My half-brother. He was seated beside his cousin, Caelena Shaw, who frowned and kicked him under the table in a not-so-discreet fashion. Drustan snapped out of whatever distant thought he was in as he carelessly slapped his palms on the surface.
“Yes, obviously the gates should remain open,” Drustan muttered, before slouching back in his chair and resting an elbow on the arm. He was struggling to stay focused today, gazing off into a distance that wasn’t visible in this room. Herested his fist against his mouth as his cousin threw him a reprimanding look, which he ignored.
“Excellent.” King Einar, Fergus’s biological father, nodded as he combed his fingers through his long, black beard. The move displayed his gold-painted nails, matching the many rings and bracelets decorating his umber hand. “The goddess has looked fondly on us since the elimination of Ilia and his…unpopular ways. This proves that Hyvenmere will gain much by encouraging various cultures from both realms to connect.”
He wasn’t wrong. Ada and Fergus’s mother, Hilda, confirmed a handful of new mating bonds snapping into place between their people—some within hours of Ilia’s head being removed from his body. Hilda’s ivory hair was braided back from her face, in a crown that showed off her dazzling features and blue eyes that contrasted beautifully with her copper complexion.
Her expression became hopeful as her gaze turned to her son, Fergus, who stood behind all three of his parents with his arms folded. Fergus matched her expression and even gave his mother a playful wink before focusing back on the conversation at the table.
“Have the sirens seen bonds, as well?” King Algot, Fergus’s other father, asked Drustan and Caelena. Drustan’s gold eyes slid to acknowledge Algot, his mouth still hidden behind his fist as he shook his head once in the negative.
“We have had our hands full the last few days,” Caelena answered on Drustan’s behalf. “We are preparing a small settlement a couple of miles outside of Lydhavn, where the women and children Ilia had been hunting will be able to start anew. Many of our guards and carpenters are working on building homes for them as we speak.”
“Do you truly think this is better than simply inviting them back to their homes in the city?” Queen Ada questioned withan empathetic expression. “I’m sure those females and children must miss their lifestyles.”
“They do,” Caelena confirmed. “But the children are still learning how to control their whismerra. These children and their mothers need to be prepared to face backlash from Hyvenmerians, whose knee-jerk reaction will be to fear them. Creating a space for whismerric sirens to live in peace, while learning how to use and control their gift appropriately, prepares them for navigating the rest of the realm as everyone else does.” Caelena had disclosed her own whismerric gifts to the fae and nereid governments soon after Ilia’s public execution. While I was nervous about her being so open about it, she must have seen enough of their minds to know that they would take her honesty as an act of good faith. To allow them to trust her, and she them.
“While my father has finally met the demise he deserved,” Drustan muttered behind his hand, before sitting up in his seat and resting his elbows on the tabletop. “Amber, his second in command after Leon’s death, is still alive and well. I doubt she will stay in hiding for long.”
“Perhaps we can invite her back and discuss how Hyvenmere is going to run things going forward,” Hilda offered. “Help her unlearn all the brainwashing your father?—”
“Or we can just kill her and her unit, and be done with it,” Drustan casually suggested.
All the royals at the table gave him disappointed looks.
“Do not be mistaken, young male,” King Einar spoke in a low, dominant voice. “Though you are intended to be crowned king of Lyndoruun soon, you are still beholden to Hyvenmere’s laws. Do not repeat the same mistakes that cost your father his life.”
“My father made nomistakes,” Drustan retorted, challenging. “My father made a series of very intentional decisions that determined his fate. Including, but not limitedto, stealing very dark and very illegal magical recipes from our alliances.”
The nereid royals stiffened as Hilda said, “Those were locked away, securely out of the public’s reach, protected by my magic?—”
“And yet Ilia still managed to tell us how to get in and steal it,” Caelena interrupted, then raised her hand to halt Hilda’s argument. “I’m not saying that you hiding those recipes with dark magic from your people was your mistake, but we need to figure outwhoIlia was working with in your guard that made it so easy for us to follow Ilia’s instructions.”
“Concerning swaying public opinion about the integration of whismerric sirens into modern society,” Queen Ada chimed in, removing her crown and rubbing the bridge of her nose, “That will, in fact, take time. However, if all of us stand united on how undoubtedly blessed our people are by saving them, I assume any conflicting murmuring throughout our lands will be diminished within a year.”
“How will the sirens of Lyndoruun see the benefit of integrating with whismerric sirens, if their people have not had a significant increase in mating bonds?” King Algot questioned, folding his pale arms across his chest.
I slid my gaze over to Drustan, who felt my stare and returned his own.
“What is on your mind, halfling?” he asked me.
“My name isAudrey,” I replied. “And you know that, considering you had no problem shouting at me to heal Vanessa in your courtyard.” Drustan’s face hardened with my words.
“Siblings,” Fergus shook his head with atsk. “I know the familial agitation all too well.” I ignored Fergus’s attempt to lighten the mood and answered Drustan’s question.
“You and Vanessa are mates.” Drustan didn’t reply, so I kept speaking. “Your people already suspect that, even thoughit hasn’t been formally announced.” Footage that reporters captured that day, showing Drustan cradling Vanessa, bleeding out, angry tears streaming down his face, went viral. Drustan has stayed out of the public eye, while Caelena took the responsibility to clean up and rebuild trust with her people after leading an army to execute the Guardian of the Fjellenheim Mountains. Opinion on the theory of Drustan and Vanessa’s matehood varied. Some considered it abysmal that a royal would be bonded to someone wholly human. Other opinions were more hopeful and excited at the idea.
“What is your point,Audrey?” Drustan asked with a bored tone. Liam grumbled next to me, annoyed with Drustan’s disrespect. I attempted to calm him with a squeeze of his knee under the table.
“My point is,” I continued. “If you confirmed your matehood with your people, that would help make several transitions into a more peaceful Hyvenmere run smoother.” Drustan’s lips pulled back in a wicked grin. Then he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table as he clasped his fingers together.
“And how do you think our dear Vanessa will like that idea?”
I glared at him. Vanessa still hadn’t awoken from her recovery. I’d healed her as much as I could, and Ada had her own healer look after Vanessa to try to assist, but Vanessa still slept in my old room in the Dahl estate. Caelena theorized that Vanessa continued to sleep because of all the trauma her body had taken within such a short amount of time. After being abused to fool Ilia about her death, only to almost die again. As if Vanessa’s body was demanding a time-out from the physical trauma.
“I’m not saying you need toacton your bond,” I clarified, “I’m saying it might be beneficial to confirm that the bond itselfexistsbetween you two.”
“I disagree,” Caelena spoke up, with her gold eyes on the table. “If Vanessa rejects the bond with Drustan, that will not win any favors with our people. In fact, it could turn even more sirens against the idea of leaving the gates open and allowing halflings and humans to explore our realm.” Caelena scrubbed her jaw with her hand. “The most helpful thing would be for Drustan and Vanessa to cement their bond. It’s the best way to bring unity between our people.”
