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Fuck, even each of my eyes feel like they have their own headache when I try to peel them open. I don’t recall returning to my room, only sitting on the roof until… My mind blanks as I try to grasp the events of last night for why I passed out in my bed with soaked clothes.
It started raining on the roof, but then… Her.
I blink my eyes open faster, bolting upright in my bed as my destroyed room spins in a vortex of a drunken haze. I must have drank enough to quench the thirst of a whole army to feel this hungover.
Flashes of the moment she took a step out of the forest plague me, but I can’t recall if any of it was real. I felt something in our bond ignite, right? But maybe it was all something my mind conjured up and dreamed when the alcohol completely took over, until it made my world go black. Maybe I’m losing my fucking mind.
“You look like shit.” Fynn’s voice sounds louder, echoing in my ears as I swipe a hand roughly down my face. His light hair is pulled messily in a bun, and he nudges a piece of broken wood with the toe of his boot before shoving his hands in his pockets. His eyes lift to me, then immediately dart to the left. A deep crease pulls between his brows. “Did the wall say some shit to you?”
I turn to follow his gaze and am met with a bloody crater decorating the wall. “Something like that.” My crimson-stained hand flexes, the broken bones and torn skin already healed.
He nods in understanding. I have helped repair many holes his fists have blasted through walls when he was drowning in grief. “Get cleaned up and we can try to reach through the bond again.” Fynn’s eyes set on me with a glassy look of determination. “You won’t lose your mate, too. One of us deserves to not feel the pain that follows.”
I swallow what feels like sand scratching down my throat as I pull myself out of bed. I step towards Fynn, clasping my hand on his shoulder. “You deserve to have love. She wouldn’t want you to remain alone all these years.”
The side of his lip curves up. “The pain is still there, but lately, it has lessened.” A knowing glint shines in his eyes as I know exactly why the pain may feel lighter these days.
“Hmm. That wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain blonde-haired someone who snipes back at everything you say?”
He shoves at my chest with a chuckle. “I don’t know what the future holds, but right now, I’d hate to not see her in it.” He slightly leans forward, sniffing loudly. “You reek of booze.” He laughs again and starts to walk away.
A tap sounds at the door and Emil peeks his head inside. His eyes immediately widen from the tarnish of the room. “Uh...” He opens his mouth to speak but then shakes his head, seeming to hold in whatever was on his mind. “Mother wishes to speak with us.”
“I’ll be there shortly,” I say sluggishly, while I step over shattered glass to go wash up.
“Yeah, I’ll leave Drav here to get rid of whatever died on his breath and walk with you to keep Queen Zoraida company,” I hear Fynn say as he heads to the door.
I pause and spin around, but too quickly as the room takes a moment longer to stop moving. “She’s not calling for your presence, you bastard.” My voice is barely restrained with amusement as I watch his jaw drop.
He throws a hand up and walks out the door with final words. “She’d love my company.” He bellows a laugh down the hallway, and I can’t hold back the dumb smile taking over my face.
“He’s one of a kind,” Emil quips from the doorway with a light expression on his face. His raven hair falls over the pointed tips of his ears and his deep blue eyes twinkle with laughter. Then, a somber look crosses over his face as his eyes scan the carnage of my room again. “Are you—” He pauses with an inhale and then meets my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I honestly confess in a broken whisper. “But I will be.”
He gently gives a slight bob of his head with a small smile. “All right. Well then, I’ll see you in a few.” Emil takes his leave as I’m left standing in a room as broken as I am.
I step into my mother’s parlor, letting the door fall shut behind me. My footsteps falter at the sight of my mother already fully dressed in a deep red gown, her black hair braided and pinned up in a bun, and her hands are hanging down by her side as her fingers play with the satin material of her skirt.
Her back is facing me as she stares out at the misty fog blanketing the forest and the ravens resting in the nearest tree. Emil sits patiently on the ruby velvet chair with his hands tucked under each leg.
The air in the room feels heavy with uncertainty. My boots thud across the polished dark floor as I make my way to stand beside Emil. “You wished to speak with us?” My voice sounds clear in the silent room, but it’s as if she is caught in the fog outside, blocking out anything and everything. “Mother?”
Her arms fall to her sides as she turns around to face us, a tight smile stretching across her lips. “Please, sit.” She gestures to the chair angled beside Emil’s and I step around him before seating myself, my posture stiff with how my mother is acting. Her normal warmth feels like it’s wavering.
I watch her slowly make her way to the sofa opposite us, sitting gracefully and smoothing out the material of her dress that falls over her legs. “Draven, can you please make sure no one hears us beyond these walls?”
I clench my jaw with a quick jerk of my head, stretching my hands out and shrouding the entire perimeter of the room in darkness. I pour as much of my shadows as I can until I’m satisfied the room is soundproof. The candles flicker in the chandelier above, casting us in a soft glow as I bring my eyes back to my mother’s and declare, “No one will hear now.”
She smiles as she would in front of her people when she has to make a hard decision, the full embodiment of the Queen of Asiza. “Thank you.” She clears her throat. “I—” She stops, biting her lips between her teeth in thought. “There’s something I must confess.”
My heart starts to pound harder in anticipation and I adjust myself in the chair to sit a little straighter, readying for the blow to come. Emil manages to remain perfectly relaxed and unfazed by the bomb of truth I feel will explode on us.
Her deep ocean eyes crash against mine. “Sometimes the stars gift me with a message.”
The air in my lungs freezes, and any response I could give lodges in my throat with it.
My brows pinch together, trying to understand what she means by that. I spare a quick glance to Emil, and he seems just as stricken as me. The silence stretches and grows taut like a bow string right before the arrow is released. And currently, I feel like her words are the arrow in this situation. Striking fast and true.
