by Alyssa Breck
“You betrayed me, too,” Silver accused.
“You are like a brother to me, Silver.”
“Brother!” Silver snorted.
“I could have killed you. I didn’t.” He looked at Alay. “Don’t you believe me, my love?”
Alay nibbled on her lower lip. “Don’t call me that. Maybe you have changed. Still, you have to prove yourself with actions, not words.”
The commander looked up with hopeful eyes. “My queen, you are a strong warrior, but you’ll need stronger warriors to be by your side. To protect you from the ones who might want to kill you and steal your power. Silver is a powerful warrior and a worthy adversary, but he’s a prince of a foreign kingdom and your father’s enemy.”
“My loyalty rests with Alayah, no one else,” Silver vouched as he looked back at Xavier. “You betrayed her and broke her heart.”
“I was only obeying my emperor. But I saw the error in my ways. Have you never sinned?”
Silver averted his eyes and looked at Alayah. “What do you want to do?”
Alay gulped and looked at Xavier. “Despite what he did, I know Xavier loves me.”
“I do. I also love Silver like a brother.”
“I love you both,” Alayah said, looking from Silver to Xavier. “You’ll be my husband, Silver. I don’t want it any other way. But Xavier is important to rule our army and fight for our interests in my new kingdom. Once we deliver the stone to the elders in Madeira, we’ll return to the dryland and do something good with my father’s legacy.”
Silver bowed, and Alayah looked at Xavier. “Do you agree?”
“As long as I can be close to you, my queen,” Xavier replied.
Alayah’s horse trotted to his side. “I’ll kill you if you betray me again.”
“Yes, my love.”
“Now, where are Rose, Marina, and Lyra? You said they were alive.”
“And my men?” Silver asked.
“They are all back there. Unharmed. But the king is coming here. What shall we do with Silver’s father?”
The new queen looked at Silver. He looked worried.
Alay faced Xavier. “As the new queen, I’m going to ask for Silver’s hand in marriage and establish a strong alliance between our two kingdoms.”
She noticed when Silver breathed out in relief.
Alay spoke to her lover. “They are your family, and despite what he said, he still loves you, and you love him.
“Thank you, my love.”
Alay smiled, staring at his imposing figure on his horse. He was gorgeous, and she couldn’t see herself living without him. His loyalty and love meant to her more than any lands or kingdoms.
She looked back at Xavier. He had broken her heart, but he had also killed for her. Not only that, he had given her the crown to her father’s lands and brought her friends unharmed. She could never choose between them. She was glad she didn’t need to. Still, she had to wait before she accepted him back in her life—and bed.
There was still someone else she needed to visit to make her happiness complete.
Alayah’s attention was caught in the movement of Xavier’s horse.
He stopped beside Silver. “I know I need to ask for your pardon, too. We were friends. More than that. I’m sorry for what I had to do. But I hope now that we are back together, we can be brothers again.”
Silver gave him a chilling side look. “Alay loves you, but I would stab you in a heartbeat for what you’ve done.”
“I had my orders, and not everything was fake between us. I changed because of the time I spent with you and our friends. You showed me what it means to be honorable. I left knowing that you’d take care of our girl.”
Alayah arrived by their side. “Just be friends again. I don’t want my future husbands to be arguing all the time. I liked it more when you were best friends.”
Silver sneered, and Xavier laughed.
“We’ll resolve this in a non-lethal combat once I talk with my father, and we leave for your new kingdom,” Silver said, glancing at Xavier but talking to Alay. “If that’s okay with Xavier.”
With a wide smile, Xavier tapped Silver’s shoulder. “That’s fine with me, brother.” Then, he added, “We’ll party after I win.”
“Don’t be so cocky, Xavier. We know I’m the best warrior and mage between the two of us,” Silver muttered.
“Stop with this nonsense. I don’t want any of you hurt,” Alayah said and pouted. “Do you want to break my heart again?”
Silver and Xavier’s faces changed from upset to worry.
Xavier held his closed fist against his heart. “My queen, it will be a harmless game between us. Something for us to bond over. Nothing that will put us in danger.”
Alayah narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want you to hurt his beautiful face!”
Xavier’s brows shot up. “And my beautiful face?”
“You are used to being bruised!”
“I’m much more handsome than him,” Xavier protested.
Alayah giggled. “You are both handsome. I love you two. You have different beauties. But nothing except my lips will touch my sweet Silver’s face.”
Silver smirked at Xavier, who rolled his eyes.
“Fine, I’ll leave the pretty boy alone,” Xavier muttered.
Silver slapped Xavier’s shoulder and pushed him with murderous eyes. “Only Alay can say I’m pretty and handsome and whatever other adjectives she wants to use to describe me. Not you, brother.”
“Ah!” Xavier pushed Silver’s hand back. “Always bickering, brother.” He smiled, even if he pretended to be mad.
Alayah laughed at their bickering. “I’ve missed this.” She rested her elbows on her saddle. “I’m so glad you are back together.”
