Well shit-fuck-damn. There weren’t enough curse words to express the heaviness falling on my shoulders.
Thiswas what it meant to be queen. People would die serving me. In fact, more than that strike force would die. We’d lose others, from all our forces, the longer I took to win.
I swallowed hard.
“Understood.”
There was a little more talk of strategy after that, but I barely heard any of it, too preoccupied with the burden of leadership sitting all too heavily on me.
Myel came to me, slipping his hand into mine and instantly I felt better, soothed. Comforting warmth seeped into my spirit as Vyns wrapped his arms around me from behind. Rook took my other hand and whispered a soft,you can do this, into my mind.
I breathed out my worries in a long sigh.
It was a lot easier to handle things when you had others to help you. Not so long ago, I wouldn’t have wanted to believe that, but here and now, I accepted the truth.
As the meeting broke up, Myel whispered, “What do you need?” but through our bond, he was really saying:we’ll take care of you.
“Let’sallgo back to my residence and figure that out,” I whispered back, with a significant look at Bayn when I said “all.”
The massive man seemed a bit taken aback by the invitation but followed us.
Grandma Oli called me over before I left, though.
“It seems your harem is growing,” she whispered, pulling me away from prying ears.
“Is it that noticeable?”
“Only to me. I have a sixth sense about sex.”
That didn’t surprise me.
“Take it from someone who’s lost more than a few friends and lovers: appreciate every second you have with them, all of them.” There was a note of sadness in her voice. I recalled she’d been one of Queen Leastrine’s lovers, the head of the inamorati, the queen’s harem. Until now, Ihadn’t really registered what my grandmother had lost when the previous queen died: a friend, a lover, more?
I hugged her tightly and whispered a soft, “Thank you.”
I hadn’t had many tender moments with Oli, usually too put off by the fact that she looked like my younger sister and dressed in a rather immodest way most of the time.
I pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “How are you doing?” I asked.
She smiled. “Oh, I’m well enough… just… remembering old times,” she breathed. Then she drew a long breath and the slight gloom over her faded.
“Any advice on fighting Titans?” I asked her, since I had her here and I’d be heading off soon to do exactly that.
“They respect strength, and you’re stronger than most. Don’t hold back.”
I nodded. That seemed wise.
“Thanks.” I hugged her again. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have lovers to appreciate before I leave tomorrow.”
She laughed at that and waved me away.
I rejoined the guys, and we returned to my residence… going directly to the bedroom.
MYELAS
I was morethan a little surprised to find the titan, Bayn accompanying us all the way to Izzy’s bedroom. Though I took some solace from the fact that the huge man seemed awkward, unsure what to do, staying a little back from all of us. It was like he didn’t know why he’d been invited.
Izzy went to him, taking one of his hands — hers seemed tiny in his — and turned back to the rest of us.
