“Where is your father?”
Pawl looked from the queen to me. “He’s dead.”
Queen Celene stood before him like a goddess from hell. She was shorter than Pawl, but much more formidable. “Don’t lie to me, boy. Where is your father? Where is Mykel?”
That stopped everyone in their tracks. Faith gasped.
The king? The dead king? She was saying King Mykel was Pawl’s father?
“Mom, you must be confused,” Trinity said. “This is Pawl. He’s Radella’s son. Lord Wyse’s grandson. His father was Danoth.”
“Bullshit,” she replied, not looking away from Pawl. “I want to see the DNA on that. This boy is the son of King Mykel. And he looks exactly like his father.” She turned away from Pawl and looked for Amandine. The elder had taken a seat at the table and was examining Pawl as if she’d never seen him before.
“Mom, he’s one of the guys who went to Earth and kidnapped you,” Trinity explained.
“My grandfather arranged it,” Pawl said. “I didn’t know why we were going. He only mentioned bringing an Aleran back from Earth. I had no idea it was a female until we arrived. And then we all had the portable transport beacons. Mine returned me here, to Mytikas. Everyone else”—he dipped his head indicating the queen—“went somewhere else. I had no idea.”
The queen pursed her lips and studied him, then looked to the elder cleric. “Aunt Ama? Do you see the resemblance to Mykel?” She ignored Pawl’s explanation.
“Yes,” Amandine replied. “I see it now. I can’t believe I was so blind.”
“He admitted to trying to seduce my mate, then kill her,” Leo said, stepping forward, hands in fists.
Pawl took a step back, as if the little bit of distance would keep Leo from pummeling him. “My grandfather spouted threats about my mother, told me if I didn’t help, that our enemies would kill her.”
“Who?”
“You!” he shouted. “He said you would kill her. I see now… and I’ve had plenty of time to think of it; he was twisted, mentally insane. He wanted me to fuck my…” He looked away, paled. “He wanted me to fuck and kill my half-sister. He knew… knew who she was.”
Bile rose in my throat and Trinity just stared wide-eyed. Yeah, that was a little gross.
The queen’s voice gentled, but not much. “I don’t think so, Pawl. No one knew the I was pregnant when I escaped. No one. Not even Mykel.”
“And we had no intention of hurting Radella,” Trinity added.
Pawl looked destroyed, now more than ever. Knowing Trinity was his half-sister had pushed him over the edge. “I see that now. All of it.”
Trinity stepped to Leo, took his arm. “Do not harm him. He is just another pawn.”
“I interrogated you,” Thor said, pointing at Pawl. “You admitted to helping in the kidnapping of the queen, of attempting to kill off all of the princesses.”
Pawl licked his lips, lifted his chin. “I did. I also admit to being used. My grandfather, my father, they were ruthless and cunning. Evil. I succumbed to their strength when all I wanted to do was protect my mother.”
I didn’t know if he was lying or not, but I had to believe Pawl would never intentionally fuck his half-sister, or kill her.
“Um, guys, we have a problem,” Faith said. I wasn’t sure when she’d picked up the small comm tablet, but she was looking down at it, Thor glancing over her shoulder. She glanced nervously at her mother. “Remember when Trinity said she’d reached out to Warden Egara, to have her find Dad and get him here?”
Mom nodded. So did Trinity.
“Warden Egara responded. From Earth.” She bit her lip and looked confused.
“Well? Did they find Dad or what?” Trinity asked.
“Yes.” She drew out the one syllable into two.
Destiny let out a whoop. “I knew the stupid feds wouldn’t catch him.”
I didn’t know who the stupid feds were, but it seemed people were unskilled on Earth.
“Is he on his way?” the queen asked.
“No. Not exactly.” Faith looked at her mother and the expression on her face was both confused and apologetic. “Warden Egara said Dad’s already here. She said he transported to Alera a week ago.”
The queen’s Earth… mate… husband had been here on Alera and no one knew? Destiny’s father was… where exactly?
Silence descended. Cold. Hard. Deadly.
The look on the queen’s face when she turned back to Pawl was murderous. “Where is he? What have you people done with my husband?”
