Page 10 of Maleen

Aemon’s amusement seeps through our bond as he listens to me communicate with my bonded, but he doesn’t say a thing, comforting me with his steady presence.

Once my thoughts are a bit more in order, I reach towards Jesper. “Jesp?”

He comes through at once. “Beastie! Are you okay? Your emotions have been all over the place but I didn’t want to bug you. Do I need to kill someone for you? How’s your mother?”

I take a deep breath, focusing on the bookshelves lining the wall of Aemon’s office. The books sitting on the shelf, covered in a small coating of dust, seem to be law books and other tomes that would hold information needed to run a province. “That’s actually part of the reason I’m reaching out.” His warmth instantly wraps around me through the bond. “Could you grab Killian and the others and meet us in Aemon’s office?”

“Of course! I’ll be there faster than you can gut someone with two short blades.”

My hand finds Nero, a habit from forever ago, and I stroke his inky black feathers. I move over to the shelves I was peering at, feeling Aemon’s eyes on me as I search around.

“Sorry about the dust. I haven’t had much need for this space lately, and I don’t like the staff coming in here. It was the only place that I could escape everything else before you got here,” he says, coming up behind me.

“You don’t need to apologize for the upkeep. Things have been…hectic.” I move slowly as I turn towards him. The day isn’t even half done and exhaustion is setting into my bones already. “So this is your office?”

“The one and only.” He smirks.

The door bursts open and Jesper comes running in, panting. “My Beastie!” Pant. “I’ve missed you!” Pant. “Fuck, I hate those stairs.”

I smother a laugh with my hand and try to push the guilt away for feeling any kind of joy. Honestly, I just want to sit down and curl into a ball. My limbs feel weaker than normal, like I felt before all the training after I got here.

Jesper tsks, swooping me up into his arms. “Let me be your moving chair. Then if you still feel tired after, we can sneak off for a nap.” His lips brush against my ear and a shiver rolls up my spine as he whispers. “Don’t let the darkness in this realm steal the joy from you. It’s okay to grieve, but the ones you love wouldn’t want you to wallow in sadness.”

I nod, leaning into him.

He sets me down in Aemon’s chair, causing my mate to raise his brows. “You’re lucky she’s my mate, Jesper. No one’s ass should be in that chair but my own. It’s a good thing her ass is one of the many things I love about her.”

Killian, Ember, Roz and Lennox all file in next. Once everyone is settled around the room, I take a steadying breath before filling them all in on everything we learned from my mother. But the drain that I feel reminds me of the ache, deep in my bones, from before arriving here in Vathia, after I left Phixmery.

The moment I finish, the air is a charged stillness, filled with their shock and confusion.

Ember holds up a hand while she gathers her thoughts before blurting out, “So Cynder isn’t Talyn’s sister, she’s yours? Are you going to tell him?” She glances at the others before settling her gaze back on me.

My body seeps deeper into Jesper. “Yes, I’m not going to hide anything from him, but I also want to speak with Cynder first.”

She nods, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

Jesper’s arms squeeze me lightly. “So all of this… The war, killing of the Gallalous bloodline… Everything was because Talyn’s father is a jealous bastard?”

“So it seems,” I sigh, the weariness somehow getting worse. “I’m sorry everyone. After everything today, I feel like I need to rest. We can come up with a plan of attack tomorrow. I think it is wise that we all digest this information anyway…” My thoughts fall away, drifting towards my mate in the dungeon. “Can someone check on Talyn and make sure he’s comfortable?”

Lennox nods. “We got you Rav. Go get some rest while we still can. I don’t think we will have much of it once we have a plan in motion,” he states gruffly before leaving the office like his ass is on fire.

He’s always been a bit on the stoic side, but since Mel… It’s been understandably worse, and we will need to keep an eye on him. Losing anyone, especially a twin, the other half of your soul—I can’t imagine what that must feel like.

Killian watches me as my friends file out of the office with murmured goodbyes, but it’s almost as if he sees right through me. The mark on my side burns with our unfinished bond but he’s made it clear he has no intention of completing it out of fear he will hurt me. But I have patience. The energy between us burns, and I can only hope that with some more time he will trust himself enough to let himself love me like the Fates have written in the stars. After a moment he nods towards Aemon and leaves the room.

And then there were two—Aemon and Jesper.

Nero hops along the desk towards me. “Rav, are you sure you’re okay? You feel… off.”

I dip my head. “I’m okay. Why don’t you hunt around the grounds and keep an eye on things while I take a nap.”

Jesper kisses my cheek. “Come on Beastie, I think your bed is calling our name.”

“Oh, before you go,” Aemon moves towards the desk, opening a drawer. “I thought you might want this back. If not, that’s okay.” He pulls out the necklace his mother removed from my neck when I first arrived here.

I hold out my hand and the pendant hits my skin first like a lead weight before the chain follows. The sapphire jewel lays heavy on my palm, as if it’s almost pulsing while the silver of the intricate flowers shimmer in the light. I swallow, placing it in the pocket of my tunic. “Thank you.”