His chest ached under the weight of her words. “I shouldn’t be,” he whispered, dropping his gaze. “So many didn’t make it. And I… I don’t know if I deserve to stand here. Not when?—”
“Don’t.” Eloria gripped his arms. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
“But I wasn’t here,” he said. “When you needed me. For you. For our people?—”
“You couldn’t have been.” Her tone softened but stayed unyielding. “You were taken, Loren. That wasn’t your fault.” She lifted a hand to touch his face, wiping a tear from his cheek. “You survived. Don’t apologize for that. Not to me. Not to anyone.”
Loren wanted to believe her. Wanted to let the guilt burn away under the strength of her conviction. But it was never that simple. He pulled her into another embrace, wrapping his arms around her like a shield—as if he could somehow protect them both from the pain of the past. For a moment, the weight of decades lifted. Only relief remained.
When they finally pulled apart, Eloria wiped her face, transformingbefore his eyes from the little sister he remembered to the female who had led their people for the past twenty years.
“Everyone is going to be so relieved,” she said. “We were running out of options. But now that you’re here, maybe we can finally get the Veil back under control.”
Loren’s stomach twisted at her words. “El…” he began. “I don’t know if that’s going to work. The shadows…they aren’t very happy with me.”
Her brow creased. “But they chose you.”
“Thirty years ago,” he said quietly. “A few hours ago they told me I wasn’t worthy of them and they were going to kill me so they could pick again.”
“What?” Eloria stared at him, her mouth agape. “They said that?”
“They were pretty clear.” Loren looked away. “I don’t have the strength to wield them, El. Not after… everything.” He paused. “If anyone deserves to wield them, it’s you?—”
“You don’t think I tried?” Eloria crossed her arms, one eyebrow lifting in the same way she’d always looked at him when she thought he was being a fool. “They’ve been waiting for you for twenty years. I’m not the heir. You are. The shadows don’t care who the regent is. They care who the king is.”
“I’m not a king,” Loren muttered, his eyes fixed on the floor. “Do you really think I’m fit to lead? Because I don’t.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy with all the things he couldn’t say.
Finally, Eloria asked, “What about the female who helped you escape? Thorne’s report said she was your mate—that she spoke to the Veil. That it listened to her.”
“Thorne had a lot to say, didn’t he?” Loren said, his voice tight.
“He told me you claimed her.” Eloria crossed her arms, frowning at him. “You know as well as I do that bonded pairs are stronger. Maybe if the two of you stand together?—”
“He must have left out that it was against her will.”
Loren stared at his mother’s statue, unable to face the disappointment and horror he knew he would find in Eloria’s expression.
“She’s already bound to the mage who tortured me,” he said, his voice ragged. “She stood beside him—put my chains back on me and took my blood to try and givehimcontrol of the shadows.”
He swallowed hard, his vision blurring.
“Then he hurt her, and she came to me for answers—for help. And instead of giving them to her…” his breath hitched. “I stole her power. Used her true name to compel her to follow me—drugged her. All so Jaxon couldn’t use her against me.”
He shook his head slowly. “She doesn’t even know what a mate bondis—and she hates me.”
“You did all of that to protect her,” Eloria protested. “Once you explain the bond—once she understands what it means—surely she’ll see why you?—”
“I’m not going to explain it,” Loren snapped. “She’s suffered enough.”
“But she’s your mate!” Eloria’s snapped, her voice rising as her frustration finally got the better of her. “You only get one, Loren. Why won’t you even try to fix?—”
“Because I’d make as poor a mate as I would a king.”
Eloria flinched back, the silence between them ringing with the echo of Loren’s bitter words.
Loren shook his head, his voice breaking. “She’s had every choice taken from her. Let her make this one, Eloria. Let her leave if she wants to—promiseme.”
