I held my head up high, my heart thundering in my ears in thick, echoing beats. I glided forward, opening my mind just a little more—scanning carefully through the thoughts of our new court.
Lady Morgana Batavia? That’s Lady Morgana.
Queen now,I pushed the thought back, and the chayatim who’d thought it suddenly stilled, her aura exploding with shock as her eyes widened.
Wasn’t she missing? Kidnapped by akadim? Fuck, are we now kidnapped by akadim?
I was with my soturi,I thought.You were kidnapped by the Emperor, not us. Now you’re free.Now you belong to our court.
A smile spread across my lips for the first time in public since my Revelation Ceremony. It no longer pained me when I read minds. My shard had seen to that. And I was able to listen to and respond to more than one thought at once.
Morgana and the Ready are together?
They’re vorakh, too. They can read your mind. Stay focused. Stay focused.
Gods, I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here.
Youarehere.My eyes shot to the chayatim thinking the last thought. A young female mage with long dirty-blonde hair. KaDaquataine from Damara from the looks of her.You have been freed from your masters. Show some gratitude.
Her mouth tightened, and she nodded, before staring at her lap, her hands folded neatly.Apologies, Your Grace.
Your Majesty,I corrected.
Then I was in Aemon’s arms, his hands low on my back as he drew me in, and at last I kissed him. Accepting him for who he was, acknowledging what he was. Not the man in the dark, my lover in the shadows. He was my king.
Maraak Moriel.
He bit my lower lip, his tongue pushing past it, as he hardened against me.I love it when you call me king in your mind.
I moaned, missing this. I’d gone without his touch for months. Without any touch. It had been far too long.
Aemon pressed a languid kiss to my neck, his hand snaking to my ass in a way that told me my earlier thought had definitely come from him.
Keep that up,I thought,and you won’t hear me call you that again.Because if he was inside of me, our minds would close, there’d be nothing but silence, nothing but the sound of our joined flesh. The way it had always been.
He laughed.You’ll just have to scream then, out loud. So they can all hear.
You’d like that, wouldn’t you,I thought, and licked the side of his neck, biting his earlobe.
You have no idea how much.“Shall we then, my queen?” he asked, his voice low in my ear. “My strong and beautiful queen.”
I smiled. “Yes.”
Aemon nodded to Andromeny, and took my hand in his. And at this, our public display of affection and desire, the akadim began to growl and hiss and roar, their voices louder than before. Their claws were snapping, the sharpened edges clickingtogether, and their lips had been pulled back to reveal their fangs. I lowered my gaze realizing that other parts of their bodies were now standing at attention. The entire scene was grotesque.
Aemon’s nostrils flared in annoyance.
And it was at this Godsdamned moment that Parthenay dared to approach us, a look of victory in her eyes.
I told you. They have their natures,she sneered.They can’t even look at their beloved queen embracing their king without wanting to rage and rape. Go back on your command. Before it fails completely.
Aemon looked at me, his dark brows furrowed before he pulled everything from my mind. Everything I’d allow. My commands to the akadim. The way I intended to rule. It felt like my mind had been scraped, and I nearly stumbled back from the assault. But the thoughts he’d gleaned were nothing I wouldn’t have freely given.
His eyebrows knit together in a deep V.I see.
I shook my head.They’re my soturi, and they will do as I command.
I agree they are, and they should. But their nature,he thought,is another story. Nature cannot be compelled.