Pawl flinched, but remained stoic. The look on his face wasn’t of defiance, but confusion. “I know nothing of this, Queen Celene. I have been in prison since the day Thor interrogated me.”
I was afraid I would have to step between the queen and our prisoner, but Destiny beat me to it, cutting off her mother’s advance and saving me from the difficult choice. With her arm out, she halted the woman’s steps. “Mom, calm down. We need him alive. Dead men tell no tales, remember. That’s why he’s here. Everyone else is dead. And we learned some stuff. A little incestuous and creepy, but still, new stuff.”
Queen Celene’s gaze held a combination of rage and terror I well understood. I’d felt the same anytime Destiny was in danger.
As my queen, I would have been honor bound to let her pass. Allow her to slice Pawl’s throat, if she so desired. But as Destiny’s mate, I had a duty to discover the truth so I could protect her from our enemies. Not her enemies. Ours.
If they threatened my mate, I would destroy them all.
But we needed Pawl alive to find them.
“Princess Destiny is correct, My Queen,” I offered. “We need him alive.”
And I felt a tiny bit sorry for the fucker.
After several tense seconds, the queen walked back to the table and sat down. “He’s not the only one. I want Radella brought to me.” She poked her finger at the table, her voice full of command. “Now. I don’t care if you have to drag her out of her bed, drag her naked through the streets, put her in chains. Bring her to me. Now.”
Captain Turaya shoved Pawl in my direction and I took hold of his upper arm, holding him motionless so he posed no threat to anyone in the room. He couldn’t do much with the restraints, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try, even as broken as he appeared to be from the latest revelations.
Before he could move, a loud boom sounded behind my mate. She turned, weapon drawn. Thor spun, shoved Faith behind his back. Leo grabbed Trinity and pushed her to the floor. Captain Turaya jumped in front of the queen.
We stood, weapons raised, facing the newly forming opening in the wall.
No, the secret tunnels. Fuck. We were under attack.
“Not again.” Captain Turaya had his weapon drawn, his face grave, and I realized this was how the attack on the queen had happened all those years ago. They’d used the tunnels. Just as Zel had used them to try to harm Trinity.
“We should seal those fucking tunnels,” I told the captain.
“Too late for that now.” He moved forward and I’d had enough. I shoved Pawl to the ground, set my knee in his back.
“If you move from this spot I will kill you myself.” Pawl nodded his agreement and remained still as I moved closer to the queen. In this moment, I had to trust Destiny to take care of herself. I had a job to do. I was a queen’s guard, and even being Destiny’s mate did not release me from that duty. “Stand behind me, My Queen.”
6
Nix
A small white garment placed on the end of a stick emerged from the door. Captain Turaya fired and struck true. The fabric caught on fire.
“Wait!” Destiny yelled the order and we all froze, unmoving. “They’re waving a white flag!”
“What the hell?” Trinity peeked out from behind Leo’s back. When he put his hand on her head and shoved her out of the line of danger, she weaved and popped out the other side. I heard his growl of protest.
“What is this white flag?” I asked.
> “It’s an Earth thing.” Destiny spoke loudly, but didn’t take her eyes, or her ion blaster, off the gaping entrance to the room. “All right. White flag. You surrender. We won’t fire. Come out with your hands up.”
Lady Radella walked forward with her arms raised, palms forward. She lumbered awkwardly, one high-heeled shoe on her left foot, her right foot bare. Her fine yellow gown was stained and torn, as if she’d been shoved to the ground many times over. Her face was tear-streaked, but her gaze was defiant and filled with hate. Irrational. Burning hot.
Lady Radella? What the fuck?
Behind was a man I’d never seen before, but based on Destiny’s reaction, I knew instantly who he was. Her father. Adam. From Earth.
He shoved Lady Radella farther into the room and she stumbled. She didn’t look happy. In fact, she looked miserable. I wasn’t sure where the danger rested with the duo.
“Dad!” Destiny put her gun down and ran toward him, leaping into his arms as she’d never leaped into mine. Jealousy reared its ugly head, but I bit it back. He was her father. Of course, she loved him. He had raised her to be strong. A warrior. He had helped her become the perfect female for me.
