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Soren finally looks up from the plan Adeena had written, and says, “This plan is very simple. It’s cut and dry, but it’ll work if we all pitch in. The addition of a court to our alliance is priceless. Wind Court will happily supply enough men to round up the loose creatures.”
My heart is pounding in my ears and my stomach feels like it’s in my throat. This isn’t how I expected this meeting to go at all. I figured by the end of it Adeena would have tears in her eyes while the three of them pranced themselves back to their own little worlds, but here we are.
They’realloffering Adeena assistance, and they’re doing it with a smile on their faces.
“Dreyden?” Adeena asks with a softness in her voice.
I look up to find the four of them staring at me blankly. I must not have heard them say something.
“Yes?” I ask, clearing my throat as I come back to reality.
Adeena looks slightly concerned as she stares at me. “We want your final approval of the plan. We need to know if we’re leaving in the morning.”
My approval?
She doesn’t have it, but she doesn’t know that. I don’t approve of any of this. How could the three of them offer so much support to Adeena after I’ve been begging them for months? Why is it so easy forherto convince them, but they wouldn’t give me the time of day?
Not only that, but I can’t willingly watch Adeena leave me. I can’t aid her in her plan to move across the continent and live in the most dangerous place she could possibly find.
If the courts all send in teams to clean up Tartarus it could be made livable and safe much faster than I anticipated, and she might not want to come home to me. I can’t live with that. I can’t live without her.
I hesitate to answer her. There’s a lump in my throat I can barely swallow as I watch her through panicked eyes. I hope the court rulers can’t see straight through me right now. There’s probably no concealing how I’m feeling.
They’re all quiet as they wait for my answer. Their awkward silence makes me feel worse.
“Yes,” I nod with a forced smile. “We will leave tomorrow morning with the lost fae and the Fire Court legion.”
Vomit nearly comes out with the words as I say them. My stomach is twisting and turning inside me, and I feel disgustingly sick. A cold sweat breaks out across my forehead as I watch my mate. She’s concerned, but she’s not saying anything. She’s giving me the “we’ll talk about this later” look.
“Perfect,” she grins a forced smile of her own, but the three other court rulers appear to be oblivious. “Sky Court will join Archai as the fifth court in the kingdom.”
The four of them talk game plans and strategy for the next couple of hours, and I’m mostly silent as they plot. I’m feeling defeated and broken as I listen to my mate make plans to start a new life so far away from me. My duty to Fire Court keeps me here. I don’t know how we could ever make a relationship work being so far away permanently. Temporarily, sure, but forever? It’s not possible.
We would rarely sleep in the same bed. We would reside in two different homes, and have duties to our own kingdoms. And what if politics get in the way someday? Sure everything is fine now, but what about in the future? There’s no way to know what the future of Archai will hold.
I feel ill.
I’m losing my mate.
* * *
As Adeena slipsinto my favorite silk robe for the night I can feel the heat and frustration radiating off her body. She hasn’t said a word to me since the meeting ended earlier this afternoon, and I know it’s because of how I reacted to the overwhelming support provided by the other courts.
She climbs into bed beside me without saying a word. She crosses her arms over her chest as she snuggles her head into the large pillow on her side of the bed. She’s lying on her back, facing the ceiling with a blank expression on her face.
Her breathing is deeper than normal, and it’s not hard to tell she’s trying to maintain control of her anger. I watch her for a few minutes, contemplating whether I should say something.
This isn’t how I want to spend her final night in Fire Court. She seems so okay with leaving this suddenly, and that’s what breaks my heart the most. How can she bethisokay with leaving me?
“How are we going to make this work?” I whisper, holding back tears before they can rise in my eyes.
She breaks her glare at the ceiling, glancing over at me. “I don’t know why you’re so worried about how we’re going to make this work. You’re in Northford six days a week anyway. If anything, we might see each other more often than we do now.”
I sigh, running my fingers through my hair as I lay beside her. Perhaps this is why she isn’t having a hard time coming to terms with the fact she’s leaving me. She doesn’t think she’s leaving me.
“We will no longer go to bed together every evening. Do you know how much that breaks my heart, Adeena?” I prop myself up on an elbow, facing her as I rest the side of my head against my hand. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”
Her cheeks turn red as frustration rises in her face. “Is this why you were so quiet at the meeting today? Do you realize you risked my entire plan by being so blatantly unsupportive in front of the court rulers?”
