by Toby Aden
Chapter Fourteen
Aaeren sat on the throne with Radisq seated beside him. His advisors and two of the most trusted council members stood close by as they all waited with abated patience for the guards to arrive with his uncle. Aaeren had been hard-pressed to deny the truth, but with evidence before him, his shock had gradually worn off to be replaced by blinding fury, which simmered just below the surface of his carefully shielded expression.
Soon, Rasputin came walking in like nothing was wrong with the world, seemingly oblivious to the simmering tension bristling in the room. The guards moved back with a nod from Aaeren, moving to ensure that no one left or entered the room.
“Aaeren, my boy, what can I do for you?” Rasputin asked with a smile hovering on his lips.
“Well, now, Uncle. It just occurred to me that my father’s death seemed a little bit too convenient and suspicious.”
“What do you mean? You think someone killed him?” Rasputin asked with a worried expression on his face.
Aaeren was seconds away from tearing the man’s head off his shoulders for the fake concern he could see on his uncle’s face. By the gods, he really wanted to kill the man with his bare hands, but he would play the game a bit longer until he could gain all the information he needed.
“That is my suspicion also, but just who would be bold enough to try such a treasonous act?” Aaeren stood and approached Rasputin, changed directions, and paced the ground.
“Who would do such a thing?”
Aaeren narrowed his eyes on Rasputin, turned, and nodded to his mate to hand him the wrapped daggers. Turning to face his advisors as well as Rasputin, Aaeren threw the daggers to the floor, making sure they were clearly visible to everyone present.
“It has been brought to my attention that that was the dagger intended for my mate. Care to explain yourself, Uncle?” Aaeren said, his voice cool and collected, hiding the depth of the anger surging through him even though he couldn’t disguise the disgust in muttering the word “uncle.”
“I was supposed to be king. It was my right,” Rasputin sneered, his demeanor changing as quickly as the wind.
“Your right? You were not fit for the job. All this time, you pretended as though you were okay with it. My father beat you fair and square at the challenge. Why now?”
“I will not sit back and watch Sarion’s brat take my place from me. I deserve to be king. I am firstborn after all.”
Aaeren shook his head in disbelief. “So you killed your own brother for this?”
“I have no objection to taking out whoever stands in my way. I am the rightful person for that throne and I will not give it up to you and this, this pathetic thing you call a mate…”
“Don’t you dare insult my mate, Rasputin.”
“Or what?” Rasputin cackled.
Moving with speed and taking them all off-guard, Rasputin grabbed the dagger and held Radisq in front of him. Rasputin tightened his hands around the smaller man’s throat in a punishing, surprisingly strong grip, uncaring as the dagger nicked into Radisq’s throat.
“Release my mate, Rasputin,” Aaeren snarled, anger pouring out of him in spades.
“You will relinquish your position and name me king or I will kill your mate where he stands.” Rasputin pointed the dagger at Aaeren, growling menacingly, with his hand glowing red with his heat energy against Radisq’s throat.
Radisq whimpered in pain, held immobile with fear. He had never been attacked before in his life, and that, coupled with the searing heat burning his throat, convinced him that any sudden movement on his part would tip off the crazy man and result in a lasting damage to his person.
Instinct to protect his child rose up in him, and instantly, Radisq began his struggles, trying to get free. But all that achieved was more damage to his body as singeing heat raced up and down his body. He cried out in pain, whimpering even as his full body shuddered with the sheer amount of pain racking through him.
“Stop, stop now. Or I will have no choice but to attack your spawn next,” Rasputin shouted.
Instantly, Radisq’s eyes widened and filled with paralyzed fear, and he went absolutely still. Rasputin cackled with laughter, his madness plain for everyone to see as he tightened his grip around Radisq’s neck and wrapped the other hand around Radisq’s middle to grip the distended stomach.
“Call your dogs off and do as I say unless you wish your mate dead,” Rasputin snarled, an eerily unsettling glow flashing in his eyes.
With a wave of Aaeren’s hand, the guards stopped in their tracks, watching the horror unfold with no way to defend their king’s consort.
“Let my mate go,” Aaeren ordered, burying the fear he felt gripping his chest as he watched his mate in the line of danger along with his unborn child.
With narrowed gaze, Aaeren focused his energy on Rasputin, imagining every cell in the man’s body rapidly heating up into a furnace. He knew Rasputin would have been able to sustain the heat and merge it into his own, but in order to get his mate free without hurting him, he turned the volume of the heat he was sending up until the heat consumed and overpowered Rasputin just enough for him to let his mate go.
Radisq scrambled away from the crazed man, moving rapidly toward his mate as he called upon his own energy to heal the burn marks around his neck. He hid behind Aaeren, allowing the guards to surround him protectively as he watched his mate battle with his uncle.
“Nooooo!” Rasputin screamed when he realized his leverage was gone.
Crazy with the desire for power, Rasputin started throwing fireballs every which way, directing it toward whoever it would hit. “You will not get me so easily,” the crazy man shouted, without giving up.
Radisq dodged a fireball, ducking for cover and allowing himself to be rapidly led out of the hall by the guards, who shielded him from any incoming attack. Soon, he was on the other side of the door, unable to see what was going on but safe and away from the line of fire.
Meanwhile in the room, Aaeren was blocking every single attack from Rasputin and throwing his own fireballs at his uncle, prepared to do whatever it took to bring the man down. Aaeren blasted Rasputin with several fireballs, directing his target in a calculated manner to weaken the other man as he also pushed in pain throughout the other man’s body.
