by Ivy Asher
22
“Are you thirsty or hungry?” Marn asks me as we make our way up a massive staircase. “Grier always liked caro water and zah. Would you like caro water?” she presses.
“I’m okay,” I tell her politely. I have no idea what either of those things are, but I couldn’t eat or drink with my stomach all in knots the way it is right now.
“You guys want anything?” I ask Bastien and Knox. They just shake their heads as they look around.
We’ve toured the elaborate stadium sized main floor and are now venturing into the upper levels of the First Palace. They don’t call it that, of course, but a spade is a fucking spade. I’m pretty sure the railings are solid gold, and everything about this place is well past over-the-top. They open the door to a room on the right, and my eyes light up with recognition and excitement.
“Grier insisted we have it close by her room. She said it helped her think when she moved and pushed herself,” Tok tells me, and I take in the combat equipment in the room.
It’s not state of the art punching bags and combat dummies like my space back home is, but it’s the Sentinel version of all that. Padded poles in all sizes and heights, pulleys that would make targets move, another large mechanism that looks like it would refine agility, all fill the room, and an odd sense of giddiness and belonging trickles through me. I can picture a girl in here working out her frustrations, and I feel a sense of camaraderie with my mother that I’ve never felt before outside of us both being Sentinels.
Tok closes the door and leads me further down the large hall. He opens another large gold door, and he and Marn show me into a room that’s light and airy with pastel colors. There’s feminine touches in the bedding and wall fabrics, but other things, like well-used targets spread out on the walls, give me a peek at the depth of the woman who grew up in this room.
“This is Grier’s room,” Marn tells me reverently, confirming my hunch.
She runs her hand over a dressing table lovingly and blinks away the emotion I see pooling in her eyes.
“We’ve kept it ready, just in case,” Tok informs me as he studies the space. “We’ve arranged for your belongings, which should arrive shortly, and if there’s anything else you need in here, just let us know and we’ll get it sorted,” he tells me matter-of-factly, and I choke on a cough again.
“Say what?” I ask as I slap a fist to my chest in an effort to clear my airway of shock.
“You’ll be staying with us now,” he declares, and I study his face for a beat, not sure what to say about that.
“You are of the First House and should be here with your family, where we can protect you and guide you. The Sovereign’s castle is not your place yet, and until it is, this is where you should be,” he adds.
“I don’t have any belongings,” I croak out awkwardly, shooting Bastien and Knox an uneasy glance.
I don’t know if I want to stay here. I especially don’t know if I want to stay in my dead mother’s old room. I want to spend time in it and get a feel for her, but sleep here? I look over at the bed and realize it will fit me and about one and a half of my Chosen. Yeah, that’s not going to work.
“Well, then moving you here won’t be too difficult,” Tok tells me with a smile, answering my previous statement.
“Um...how are my Chosen supposed to stay here? The bed wouldn’t fit…” I trail off, not sure how to say, yeah this room is not right for me.
“Your Chosen…” Marn repeats, trailing off as she glances at Knox and Bastien and then quickly looks away. “Right, yes. Your Chosen. We can arrange accommodation for them in the guest wing,” she adds, quickly sharing a look with Tok that I can’t discern.
“Oookay,” I answer, feeling like I’m missing something. “We can stay in the guest wing, that’s not a problem. I’ll need space for my Shields too though,” I add.
“You all will stay in the guest wing?” Marn questions, looking from me to Grier’s room, like she’s searching for the reason I wouldn’t want to stay in here.
Shit.
“Yeah, well, I stay with my Chosen. So if they’re in the guest wing, then I’m good to be there too,” I explain, hoping it’s enough and doesn’t hurt her feelings.
“Right, that’s totally understandable,” Tok states and pulls Marn into his side. “We can get all of that arranged for you,” he reassures me, and I give him a small smile.
“Well, it’s getting late, and you must be starving. Let’s go down for some dinner, shall we? We had the cooks prepare Illish which is Grier’s favorite. I’m sure you’re just going to love it,” he tells me as he guides Marn out the door.
I turn to Knox and Bastien and make a face. Illish, I mouth to them, and Bastien pretends to get the shivers.
“You okay?” Knox asks me and opens his arms.
I step into them, and he surrounds me with his strong hold that helps me feel centered.
“Yeah...they seem nice,” I observe. “It’s just weird, I guess,” I admit.
Knox kisses the top of my head as I nuzzle against his chest.
“Go easy on yourself, Bruiser. There’s no rush to build bonds, it will take time,” Bastien tells me, and I nod my head in agreement.
“If you don’t want to stay here…” Knox starts.
“Here, the castle, it doesn’t really matter to me. I just don’t want to stay in my mother’s old room. That feels kind of wrong in a way,” I tell them. I’m probably not making a ton of sense, but Bastien and Knox nod their understanding, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Grier...I mean...Vinna, are you coming down for dinner?” Tok asks me, and I look up from my hug with Knox.