Lady Radella kept walking, moving slowly toward the table. She collapsed into a seat next to Amandine as if she had every right to be seated there. As far as I knew, she did.
“Adam!” The queen stepped forward, but I put out one arm to stop her progress, keeping her close enough that I could place her behind me in an instant if things went bad. The shocked look on her face as she looked at her mate had me far from relaxed. She did not look nearly as happy, nor as accepting, as her daughter. “Adam?” she repeated. “What is going on here? Why are you with… Radella? Why are you with her in the tunnels?”
“Mother, are you all right?” Pawl shouted from the floor, but there was no way he was getting up to help her. His concern for his mother was evident, but my threat held, and he was smart enough to know I’d meant what I said. If he moved, I’d blast him.
Destiny released her father and he set her gently aside.
The man looked to the queen. “Celene, babe, I can explain everything.”
Babe? Was that an earth endearment? Because the queen was a female fully grown. She was not an infant.
Celene pursed her lips, clearly displeased. Ah, I’d seen that look from her daughter as well. “Don’t babe me. You’ve been on Alera a week. Start talking.”
He moved forward and the queen nudged my hand, the one holding my blaster. “Nix, if he takes one more step, shoot him.”
“Yes, my queen.” I raised the weapon, held it steady, despite Destiny’s strangled cry. She moved her body to stand between her father and my weapon.
“Nix, no!”
“Move, Destiny,” I replied, my voice steely.
“Mom! This is Dad we’re talking about here! What the fuck?”
“Move, Destiny.” Her mother issued the order this time, and Destiny put her hands on her hips in refusal.
“Nix, can you still take the shot?” the queen asked.
Faith and Trinity hadn’t moved, only gasped when they saw their father. But they seemed as stunned as I was with all that was happening. The queen said Pawl looked like the long-dead king. The tunnel door was open and hanging from its hinges. Radella looked like she’d seen better days and then an Earthling appeared. Not just any Earthling, the queen’s Earth male and my mate’s father.
I judged the distance, the margin of error, the placement of Destiny’s head in proximity to her father’s. It would be close. Goddess damn it. “Yes.” If I had to. If it was life or death.
“Excellent,” the queen replied, clasping her fingers together in front of her. Captain Turaya moved to her side, ready to defend her in this room yet again. Leo hovered by Trinity and Faith still. Thor had his hand on his mate’s shoulder, who had come out from behind him when she discovered the threat was her father, but Thor looked ready to tug her behind him once again if needed.
“Now, Adam, start explaining.” She looked at Radella. At Pawl, who was still on the floor. Back to her Earthling mate. “All of this.”
But it was Amandine who spoke. I’d completely forgotten her presence. “Well, I can start,” she said. “His name isn’t Adam. He is Lord Buchan Adamos Cray. Born and raised on Alera. He is Aleran, Celene. I knew him as a boy. Knew his father.”
That completely deflated my mate. “What?” She stepped out of the way of my shot and stood facing the man she’d known only as her father for her entire life. Her Earth father. “What? Dad? You’re Aleran?”
“Dad!” Faith yelled, narrowing her eyes in a mix of hurt and confusion.
Holy fuck. What was going on here?
Destiny looked lost. It was in her eyes. Nowhere else. But I knew. When she moved across the room to stand next to me, she nudged Pawl on the floor with her boot as she moved behind him, blaster aimed at his face. “Sit up. Your Mommy is here, and you all have some fucking explaining to do.”
Pawl wiggled about, but it was near impossible for him to do as commanded with his wrists restrained. I reached down, grabbed him by the biceps and hoisted him to his feet.
Trinity stepped in front of him, poked him in the chest. “You should be very thankful the consort got in my bed instead of you.”
“No kidding,” he muttered and actually shuddered. The idea of what he’d almost done had settled in.
Leo came up to her and tugged her back, his gaze murderous on Pawl. I didn’t blame him one bit. I was also impressed with his restraint. Punching a guy with his arms restrained wasn’t honorable.