Rasputin screamed in agony yet still refused to yield even as he went down. Snarling, Aaeren approached Rasputin, deflating the weak fireballs aimed toward him. His mind was occupied with only one calculated move, and that was killing the one who posed a threat to them all and avenging his father’s meaningless death.
The moment Aaeren reached Rasputin, he reached down and wrapped his hands around his uncle’s neck, pulling the man up until they stood face-to-face, with Rasputin hanging from Aaeren’s grip, forced to stay on his tiptoes as he struggled to be released.
“You are a worthless piece of garbage not fit to be king and you never will be. I will kill you for killing my father and harming my mate. It is over for you, Rasputin,” Aaeren growled, tightening his grip on Rasputin even as he drained the life out of the other man.
Not backing down, Aaeren stared into Rasputin’s eyes, locking gazes with the crazed man as he dealt him a slow death. Not once did he blink, until finally, Rasputin’s hands went limp and fell from his hold on Aaeren’s wrist. Once Aaeren was sure Rasputin was finally dead, he let the man fall with a thud onto the ground, turned around, and met the gazes of the other council members as they peered at him from their hiding place.
The hall was utterly destroyed all because of the greed of one man who could not accept the hand fate had dealt him. No matter how Aaeren looked at the situation, he could not find an ounce of sympathy for the dead man. He had been protecting his family and his people, and he would not regret his actions.
Taking in a controlled breath, he yelled for the guards and was immediately answered as they rushed in.
“Take the trash out of my sight and burn him. You are all dismissed.”
No on
e waited around to be told twice as they all scrambled away, the guards rushing the dead body out of the hall. Aaeren walked toward the dais and slumped onto the throne, swiping a hand over his weary face as he released a sigh.
Hands massaging his shoulder alerted him to the presence of another beside him but the scent of his mate told him who it was long before he even opened his eyes to look. Aaeren sighed again, pain evidence in his gaze.
“I’m sorry you had to go through this,” Radisq said, leaning forward to place a peck on Aaeren’s lips.
Aaeren shook his head, obviously not willing to talk yet. To have his suspicions confirmed had been more than a blow to everything he had ever known as a constant in his life. His father’s meaningless death combined with the lack of remorse on his pretending, fucked-up psychopathic uncle had been the worse yet. That the threat had been removed played a small part in appeasing him but the burning rage he still felt proved to be a problem he couldn’t deal with.
As though sensing Aaeren’s turmoil, Radisq pulled his mate up “Come on. I know just what you need.”
Aaeren allowed himself to be led out of the hall, trusting his mate but not himself to not fuck things up.
* * * *
“I never knew such a place existed here.”
Aaeren laughed, leaning back against his hands as he watched his mate. “I know how much you love the water—of course I would bring you to see it.”
Radisq snorted. “Only you had to show it to me when I am this big and can’t even do anything about it.”
Already, Radisq was five months along, his stomach taking up so much room that they had even begun to joke that they were having a monster instead of a fae child. During the months Radisq had been growing steadily bigger, he had become emotional over the slightest of things, often bursting into tears at the drop of a hat and worrying that Aaeren would not find him attractive anymore.
Aaeren had quickly quelled those fears by making love to him. In fact, everyone around them had learned to note the signs when the couples were about to get it on and flee whatever room they were occupying at the time.
On several occasions, Radisq had come to find his mate in a meeting with his advisors only for the meeting to be cut short and the advisors vacating at the speed of lightning. One time, they had not been quick enough and had almost gotten a show from their king.
As it turned out, neither of the two cared about whether or not they had an audience. They carried on wherever they could, christening the whole palace while everyone else had to clear the room when the mood struck the couple.
Another time, they had been dining with the family and Yves had been telling them about a commission he was working on. Arianna had been doting all over Radisq, the excitement of having a grandchild pouring out in spades when they had suddenly become frisky with each other.
Unable to resist the smoldering glances Radisq had been shooting his way, Aaeren had initiated the kiss, neither hearing the sigh Arianna heaved or even saw her as she walked out of the room. The chuckle from his normally quiet brother had almost gone unnoticed, almost but not quite.
They had soon been left alone though with a parting joke about how they were sure to burn the whole castle down and a retreating chuckle, leaving them to their frolicking.
“Sure about that?” Aaeren asked with a suggestive wiggle of his brow.
“I know where your thoughts are right now and I say no,” Radisq said and would have been taken seriously if not for the giggle.
“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking of it ever since we’ve been here,” Aaeren said with a mock glare.
They were both currently relaxing after having a nice picnic in view of the magnificent waterfall before them. The fall was totally and completely breathtaking, and Radisq had simply stared at it like a carrot dangling before him, unable to touch and enjoy it in his current condition.
“I’ll be extremely careful. And besides, it just finally occurred to me that we’ve done it in almost every room in the castle but never outside.” Aaeren waggled his brow at his mate, who he could see succumbing to his words and charms. “Want to be naughty with me?”
“By the gods, I never could say no to you,” Radisq said, finally giving in and chuckling when Aaeren pounced on him, attacking his lips in a soul-searing kiss.
Their tongues danced together—mouths meshing together, breaths mingling together, hands caressing each other, their bodies showing and proving the love each had for the other.
“I love you, mate,” Radisq whispered against the other man’s lips.
“I love you more,” Aaeren said and sealed their lips together.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Toby Aden has always had an overactive imagination. She is an avid reader who spends much of her time immersed in the world of romantic novels. After discovering the world of MM romance, she became irrevocably enthralled by it and decided to try her hand writing it.
You can find her here:
Website: www.tobyaden.wix.com/author
Blog: www.tobyaden.blogspot.com
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Twitter: @AdenToby
Email: [email protected]
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