But my mother’s arms came around me, and I was forced to let go to hold onto my mother. I tried to fight the tears, but I buried my head into her shoulder as they slipped out anyway, my shoulders heaving as my mother patted my back. I held onto her desperately, like I was a child once more.
“There, there, love,” she hummed. “I know. It’s been so hard for you. I’m so sorry I had to leave you. Especially with your foolish father following right after me,” she scoffed, and I heard Asteria try to stifle her surprised laughter. I couldn’t do the same and let myself chuckle as I pulled back to look at her.
Mother raised a hand to my cheek, patting it softly. “Thank you, son. You did such a wonderful job with your sisters. It warms my heart to know I raised a man who could step up and not just rule a kingdom, but handle two young girls! It’s quite the feat—I remember from being a young girl myself.”
She winked jokingly at Asteria, who smiled back in amusement.
“And you!” Mother’s arms raised as she looked over my mate, and I found myself strangely nervous. I had never imagined them actually meeting. My mother had died so many years before my soulmark came in that it had never been a possibility to consider.
“You must be Asteria, my boy’s mate,” Mother said as she engulfed Asteria in a hug.
“Oh!” Asteria yelped, looking like a scared cat as my mother embraced her, and I couldn’t help snickering at her expense. She glared at me over my mother’s shoulder, but I was too consumed by the image before me.
My mate and my mother, in the same place.Hugging, even.It was so surreal that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“It is so wonderful to meet you!” my mother exclaimed as she pulled back, grabbing my hand and Asteria’s so she had a hold of both of us. “I had thought it would be many years until we could, but this is such a treat!”
“It’s great to meet you too,” Asteria replied, wide-eyed and bamboozled.
I’d forgotten how lively my mother truly was. That light she brought to all of our lives was extinguished so suddenly, it had left us all in the dark. No wonder my father had chased after her into death. No wonder my birth prophecy spoke of Asteria bringing light back to my kingdom.
“You two have come quite a long way.” Mother smiled at us both. “And you still have a ways to go yet.”
“Oh, don’t go being cryptic on the children now, Jemisha,” another voice teased.
I gasped, swinging my head toward the male cresting over the grassy hill we stood upon.
“Father,” I murmured.
Mother scoffed, shaking her head, “Don’t you go giving the game away, Orion. You knowtheywill be unhappy.”
Father rolled his eyes before they landed on me. A peaceful smile lit his face. The sight was so strange. In the months after my mother’s death, grief had engulfed him like a shroud. I’d forgotten what happiness and peace looked like on him.
“Calix,” Father said, his eyes holding a suspiciously damp sheen to them. “Son.” His voice roughened, and the strands of green, blue, and pink in those lilac eyes we shared spoke of the emotion that had returned to him. His eyes had been nothing but pure purple after my mother’s death.
Seeing the colors now…
“Father,” I rasped, as he pulled me into a tight hug. I gripped his shoulders, hugging the ghost of the father I’d once known.
“Aren’t they adorable?” Mother attempted to whisper to Asteria, who giggled in response.
“Absolutely,” she agreed, and as I pulled back, I was struck stupid for a moment at the brilliant smile on her face.
I felt foolish then for doubting the depth of her feelings. Of course, there was a reason why she was cutting the bond off. Of course, it wasn’tus.
The fact that I was hugging my dead parents, and her smile was the thing that left me stunned, wasn’t lost on me.
“I need to apologize, son,” Father said, and I forced myself to look away from my mate to face him. “I left you to handle everything. Putting the pressure of the kingdom and your sisters on your shoulders. It was my job to raise you all, and I failed you in that.”
He sniffed back tears. I’d been sure this day couldn’t get more surreal, and yet, it kept managing to.
“Father, no—” I protested, shaking my head.
He put his hands on my shoulders. “I did. But I think you understand now. The loss of one’s mate is a horrendous experience. It kills a part of you that you can never get back, leaving you a hollow shell of the person you once were.”
Just the thought of it sent a bolt of pain to my heart. One I felt echoed through the bond.
My eyes connected with Asteria’s, and I relished in the starlight filling her eyes, her rage and despair at just the thought of losing me. It reassured me and instilled me with a confidence I desperately needed while faced with the man I’d modeled my life upon.
