The weight disappeared from her shoulders.The invisible chain that had choked her since she first saw the Imperial crest on her comm vanished.The title of Empress, the suffocating dresses, the sneering aristocracy...Gone.All of it, just like that.
She sucked in a massive gulp of the sterile air, blinking back the sudden, hot sting of tears.She belonged to herself again.Or she did, until she looked up at the huge male crushing her against his chest as if he’d wage war on anyone who tried to take her.
She didn’t want to belong just to herself.Not anymore.
Daaynal’s voice didn’t give them a single second to process it.“Isan.Bond them.Now.”
Her head snapped up.Raaevik stiffened, his head lifting as he glared at the camera.
“The Council will use this.They will spin this somehow...as a weapon launched against the throne by humanity, and they will demand her execution for treason,” Daaynal continued, his voice hard.“So we deal with that now.She is a bio-weapon, yes, but if she is bonded to an Izaean, she falls under different jurisdictional laws.They touch her, they declare war on Izaea.”
A grin cracked Daaynal's face, sharp and wolfish.Nothing atalllike the polished diplomatic smiles she'd seen him deploy in court."And if they want to wage war on Izaea, they have my personal blessing to try."
Isan blinked.Then the corner of his mouth pulled up in a grin that transformed his entire face, and her stomach dropped.She'dseenthat grin.The angle of it.The way it sharpened the eyes.The absolute confidence that the person wearing it could back up whatever threat came next.But not on Isan....on Daaynal.
Oh.Oh, shit.
"It would be the last thing they ever did."Isan's grin didn't fade."And my fatherhasbeen getting a little bored."
Daaynal nodded once, something like satisfaction settling in his expression.He stepped back from the glass."Bond them.Now."
Turning away from the camera, Isan reached for a medical dispenser built into the wall of the bio-pod.With a sharp yank, he pulled a length of sterile gauze free, the metallic rip echoing loudly in the small space.He held the white strip of fabric in his scarred hands, testing the tensile strength.
This wasn't exactly the wedding she'd imagined as a little girl.No church, no flowers, no white dress.
She didn't care.
But Raaevik hadn't been asked.Daaynal had ordered it, and Isan was already reaching for something to use as a bonding sash, and nobody had thought to check with the seven-foot warrior who'd just torn apart a room to reach her if he actuallywantedthis.
She turned to Raaevik."Hey."She waited until his eyes found hers."Do you want this?Because if you don't?—"
He hauled her against him so hard the breath left her lungs.
"Abso-draanthing-lutely."
“Raaevik,” Isan prompted softly.
Stepping back, Raaevik dropped to his knees.He looked like hell...hair wild around his shoulders, bare-chested, with a thick black scar over his heart.She bit back a wince.She could see he was done; pushed past every limit and running on stubbornness alone.
He held out his hand, waiting for hers.With defenses stripped away, his eyes met hers in a clear offering.
He hadn’t said the words, but he didn’t need to.It was written right there on his face.
She dropped to her knees as well.The hard floor bit into her knees, but she didn’t care...didn’t hesitate.
Reaching out, she put her hand in his.His fingers closed around hers.Warm and rough and shaking, just a little.
Isan stepped in tight beside them.He looped the sterile white medical gauze around their joined wrists, pulling the fabric taut.
"Blood calls to blood and soul to soul," Isan said, his voice dropping into something formal and heavy that made the words sound older than the man speaking them."Soul calls to skin, woman to man, binding the halves of a whole together for all eternity."
He looked at her."Emily Evans, do you take this warrior to bond-mate?To support and honour him for the rest of your life?"
She didn't blink.Didn't hesitate.
"I do."
Isan turned to Raaevik."Raaevik K'Vass.Do you take this woman to bond-mate?To protect her and honour her for the rest of your life?"
"I do."Low and certain.His gaze locked with hers.
Isan's voice became more formal."Then, as Prince of the Lathar, I bless your bonding.May it bring much solace and be fruitful."
She smiled up at Raaevik."You're stuck with me now, asshole."
Raaevik’s lips quirked, and then a smile broke across his face, a real one.Leaning forward, he buried his face in the crook of her neck, his arms wrapping around her like she was the only anchor keeping him tethered to the ground.
“Isan, get them out of here.”Daaynal’s voice cut through the air like a blade.“Get them to Parac’Norr.”
