Just…detachment.
DUTY ABOVE ALL
The image of his scar appeared in the forefront of my mind. Was that what this was? Was he only in this room right now because he had an obligation to me, as his mate?
“Why are you here?” I wanted him to say it. To know that the lust between us the previous night was nothing more than something driven by the chain linking our fates.
“To help you with your knee,” he stated tonelessly.
“No. Why are youreallyhere?” I pressed. Irritation nipped at my nerves when I was met with stony silence. I needed to know if the male who kissed me like he would die without one remained behind the orbs of ice. “You have no obligation to heal me. In fact, it would serve you and your sister better if I couldn’t do more than limp ever again. There’d be little chance of me running.”
“You could still fly,” he pointed out.
A scoff slipped out of me. “Do you plan to clip my wings?”
He looked away. “Not unless I am compelled.”
I jerked my hands back, nails biting into my palms. That was the language of soldiers. Of those who simply did what they were told. Who simply followed orders without questioning their consequences.
Vaeron was dangerous, especially to me.
Maybe he didn’t mean it; maybe he did. With his capacity to freeze and thaw at a moment’s notice, anything was possible.
A soul-deep ache bloomed behind my ribs. I was hurting, bleeding on the inside, so fucking much. Why couldn’t he see that? Why was I shouldering all the blame here?
I didn’t raise my voice. Didn’t yell. Merely asked him, each word measured and even, because I was tootired to fight the pain alone. “What have I done to you that is so wrong, Vaeron? Because I’m not ecstatic about being mated to the Issaraeth when I have lived my whole life as Elessarum?”
He exhaled, long and slow enough that I realized he was calculating his next words. “I see your point.” He finished unwrapping my knee but said nothing else.
“You didn’t answer my question.” I crossed my arms, glaring at him.
He kept his focus on my leg. Hands glided down my calf and wrapped around my ankle. Energy crackled along my skin from the softest touch. When his bare flesh brushed against mine, the bond purred, twisting into a knot that was impossible to untangle.
I wanted to tug it apart so I wouldn’t be stuck in this whirlwind. Hate, desire, anger, fear, grief. Each was a lightning bolt that flashed through me as Vaeron pushed my knee into a bend.
Still, he did not reply. Did not answer a single thing I had asked.
I wished Heraphia were here so I could talk to her about all of this. She would know exactly what to say.
“I miss my parents. I miss my friends. I miss…me.” The confession slipped out before I could stop it. My whole body trembled, like the admission had cracked something loose inside me.
Vaeron went preternaturally still.
“When the war started, we had to hide, so we left the place I’d called home for decades. My power placed everyone around me in danger. We moved constantly. Sometimes, people looked at me like I was a burden. Heraphia too. We were the most important ones. When we got word of a hunter’s approach or one of the Seers had a vision of it, it was always us that were prioritized to move to safety. Do you know what that’s like?”
His chest expanded, but otherwise, my mate was like a glassy lake.
Hot salt scalded my cheeks. “You don’t survive something like that without crushing pieces of yourself. I had to learn to let it go, otherwise it would have consumed me. And when I lost my parents?” My voice cracked. A sob wrenched out of my throat. “All I had was Heraphia and Zuriel. But each day felt like a countdown to the moment we’d be caught. I have lived in fear for so long. I don’t remember what it’s like to not sleep with one eye open. To not look over my shoulder every time I leave the house. Tobreatheand feelfree.”
Maybe I never will. Maybe this pain is all the Goddess would evergiftme.
That finally got him to lift his head. But the haunted, harrowed look in his eyes made me wish he hadn’t.
“Freedom is a concept for the naive. We’re all shackled one way or another.”
I scoffed. “And what, pray tell, has bound you? You are male. Noble. Powerful.”
“Not what. Who.” Vaeron set my leg down. With practiced, cold precision, he unbuttoned his tunic, revealing the words etched over his heart. Light from the window spilled over it, casting the raised letters in sharp relief. It was no tattoo; each rune was a scar. “My father carved this into my flesh as a constant reminder of what I was bred to do. But that’s not all. You see, my magic is a derivation of his. But while I Command externally, he had the ability to manipulate one’s very will. He dug inside my mind and planted rotten seeds of his own desires. And that was before I swallowed the magic-filled blood of a Demon. After? Well, the former Herr Räviel forged me into the weapon he wanted.”