“Xavier,” Silver said, “try not to embarrass me in front of my father.”
Chapter 42
Once the King of the Depths agreed to the marriage between Alayah and Denka Silver, Alayah left to her deceased father’s lands.
The trip was weary and long. Still, it was closer to Alayah’s objective of returning the Legacy Stone to the elders and to see the people she’d left behind. Especially her foster mother and Omin.
After the mandatory ceremony to be crowned queen and exchanging vows with Silver and Xavier, Alayah traveled to the Siren Island of Madeira to complete her quest. With her were the two surviving siren warriors—Lyra and Marina. Rose had decided to return to the Outpost with Dawes.
Being a queen made Alayah’s arrival different from what it should have been. She still had a parade, but instead of returning to her humble home, the king invited her to stay in the palace. There, she found out that the prince had returned, and everybody knew who he was. It was no surprise that Alay saw Corey sitting by the king’s side as the next one to rule. She still didn’t like him and also didn’t care if he was the prince or not. There were only two people she cared about in that kingdom, and none of them lived in the palace.
Leaving her consorts in the citadel, she roamed the streets of the poorest part of the kingdom above the water. Dressed as a commoner, she arrived at her former home. It looked almost the same, but she hoped that her foster mother was alive. The door wasn’t locked, so she entered and searched the rooms for the woman who’d raised her as a daughter when her real mother couldn’t.
“Nana,” Alayah called. “Where are you? I’m back home.”
She stepped into the garden and saw her nana with her back to her, near the fence, taking care of the plants.
“Nana.”
The woman turned around with wide eyes. The scissors in her hand fell on the floor, and she shrieked. “Alayah! My baby, you came back to me.”
Alayah ran into her arms and gave her a bear hug. “Momma, you look better. Are you feeling better?”
“I’m good, my child. I tried to go to the palace to see you, but they wouldn’t let me in.”
“I had no idea, Nana. Still, I came here to take you with me. We are leaving this place.”
“Leaving? To where?”
“Land. To my kingdom.”
Nana blinked in surprise. “Is it true then? You are a queen?”
Alayah nodded. “Will you come with me?”
“Yes.” She looked back. “But we need to take my plants.”
Alay giggled and caressed the woman’s cheek. “We’ll take anything you want, Nana. Now, I need you to tell me where Omin is. I went by his house, but it’s empty and looks abandoned.”
Nana tilted her head to the left. “Didn’t you see him in the palace?”
“Why would I see him in the palace? Was he promoted?”
“Omin is commander now. He spends a lot of his time in the tavern, though. He’s sad since you’ve left. I hope he becomes happier now that you are here.”
“Which tavern do you speak of?”
“The one next to the west wall. It’s not a place for a woman, though.”
“Don’t worry, Nana. I can take care of myself. Just start packing. I’ll send my servants to get your things this afternoon.”
“Okay, child.”
After kissing Nana, Alayah left to search for Omin. Her stomach twisted and turned as butterflies threatened to fly from her mouth. She didn’t know how he would react to seeing her. He had been a good friend and her first lover. She hoped that he still loved her, or she would be making a fool of herself for going after him and making good on her word.
The tavern was dimly lit when she entered. Pushing her cape down, she looked at the patrons, who stopped drinking to look at her. In the corner, she saw a group of soldiers. At the table, Omin was impossible to miss. His broad shoulders and ragged, long hair fell about his shoulders and covered his gold uniform.
“Omin,” she gasped, walking to him. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Omin got up with wide eyes. “Alay?” Walking to her, he grabbed her by her elbow and exited the tavern into the cold air. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you,” she gasped, unsure of why he gave her a cold stare and the lack of happiness in seeing her.
He halted in an alley. “You shouldn’t be here. Your place is in the palace … with your husbands.”
Alayah gulped and felt her limbs become stiff. “I can explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. You said you weren’t going to be a submissive siren. You wouldn’t be a concubine, either. Now, you are a queen, and it’s your birthright to have several husbands and … to leave this place.”
“Omin …” Her voice broke with sadness. “Let me explain.”
His eyes softened to the sight of her teary eyes. “Aren’t you happy?”
“I am, but I’m still missing something in my life.”
“Did you come here to bring the stone and get Nana?”
Alayah nodded.
“Then you’ve completed your mission and are a heroine like you always wanted. You have these people’s respect.”
“I came here to get something else,” she whispered.
Omin frowned. “What?”
Puckering her lips, she placed her hands on his strong chest. The chest that held her head the night before her departure. “I came here to get you. I made you a promise. I intend to keep it.”
“It was a silly promise.”
“You still remember?”
“I do. But now that you are queen … who am I?”
“You are Omin. My only friend, my lover, and future husband. I love you. Did you forget about me?”
He shook his head. “I thought you did. You married.”
“Yes. I love them, too. But you are my first love. My first lover. We share a connection that’s beyond physical, and I want you by my side.”