Tok runs his gaze over our position, and I get the impression that he’s uncomfortable with the display of affection.
“Yeah, coming,” I say, stepping out of Knox’s comforting embrace.
I move to follow Tok out the door. “So what exactly is Illish?”
“Can you see my ass crack?” I whisper to Knox as he tightens the ties on the new red-grape colored armor he’s been given. I swear these Sentinel clothes are spelled to fit somehow, or these people are hella good at guessing sizes.
Knox looks back at my ass, and I stick it out a little so he can be extra sure. Marn and her people jacked my black armor, my sports bra and my underwear when I was changing into the dress they shoved into my hands and told me I had to wear.
“No crack is visible to me,” he reports, and then he slaps my ass. “Your nipples however are going to be an issue,” he adds, running the back of his hand against one of the hardened peaks.
I slap his hand away and look down. Yep, that’s going to be a problem. Nipping out in front of my newly introduced grandparents has to be some kind of major faux pas. I cover my breasts with my hands and glare at Knox and Bastien as they both chortle.
I grumble as I move back toward the large mirror leaning in the corner and try to see if there’s another way to wrap this dress so that I don’t become an utter embarrassment to myself and my newfound family. The dress is a deep plum and has a very Grecian feel to the fabric and style. The material is very thin and very soft, but it shows a lot. It wouldn’t have been my first pick for a night with the relatives, but Marn gave it to me, so I’m stuck.
I’ve officially lived in the house of the First for less than twenty-four hours. It’s been nice getting to know Tok and Marn. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about things my mom got up to and her accomplishments. So far it’s been really nice, all very surface level, but nice. Things are still stiff, but that’s bound to be par for the course as we both figure each other out. I figure as we get more comfortable with each other, the more they’ll tell me about what happened. I haven’t wanted to push for too much information, but I’m dying to get into the deep shit of how Grier ended up where she did.
I haven’t seen Tok and Marn much today. They announced at breakfast that they were throwing a party for me tonight, and since then, they’ve been fluttering around dealing wit
h that. A little down time has been nice. I want to hear about Grier and her life, but I think it’s hard on Tok and Marn too. They call me Grier a lot, and I can tell that they really miss her.
A tentative knock sounds on the door, and I look to make sure Bastien and Knox are both decent.
“Come in,” I shout out as I attempt to flatten my annoying nipples. I don’t think touching them is doing anything other than motivating me to figure out how I can get either Knox or Bastien alone in a bathroom somewhere, so I stop.
The door to the room we’ve been left in swings open, and in walks Marn and two other females. They all have full hands, and I watch as two of them set brushes and other things down at a table, and Marn makes her way over to me. Her eyes light up and fill with emotion.
“You look stunning, Vinna,” she tells me, and her voice cracks as she says my name.
She quickly clears it and offers me a sweet smile. “This dress was your mothers,” she informs me, and my eyes go wide with surprise.
Marn pulls on a long chain around her neck until a locket is revealed. She unclasps the jewelry from around her neck and hands it to me. “Open it,” she encourages, so I do.
The round silver locket clicks open. Both sides separate from one another and reveal an image of a woman that really does look a lot like me. I study her face. Her skin was darker than mine, her hair lighter with a wavy texture mine gets when it dries naturally. Her eyes were the teal of her father’s. Her lips, thinner than mine, are turned up into a breathtaking smile. When I saw Lachlan and was told he was my father’s identical twin, I thought I clearly looked like my father. But as I stare at the picture of my mother, I realize I’m a good mix of both their coloring and features.
Breath whooshes out of me as I stare at her. I stumble back until the back of my legs hit something, and I sit down hard. Bastien barely gets the chair underneath me as I plop down, saving me from ass planting, but all I can do is stare at Grier in the palm of my hands.
My throat grows tight, and I can tell from the sniffling in the room that I’m not the only one affected by this moment. I’m quiet for a long time as I battle the grief that tries to leak out of me. I swipe at a stray tear that defies my order to fuck off and battle the others that are pricking to come out.
“I’ve never seen her before,” I admit finally, and those words become an unknown key that unlocks so much pain.
I lose the war with my tears, and they stream down my face unhindered. Finally I have a face to replace Beth’s in my mind when I think of the term mother. I haven’t called Beth that ever, and yet when I think of the word, it was always her face that popped up unbidden. Beth’s image mocked me and tainted that word for so long. I had no way to combat it. Now I do.
I caress my mom’s face, and I can’t help but wonder again what life would have been like if we could have just been together. Like Marn can read my thoughts, she sits down next to me and starts to speak.
“Grier was a good baby. Smart and kind and obstinate,” she tells me with a sniffle and a warm smile. “When she got it in her mind to do something, it was as good as done. Whether it be rearranging all the pots and pans in the kitchens as a child or going off in search of her Chosen when she was grown. Your Tok and I learned there was no talking her out of anything. If she had decided, all we could do was hope for the best.”
