They weren’t alone. A woman followed behind them. She wore the crimson uniform of the Rymarian army, and her dark-blonde hair was pulled away from her face.
Our gazes met, and I saw guilt and desperate hope swirling in her gray eyes. Eyes the same shade as mine.
My breath caught. This was the woman who’d given birth to me. The guard had taken her before I could form even one memory. As a girl, I hadn’t missed her—a child can’t miss someone they don’t know—but I’d missed the idea of her. I’d wanted a mother. The guard had stolen that from me—from us. Or so I’d thought when I believed her dead. But my mother was very much alive and a ranking member of the Rymarian army.
She’d chosen silence, chosen to let us believe she’d died.
I studied her face, searching for resemblances while anger simmered in my chest. She was taller than me, with the same cheekbones. Her nose was different—stronger—and I idly wondered if I got my nose from my unnamed father.
“Haven.” She took a small step toward me. “I thought about you every day.”
The murmur of conversation in the room died as people realized something significant was happening. If anyone had bothered consulting me, I’d have asked for this meeting to be private. Instead, we were on display like fishin a bowl.
“Did you?” My voice came out sharper than I had intended. “Because Grandmother and I lived in the same house you grew up in. We weren’t exactly hiding.”
Her face tightened. “There are things you don’t know.”
I was so tired of cryptic pronouncements that I could scream. “So tell me.” What excuse could there be for letting us mourn her?
“I couldn’t risk it.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Your father … if you’d been discovered, you’d have been killed. Distance was the best protection I could give you.” My father? She’d hidden me from my father? Why would he kill his daughter? But before I could ask?—
“Who claims this woman, Haven Ford, as their bonded?” The queen reclaimed my attention.
She couldn’t give me five minutes to talk to my mother? I had questions—important questions. But inviting six men to claim me took precedence. I glanced at Remy and Zane, worried they’d hidden the queen’s plans from me. But they looked as shocked as I felt.
The silence in the enormous room was deafening, and I thought the men might remain quiet, that we might escape this moment unscathed.
The weight of the room’s attention thickened the air, making it difficult to breathe.
It was Remy who stepped forward. He took my hand, lifting it to his lips and brushing a kiss across my knuckles. “I do.”
Two paltry words that changed everything. He’d pledged himself to me. Forever. My mouth went dry, and I searched his face for any hint of doubt or regret. I didn’t find them.
With a gentle finger beneath my chin, Zane tilted my face toward his. He gazed into my eyes, and I saw a flash of his gold, as if his dragon approved. Leaning down, he kissed me. “I do.” When weparted, his triumphant, adoring smile made my knees go weak.
Pierce fell to one knee, bowing his head. “I do.” The words were spoken quietly, but they carried the weight of an oath sworn in blood. His intensity sent my pulse skittering.
“I do.” Teal waved his hand, creating a single perfect white rose, which he presented to me. As I accepted the flower, our fingers brushed, and I felt a spark of his magic—playful and dominant. Like him.
“I do.” Flynn grinned as he bounded forward and kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait to feel your fire.” His boundless enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself smiling.
That left one.
Grayson would never pledge himself to me—not in a million years.
“I do.” The admission seemed to cost him, but once it was spoken, his shoulders straightened. Like he’d made peace with a fate he couldn’t fight.
Their pledges left me speechless, torn between happiness and worry.
The queen gave a satisfied smile. “Haven Ford, do you accept these men as your bonded?”
How could the queen spring this on me? Why now? Why here, in front of an audience? “Your Majesty, forgive me, but I wasn’t expecting a bonding ceremony today. Why the rush?”
“Circumstances require us to act swiftly.”
That wasn’t an answer. “What circumstances?”
I looked around the throne room—all these witnesses, the formal setting, my mother. “This feels orchestrated. Are you trying to bind me to Rymar somehow?”
