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10
Khala
"Aren't you?" I asked back. "What was I expecting?"
"Knowing Ryzellius, a power hungry asshole. Which is relatively accurate. But no more than he is. No more than any other High Lord. Most of us inherit the role, but there are always those who seek to take it from us. If the Fae are good at anything, it's biding our time. There are plots which will have been bubbling for decades. Centuries. Sometimes planning, sometimes just passing the time. Boredom can be a side effect of living so long. Some have nothing else to do but plot in the shadows. Once in a while, they'll appear and act. It makes things interesting for a while. Then they disappear again. Back into hiding, or defeated."
"Sometimes it results in war," I said. Ryze had remarked multiple times that all he wanted to do was avoid that happening again. He seemed so sure Cavan was pushing in that direction. Or maybe he just wanted me to think that.
"Sometimes war is inevitable," Cavan said.
"Nothing is inevitable," I said.
"It might seem that way when you're as young as you are. When too many times you've seen conflict escalate until all that's left is to pick up a sword and use it." He clearly spoke from experience.
"Sometimes you have to pick up a sword to defend yourself." I couldn't imagine arming myself to go on the attack. To protect me and my sisters, I would, without hesitation. And my pack? I wasn't even sure that was real anymore. If Cavan's plan was to seed doubt in my mind, he succeeded. My brain swirled with them.
"I'll always defend myself," he said. "No matter who comes after me and what’s mine."
The words echoed between us for a moment.
"You know I was supposed to marry your mother." His words broke the silence.
I tried to keep the surprise off my face but failed. How did he know I knew? Or was he just guessing?
"You were?" I said carefully.
From the look on his face, he knew not only that I knew, but how.
"You look like her. Your hair is a bit lighter. Eyes a bit darker. Your nose is the same." He cocked his head. "Same forthright personality. People didn't fuck with her either. Once Alivia made up her mind about something, there was no changing it. All she wanted was Terald."
His lip curled slightly.
"If she didn't, I wouldn't exist," I pointed out.
He seemed amused at that. "You still would, but you would have been mine instead.” After a beat, he added, “In a different way to the way you are now."
He brushed his knuckles over my cheek. The touch was light, but it was enough to trigger that instinctual alpha-omega connection. That tiny burst of need. Did he feel it too?
I drew my face back. I didn’t want an added layer of confusion on top of everything else.
"Did you want to be with her?" I asked.
He lowered his hand to his side, then softly said, "Very much. I would have killed Terald to keep her, but she stood between us. Literally. I would have had to kill her to get to him. I exiled them instead. That's one reason I don't like humans in the Summer Court. I'm a bitter, vindictive asshole."
He smiled slightly. "I wouldn't have hesitated to kill that friend of yours if I didn't think it would put you off side. If you weren't Alivia's daughter, I wouldn't have even cared about that."
"Can you build bridges with Summer Court magic?" I asked dryly. "Because it sounds like you need to build one and get over it."
He looked surprised, then laughed. "That's probably likely. You're the first person in twenty years to say anything like that to my face. The first since Alivia. No one else would dare."
"I hear it's not healthy to surround yourself with people who won't tell you what they think," I said. "You start to believe everything you do is right."
"You might be correct," he said. "Although, everything I doisright. And if it isn't, I'm sure you'll tell me." The side of his mouth twitched upward.
"If I stay here," I reminded him. "I might leave and travel around the courts. Find a nice cottage in a forest or beside a beach. Live a quiet life by myself."
"You're an omega," he reminded me, as if I could possibly forget. "It's not your fate to spend your existence alone. You're meant to be taken care of, treasured. Which, in turn, is what alphas are for. To cater to your every need and whim. To bring you the stars when you ask for them. To saddle the moon."
