Page 50 of His Realm

“Eat?” Sabira sounded confused.

“He means feed,” Zev corrected, shooting me a look to keep my mouth shut. “But I was still Decimus’s child, so I was given only blood.”

“What would there be besides blood?” Sabira wanted to know.

“Nothing,” he told her, then to me, “So, I was moving as fast as I could, serving blood, pouring it from a pitcher, and suddenly a hand wrapped around my wrist so tight, I screamed.”

I could imagine how scared he’d been.

“And I looked up,” he whispered to me, “and all I saw was all that blue.”

I nodded quickly because yes, it had been the same for me. The queen with her flashing sapphire eyes, not as dark as Sabira’s, full of playfulness and wonder.

“I stood there frozen, staring into the face of the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was pristine, and I was filthy, caked in dirt and grime, my hair matted, my clothes hanging off my thin frame. I was barefoot, and like always, shivering. Isabella smiled slowly and gathered me to her, and it was like being embraced by an angel,” he choked out. “I’d been utterly overwhelmed, and when guards came close, thinking I’d gone to the queen without permission, a whispered word from her kept them back. Everyone yelled there. Everyone. But not her. Her voice never rose, stayed gentle and lilting, like a chime on the breeze.”

It was what she sounded like to me as well, and for a child, between her face and her voice, I was certain she’d seemed otherworldly.

“She smelled incredible. Like no scent that had ever filled my nostrils before. Later, I learned it was roses and lavender. That day, I thought she was a goddess because, as disgusting as I knew I was, as I’d been told often, she clutched me to her and claimed me as her own. I was the child of her courtier, so she had every right to me.”

“And so that was it. You belonged to her.”

“That’s right.”

“What about the other children?”

“Oh no,” he said quickly. “I was the only one who had no shoes and slept on straw on the floor. All the others had their place with their parents or brothers or sisters. I was the only son of the ruler who was cast in with those who served.”

“So you were treated extra badly.”

“Yes. Ødger and Balon never missed a day to beat me.”

“Jesus.”

“Don’t get me wrong—to be one of those who serve in Ophir is horrible, but I was the only one without shoes.”

I nodded.

“Leda’s mind was gone by the time Isabella arrived,” Sabira continued. “Though even at a glance, she knew Isabella’s face and cried out her name.”

“She was happy to see her?”

“Overwhelmed, my dear. She was utterly overwhelmed.”

“Were you there?”

“I was. I put my arm around Leda and walked her from Decimus’s room as Isabella carried Zev.”

“Who named Zev?”

“Isabella did. He didn’t have a name before she arrived. They called him boy.”

My heart felt like it was in a vise, squeezed so tight. I was so sad for him.

“Isabella said he was a survivor, her wolf, and now that he had a pack, he would grow strong.” Sabira smiled at me. “And he did.”

“How did Isabella take Leda from Decimus?”

“Leda was her courtier, there was no arguing that fact. Isabella had every right to take her as well as her issue.”