“Are you serious?”
Alay stood on her toes, so she could reach his mouth and kiss him. “I love you, Omin. Be mine.”
His arms surrounded her waist and pulled her up in his arms as if she was a little girl. In his embrace, she was small. He was huge and strong, but kind and careful with her like he’d always been.
Memories of their nights together came rushing to her mind. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“I’m sure you had plenty of other girls to entertain you,” she muttered, jealousy getting the best of her.
“I haven’t been with anyone else since you left. I just wanted to be with you. It broke my heart when I found out you’d married someone else. I didn’t think you would return to me.”
“I always keep my promises, and you said you would be one of my husbands, so I want you to keep yours.”
Omin smiled against her lips. “We’ll have to ask permission from the king, my father.”
“What?” She tilted her head back, breathless. “But, I saw the prince. You aren’t the prince.”
“I’m one of the princes. Corey is my older brother and the rightful heir to the throne. I’m the second born, and I can only hope that this isn’t a deal breaker for you.”
She caressed his cheek and smiled. “I fell in love with Omin, not the prince. I don’t care about your title. Still, my kingdom has every interest in having good political relations with yours. A marriage between us would be advantageous.”
Omin nibbled on her chin. “You might be right, but I fell in love with Alayah, the siren, not the queen. That’s the one I swear to protect against anyone that wants to harm her.”
His beard tickled her skin when he spread kisses down her neck.
“I don’t care about the political advantage of our marriage. I just want to make love to you before we leave for my palace. I’ve missed you.”
“I know a place,” he said with husky voice.
Minutes later, they were entering Omin’s old house. Omin pushed the objects aside and rushed to the bed where he laid Alay. As he kissed her and removed her clothes, she closed her eyes and enjoyed every single touch and caress of that huge, beautiful man who had chosen to love her with all his heart and soul. Her happiness would be complete as soon as she married Omin and returned to her kingdom with her three husbands and warriors.
EPILOGUE
The elders believed that the temple was built over an important ley line, a navigable path with spiritual meaning. There were thirteen temples and each temple needed their own stone to heal.
These temples had a direct connection with the earth’s energetic pathways and by replacing the stone, its power would generate and bring new life to the affected area. Once all of the stones were found and placed in the temples, life would once again blossom and a new era would be born. Most importantly, all the vortexes opened by the black magic would be closed. Without titans, the human race would be safe from extinction, and the original ecosystem could be rebooted. The planet would auto-regenerate and probably create new species in the future.
Once the elders of the Madeira Island placed the Legacy Stone in their temple, a bright red wave swept across the ocean floor and brought new life to the desert ocean. New reefs brimmed with corals, and different varieties of algae began growing again on the seabed. The titans disappeared after a few weeks. The spots of darkness that seemed to be portals to other dimensions were also gone.
Alayah and her team of sirens had concluded their mission. The young siren could now leave her old life as a commoner and assume her true identity as the empress of the Risen Ashes Empire. With her three husbands by her side, she had enough power to restore peace and create the necessary infrastructure to improve living in her small part of the world.
If peace endured, only the future would tell, but the existence of an evolved civilization under the Thalassan Ruins gave Alayah hope that, one day, the planet could be restored to its former glory and humans would live in peace by using technology to improve communication, produce more food to feed the growing population, spread knowledge, and give a healthy lifestyle to humans.
Being the ruler of a vast empire had never crossed Alayah’s mind. Yet, together with Omin, Silver, and Xavier, s
he knew that her heart was complete, and she could trust them with her own life.
THE END
Authors’ Note:
Siren’s Calling is currently a standalone story and it’s rather clean. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t wonder what would happen inside those walls. If only they could talk. *evil grin*
We really hope that you’ve enjoyed this story and had a great time reading about Alayah and the loves of her life. We are currently planning to release a few private chapters with the most fervent fans, if you are one of them, please consider signing up for a private list where we’ll be sharing, in 2019, exclusive content about this world, characters, and chapters that weren’t released.
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/b9h8w4
And if you really enjoyed this book, leave a review, tell us about it so we know that maybe a spin-off of these characters in a brand-new adventure isn’t so farfetched.
For now, there are more stories in the same world building, new Legacy Stones to be found. But there are also other books that we penned that are probably something that you would enjoy reading. If that is the case and you want to read more from us, please move to the More About the Authors section and check our websites.
Thank you for following us in this adventure.
Love,
Anna & Alyssa
More About the Authors
Alyssa Breck is a USA Today Bestselling author, an award-winning author of horror, paranormal romance, and erotic fiction.
She grew up reading Stephen King and V. C. Andrews. The Shining changed her life and sparked a love of all things scary, spooky, and spine-chilling. Add some romance to that, and she found her niche weaving paranormal and erotic romance stories. Alyssa lives in the south with her family and myriad pets.
Read More from Alyssa Breck
http://www.alyssabreck.com