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“Will we tell everyone?” I asked as we dressed in the bedchamber. I pulled on my loose pants and tied them at the waist.
“Our mating is not meant to be hidden, and I have no intention of doing so. Regardless, it would be near impossible to hide it. Not only do we bear our mating marks and marriage bands, but for a while, it’s unlikely that we will be able to keep our hands off each other,” Ryker said, buttoning the shirt to his suit and rolling the sleeves up his forearm.
I huffed a laugh. “I’ve noticed. But I was talking about an announcement. To the people. Or do we just let them find out by word of mouth?”
He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wardrobe next to me. “They’ll be told. I’ll have Mav handle informing our people of our mating as well as our marriage. As far as the rest of the world, they’ll find out in due time.”
“I’d like to tell Nik and Eamon.” I laced my boots.
“Do you want to travel there or send a letter?”
“A letter will do for now. I’ll write one up and send it later.” I looked up at him.
“Whatever you want is fine with me.” He brushed my hair behind my ear. “I have a few things to take care of today. Are you still planning on meeting with Malina?”
“Yes. We’ll continue our translations of the book and see what else we can figure out about the Glaev. I’m hoping that we can find some way to reverse it but so far nothing has come of that.”
Ryker kissed me before he left the bedchamber. I twisted my hair into a braid and made my way down to Malina’s room. I didn’t feel her in there, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t in there. She could have been on her bed, still asleep. When she didn’t answer her door after several knocks, I felt for her around the palace and still felt no sign of her. I decided to go to the library without her and review my translations alone.
After reading over some of my translations and Rolim’s notes, something stood out about channeling the dark magic that didn’t make sense to me, no matter how much I tried to understand it. But I knew at least one way to find out.
Ryker will not be happy.
Deciding that I would deal with him later, I quickly left the library, making my way down the stone staircase and out the front doors of the palace. The sun had just crested over the horizon, and lit the sky in hues of orange and yellow. I followed the path that Ryker had taken me to the Noavo command station. When I arrived, I asked one of the passing warriors where I could find Hakoa’s barrack. He pointed me in the direction and informed me that he was likely still asleep. I was too eager to speak with him to care about that, and I rapped on his wooden door. A few moments later, I could feel the footsteps of two people from inside.
He wasn’t alone. I concentrated my terbis on the lighter footed person and my jaw dropped, awestruck at the feel of the familiar female’s steps.
Hakoa opened the door with groggy eyes, pulling a shirt over his head. His eyes widened when he saw me standing with a smirk on my face.
“Kya. This is an unexpected visit.” He glanced behind me as if looking for someone else. “Is everything alright? Where’s Ryker?”
“Everything is fine and Ryker doesn’t know I’m here. May I come in?”
“Sure. Let me just make sure that—” He glanced sheepishly over his shoulder.
“She’s my sister. I don’t care if she’s dressed or not. It’s freezing out here, please let me in,” I said curtly.
He stepped to the side to let me pass and closed the door behind me. Malina came in from the other room, half dressed in an overly large shirt that I could only assume was Hakoa’s. It wasn’t shocking that she had found someone to keep her warm at night but I hadn’t expected that it would be Hakoa.
“I thought I heard your annoying voice. What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask the same of you,” I said dramatically with a wink, noticing Hakoa’s cheeks redden slightly.
“We haven’t left the bed since Nailu.” She leaned in to whisper, “I told you Orynians had stamina.”
I opened my mouth to respond with a quip but was cut off by a screech.
“What is that on your arm?!” Malina yanked my arm forward by my hand and pushed up my sleeve. I couldn’t hide my grin as her face lit up in realization and she screamed, jumping up and down and hugging me.
“You’re married? And mated?” Her shrill pitch made me wince. At least her reaction to this mark was better than the last.
“Yes, we wed this morning.”
“Oh shit,” Hakoa grumbled.
Malina and I both turned our heads and scowled at him.
“Is there a problem,Chief?” she asked through gritted teeth.
