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“Youare the harbinger of peace, brother… To the only King Atratus has ever known that has a vision beyond his own greed and power. To a King who has a vision for freedom. For peace. For unity. For a Kingdom in whicheveryonecan flourish… Long live the King.”
“Long live the King!”The rest of them echoed exuberantly.
* * *
More than an hour later, after Mareina had gone with my mother to tour her home andstillhadn’t returned, I’d grown anxious. After some initial discussion with myolana kah’heiregarding my discussion with Val regarding Zurie’s attempts to quell the uprising, myolana kah’heihad resumed talking and joking around merrily as Famei and Pomona finished preparing the rest of our feast after their little rendezvous.
Rayne hovered near Vesper, who seemed to have momentarily given up trying to ignore his existence. Rayne, for the first time since we’d met during the war, was openly grinning with the female as she chuckled. It was a startling sight. The male, if anything, was dour. Roderick and Lokus were chatting away, following Famei and Pomona’s orders. And here I was, simply staring, practically grinding my molars into dust at the thought of whatever my mother might be telling Mareina or what The Well was showing her.
Gods. Had they fallen in The Well?
I smirked to myself, imagining Mareina soaking wet and scowling.
“Oy,” Lokus huffed, “You wanna help out, or are you just gonna mope around until your fanged princess returns?”
As if on cue, the oven dinged.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, reaching in the drawer for the oven mitts and an apron, earning odd glances from the group.
Quickly tying on the apron and donning the mitts, I pulled out the roasted pheasants adorned in various vegetables and stuffings, all their juices sizzling in the ceramic oven dish, and slid them onto the wooden kitchen island.
Pomona approached, handing me a glass of amber liquid as I began cutting up portions of pheasant.
“You alright there, lover boy?”
I huffed a chuckle, taking a grateful sip. “Thank you… And yeah, they’re just taking a while. Can’t help but wonder what horror stories my mother might be telling her and incidentally putting her off me.”
“She’s yourleath-anama,Koa.She could tell her all about your escapades, and it wouldn’t deter her. And it’s not like she’s a saint either…”
I huffed a mirthless laugh. "She'salreadydeterred."
Pomona frowned, but before she could respond, the sound of soft footsteps drew my gaze to where my mother stood.
Without Mareina.
Her face was flushed with emotion that made anxiety knot in my gut.
“Darling, would you mind joining us in the study?” My mother asked gently.
I looked back briefly to Pomona and her grim expression, giving her a pointed look before turning to follow my mother, who led me down the hall to her study.
Mareina stood beside a chair as though too anxious to sit. Her face was reddened and puffy from crying. All previous thoughts emptied from my mind as dread curled in my gut.
My throat worked on a rough swallow, struggling to force out a question I wasn’t certain I wanted to know the answer to.
“What’s wrong?”
Even my Knowingnessseemed to have grown silent, further spiking my anxiety.
Tears slipped from Mareina’s face as she made her way towards me. The wind left my lungs in a grunt with the force of her hug.
I caught her around the waist and wound my arms around her, feeling some of the tension in my body dissipate at the contact.
“She showed you The Well…” I asked, already knowing the answer even without my Knowingness.
Mareina’s head nodded against where it was buried against my chest.
My eyes flicked up to my mother’s as the words left my mouth, her body going rigid. “Can you tell me what you saw…”