The queen motioned to Captain Turaya. “I agree. Put them together. Send guards down that tunnel. I don’t want any more surprises.”
In less than a minute, a full contingent of guards had disappeared down the secret tunnel and all three of our captives were seated on one of the sofas, Pawl next to his mother on the small sofa and Destiny’s father, Lord Cray on an ottoman several feet away from the other two. They were surrounded, and every single one of us was armed. Even Trinity, who just glared at Leo when he tried to talk her out of holding an ion blaster pointed at her stepfather.
I knew women who’d been scorned were quite angry, but four of them? And with ion pistols? I almost felt sorry for the male. Almost.
Destiny’s father held up his hands, palms out, and attempted to placate his mate. I could see no evil in his eyes, no darkness. Only a mate who had done something wrong and had to grovel to get back in her bed.
This should be entertaining.
“Celene, babe, there is so much you don’t know.”
“Start talking.” The queen paced around the entire group in a circle, firing off questions. “Where is King Mykel?”
“Dead.”
“Bullshit,” she said, pointing at Pawl. “His son is sitting right there.”
Beside me, Destiny tensed but said nothing.
“Conceived a full month before Trinity, babe.” I noticed he didn’t disagree that King Mykel was Pawl’s father. “Radella was already pregnant during your mating ceremony to Mykel.”
“What?” Trinity’s outrage spoke for all, all but the queen, who looked coldly furious. “Oh shit, Pawl really is my half-brother.”
“Wait,” Thor said. “I thought he was born a few years after the queen disappeared. That’s what I’d heard.”
Everyone looked to Pawl, who obviously had no idea since he’d been a baby, then Radella.
“Mykel was dead. My father married me off to Danoth and we lived far from Mytikas for a time. If anyone questioned Pawl’s age upon our return, and it was only off by less than a year, no one said anything.”
Holy. Fuck. I looked to the prisoner who looked just as stunned.
Lord Cray, Adam from Earth, Destiny’s father, shifted and looked at Lady Radella. “Tell the truth, or by the goddess I will flay you alive and enjoy the killing.” His tone of voice was one I recognized. Deadly. “And then I’ll do the same to your son.”
>
That broke her and the woman began to cry. “I hate you. I hate all of you.”
“There’s a shocker.” Faith’s arms were crossed, her foot keeping time to some invisible rhythm only she could hear. Thor still stood directly beside her, but seemed to recognize her “hands off” vibe. “So, what? You were having an affair with the king, got knocked up with his kid, and then decided life would be great if you could kill off Mom and keep the leftovers?”
“It wasn’t an affair, we were mated!” she wailed. “My father wanted the throne. He knew Mykel was my mate. He’d been awakened by me and he’d soothed my Ardor. And he knew you”—she looked at the queen with pure hatred—“you wouldn’t be able to resist him. He was so handsome. So skilled in bed. You had your own Ardor to ease and you fell in love with him like a stupid little girl.”
“And what was your father’s plan, Radella? Tell them the rest.” Destiny’s father taunted her now. She was enraged, but knew she was caught. Venom was spewing from her lips in her final attack.
“I was pregnant with Pawl. We knew you would be too young and stupid to see the truth. So he was supposed to kill you, Celene.” She pushed her tangled hair back from her face. “It was going to be an accident, of course.”
“And after I was dead, what?” she asked. “You were going to step in and claim him as your mate? Steal my throne?” The queen leaned down close. Too close and I took a step forward. “The citadel didn’t accept you, cousin. No spire lit when you went within and it tasted your blood. The people never would have accepted you.”
“They already did.” Radella lifted her chin and glared at the queen. Then she looked to Destiny’s father. Her gaze turned feral. “But he ruined everything! He was supposed to be dead. Mykel promised me he was dead.”
“He who?” Celene asked.
“Your mate. Your real mate.”
“Me.” Destiny’s father rose to his feet and none of us stopped him. “You were mine, Celene. I was in the palace on a training mission and my body awakened for you. One look and it was over for me. You were mine. Mykel was my commander in the royal guard. I told him first, too young and stupid to keep my joy to myself.”
Ascension Saga, Book 9: Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga Page 6