I waited for Titan, Eryx, and Harpina to arrive, and they briefed me on the fairly standard exit from Dusk after we’d left. Thankfully, Cyrus and Astraeus were caught off guard enough that no real recourse had been made.
Not yet, at least.
We all knew itwouldcome. Cyrus wouldn’t let this stand. His deranged obsession withmy mate, was another factor adding to my feral mood. I grit my teeth as a growl slowly escaped at the thought. I looked up to find the three of them watching me: Eryx with wide, surprised eyes, Titan looking more resigned than anything, and Harpina biting her lip to stop her laughter.
I rolled my eyes at her, but she merely snickered in return.
“What is so funny?” I ground out, my voice a heavy rasp as the fire I rarely called in my human form rumbled at the base of my throat. The dragon within me felt restless and aggravated.
“Nothing,” Harpina replied innocently, her wide eyes not fooling anyone for a moment. She sighed dramatically, giving up and admitting, “I’ve just never seen you like this. I’ve heard the stories, of course, of how mates react around one another. But seeing it is something else.”
Eryx laughed joyfully. “Oh great, so we have more of this to look forward to?”
I glared at him, but as usual, he was completely unaffected. Until Titan gruffly responded, “The bond between soulmates is sacred. To be blessed in such a way?—”
He cut himself off, but the other two quieted instantly. Titan refused to talk much about his own past before he came to Night Kingdom during the reign of my great-grandfather. But what we had managed to get out of him over the years was that he’d loved and lost his own mate. To Titan, the bond was something to be revered, not made fun of. The reminder brought a lick of shame over their faces, and I couldn’t help feeling badly myself.
Titan had been like a second father to me all my life. Especially after my father passed and I was left to take over ruling a kingdom and raising my two young sisters. I couldn’t imagine how he must feel now, watching me find my soulmate, knowing his own was gone forever.
The very thought of such a thing felt like my heart being torn from my chest. A shudder ran through me, imagining having to live with half your soul torn from you forever. And to then have it shoved in your face that someone close to you now had what you lost.
“Titan,” I began, but he merely shook his head.
“We need to assume the war will soon begin in earnest.” He changed the topic, and I allowed it, nodding slightly.
“Yes, I know Cyrus will do all he can to get Asteria back,” I growled, eyes flashing with color as rage overcame me. “We need to begin getting everything into place. Including allies.”
“What allies?” Harpina questioned incredulously, cocking her head to the side. “We cut off all the other kingdoms.”
“Yes, but circumstances have changed.” I turned to my spymaster. “Eryx, I need eyes on Dusk. We need to know what their next move is going to be, and when they plan to make it.”
Eryx nodded, his eyes hardening. “Of course. I’ll get Nithe on it.”
“In the meantime, I need to verify where Asteria came from and possibly reach out.” I watched Eryx’s brows furrow as he realized Asteria’s origins weren’t a mystery to me. But I continued before he could do much more than part his lips to begin his inevitable questions. I didn’t want to discuss it with anyone until after I’d told Asteria. She should be the first to know that information. It was the veryleastof what she deserved.
“We also need to figure out what to do with Sunrise and Sunset. See if there’s any fallout from our mission to Sunset, and whether it’s as a result of our actions or the information we left them. Can you touch base with your spies in each? I need to know their thoughts on what’s happening, and if any of the royals, or even the nobility, can be brought to our side.” I instructed him while simultaneously thinking through our next steps.
We wouldn’t be able to win this war if Cyrus aligned himself with all of the other kingdoms. It would simply be a numbers game, and he would have far too many. So, the groundwork had to be laid now, before Cyrus shored up his alliances.
“On it. I’ll have a report for you by week’s end.” Eryx nodded, his entire bearing firm and serious as he took his orders. I’d always envied the way he could flip between work and play so easily.
As we discussed the next steps, Baach breezed into the room, shaking out his long red hair from the ponytail he’d had it up in. “Ah, home sweet home! How’s the whole mate thing going?”
Eryx groaned while I rolled my eyes, getting on with the rest of what we had to cover. The remainder of the meeting was fairly standard, checking in on the kingdom in my absence, but there was a feeling of unsettled frenetic energy that everyone seemed to feel but not address.
The war for Celesterra was always an idea on the horizon, one without a sure timetable. But now, events seemed to be moving quicker than they had in years, all starting with Asteria. And now that they realized she was my mate, that meant the prophecy would be coming to a head. Just in time to meet Cyrus’s own moves.
The thought of the prophecy that had haunted my every waking moment since birth was a complicated one. But thinking of the words, it made rather a lot of sense now.
“Darkness sweeps across the land
To bring new order to Fae and Man.
A light to brighten his darkness be the king’s fate
Blood will seep and unveil his mate.
An eclipsed star lost who must be found
