudden, violent storm. The weight of the realm and my father’s ancient vision forcefully pressed down on my chest, making me desperate for air that refused to inflate my lungs.
I had shared every aspect of my life with Callius, and now the void of losing him was nothing but a deep, gaping hole in what was left of my decaying heart.
I reluctantly pulled myself to my feet and straightened my gown as I wandered over to my vanity’s mirror. I gazed into my own eyes, once pools of warm honey, now darkened by all-consuming rage and grief. Grief for the life I could’ve had if I had been permitted to.
