A throb kicked inside me, strange and alien almost, but I somehow recognized my magic responding. Despite the turbulence in my mind, my body decidedly wasn’t a fan of losing what it had only just unlocked.
I didn’t know what I was now capable of. Where on a scale from zero to Calix, my power was. But I knew, despite all the hesitations I felt about it, all the pain associated with learning the truth… that I felt more myself than I ever had before.
My body was finally settled. No longer screaming and aching, trying to fit a mold it was never meant for.
I squared my shoulders, taking a deep breath in, and resolved myself to what had to happen next.
It was time to face my mate.
I turned to get dressed, only to catch a glimpse of a shimmer on my back. Frowning, I turned my head and gasped.
There on my upper back was a sparkling black tattoo in the exact configuration of my necklace. In the exact same spot as Calix’s.
My soulmark.
My eyes softened. Despite the confusion over the situation with Calix, tears rose in my eyes. Soulmates were such a rare thing, and to be blessed with one was supposed to be the most extraordinary gift a Fae could have.
I’d wanted Calix so badly, but when faced with all that truly meant when the concept of another woman disappeared from the equation, I was left feeling… unsettled.
I barely knew whoIwas right now. I didn’t know what I could do or how to control what I now had. Was it really the best time to start a relationship of any sort?
On the other hand, did I even have the ability to stay away?
Did Calix want to? He’d tried to stay away from me for the sake of his soulmate. And while we both knew now that it was me, that didn’t mean it hadn’t hurt. And it didn’t mean that the knowledge just disappeared that—that Calix wouldn’t havechosenme.
He would have chosen someone else.
If it was so easy to walk away from me, how could I trust that I was truly the one he wanted?
I didn’t want him to be with me just because I was his soulmate. If I was going to entertain the idea of a relationship, I wanted someone who would choose me no matter what.
And Calix hadn’t.
Chapter Four
Arien
“We’ll begin movingforces along the border.” My father moved his figures along the map as his lords leaned closer around it, half of them desperate for the opportunity to please him in some way. I nearly snorted. They should have realized by now what an impossible task that was.
“Lord Ergun, with Caersidi closest to Tairngire, you’ll have the hardest job. You’ll need to protect the borders along the south from direct assault.” King Aelius instructed with a hard look at Ergun, who nodded once in confirmation, his blue eyes clouding like a stormy sea. My father expected the lords to fall in line, never expecting anything different could possibly happen. Not when, as king, his word was law.
I was almost perversely excited to prove him wrong.
“Lord Ayden.” His stony gaze shifted to the lord of Magh Meall. “You’ll protect the northern border we share with Night. Everything north of the Etheralta Mountains. Thankfully, Segais is the closest city, and it’s so close to Dusk that I don’t expect much movement from the north, but I’d rather be prepared.”
“Of course, my King.” Ayden’s burnished short curls barely shifted as he nodded deeply, wax keeping them in place. Ayden had always been a slimy bastard in my mind. Something only proven when my mother failed in her quest to sway him. He was too obsessed with his own self-importance to give a shit about anything else.
“What about the coasts? Should Calix’s armies take a ship from Tairngire around our border defenses, we’ll be sitting ducks.” Lord Beltane raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side as he studied my father, causing his dark shoulder-length locks to fall to one side. One wouldn’t guess by looking at him and my father that there was any relation between our families, but then again, one wouldn’t guess my father and I were related by looking at us.
I was proud we’d taken mostly after our mother, with the dark hair more common in Dawn and Dusk Kingdoms. My father’s golden skin and light blonde hair were trademarks of the kings of Day, and just another reason of many why I was a failure to him. Only my sky-blue eyes matched his, and the only reason I didn’t resent that comparison was because my twin also shared them. I would cherish anything that connected us, but we’d both undoubtedly gotten our looks from our mother for the most part.
If Asteria’s skin was anything like mine, she fluctuated between our mother’s pale skin and our father’s golden, depending on the season.
A cousin of King Tariq of Dawn Kingdom, Lord Beltane shared the dark hair and pale skin that ran in Dawn’s royal line, only changed with this most recent generation thanks to Queen Oriana’s influence. Yet, Beltane was also a cousin of Aelius through marriage.
Not that it made Beltane or my father agree on anything. No, there wasn’t any love lost there.
My father’s eyes, a replica of my own, met mine, and it was hard to miss the expectation in them. I sighed internally, counting down the days until he was gone. Only a little longer, and I would never have to deal with him again.