I smile and hear Knox give a snort like he’s commiserating with Marn. Marn laughs and wipes at her distant eyes, like she can see it all playing out in her mind like a movie. She always looks like this when she talks about her daughter, and I feel for her.
“Grier was our only, I know we’ve told you that, but she was more than enough. She was always training and pushing and searching for more. It didn’t surprise us that she volunteered to go out in the world. We saw it as one last adventure where she could find her Chosen and then come back and lead our people into a new age. She was primed and ready to take on the role of Sovereign, but she never sparked for any of the Sentinels here, and she needed mates to help lead and carry on her line.”
My gaze shoots to Marn in surprise. She just nods her head, sadly confirming my unvoiced question.
“She was the first girl our line had seen in almost seven-hundred years. Our people are always led by the females, and it was known that as soon as our House bore a girl, she would take back the throne from the House of the Second, who served as stewards while we waited for the rightful bond-laced heir to be born. When she didn’t return, we were devastated, not only on a personal level, but the people she was meant to lead would remain lost without her.”
Marn reaches over and strokes the image in the locket fondly. “But now she’s left us you, and I don’t need to consult a Bond Weaver to be certain that this is just as it’s meant to be.” I open my mouth to ask what that means, but Marn stands up and does that same loud clap thing that Tok did yesterday. I jump once again and almost drop the locket.
“That’s enough of a stroll down memory lane for now. We’ll have plenty of time to do that later. Tonight is about celebrating that you’ve come home to us and all is not lost.” She gives me a huge smile and picks up something one of the ladies set on the table. “Now let’s get you ready to meet your people properly.”
She shuffles over to me and holds up what looks like an armored corset. “That is yours now, my dear,” she tells me, gesturing to the locket.
“I can’t take this from you,” I argue and reach out in an effort to hand it back.
“Nonsense. I won’t hear of it. I am your Marn, and you will mind me,” she scolds me playfully, and I give her an awkward smile, not sure what the hell to say to that.
“Go on, you should have that,” she insists again, and I give up and place the long chain around my neck.
The locket is hidden low in my cleavage, and the silver chain is somewhat hidden in the V of the neck of the dress. Marn manhandles me until I’m up out of the chair and once again facing the mirror. She’s fucking strong for an old ass lady, I’ll give her that. The thought has Getta’s face popping up in my head, and I wonder if Sentinels get stronger and faster with age?
Marn and another lady reach around my waist and place the plum colored, braided leather corset around my torso. It cinches all the soft flowing fabric around my torso and chest. The deep purple leather adds a very kickass vibe to the otherwise flowy feminine dress, and I approve. As they tie the corset tighter, it sits just below my breasts, pushing them up. The fabric at my boobs gathers, helping to hide my nipple situation—thank fuck. One shoulder is covered by the gauzy plum colored fabric, and the other shoulder is completely bare showing off my runes.
I look like a Grecian goddess who couldn’t decide if she was ready to party or battle. I like it. Well, maybe not the slit that runs up one side and into the bottom of the corset. One of the other women with Marn bats my hand away when she sees me trying to pull the slit sides of the fabric together.
“You need to show off those runes, not hide them,” she scolds me.
I grumble my disagreement but stop fucking with the bottom of the dress. My hair is parted, a braid wrapped around my head like a headband, and the remaining strands swept up in a textured bun at the back of my neck. It all makes me look older and more sophisticated than I am. I’m sure the illusion will be ruined as soon as I drop my first fuck amidst Tierit’s finest Sentinels. Or, as Tok and Marn keep referring to them, my people.
Another knock sounds at the door, and this time when it opens, my heart goes mental. Valen, Sabin, Torrez, Siah, and Ryker all are practically shoved into the room. I stand up from the chair I’ve been pinned in while they do my hair and bat at one of the ladies when they try to get me to sit back down.
Wolf whistles fill the air, and heat fills my Chosen’s eyes. I smile and do a quick twirl, making sure the image of me in this dress gets seared into their brains. I point to the slit.
“Maybe this won’t be as annoying as I thought,” I announce as I picture any one of them sweeping the fab
ric aside for easy access.
“Dibs!” echo around the room, and Marn makes a choking cough sound at my implication.
I give her a quizzical look. Her and Tok keep doing that whenever I’m affectionate, and it’s really something they need to get over. “I have seven Chosen; what did you think I did with them?” I ask her, and she turns red and titters awkwardly.
I study her, confused. She had a baby, for crying out loud, what’s there to blush about?
“Well, your Chosen have their clothing there on the bed. Please get changed and make your way to the gathering room. Guests are arriving as we speak.” With that, Marn nods at the other two ladies, and they rush out of the room.
“Nice to”—the door clicks shut—“see you again,” Torrez states.
“Careful, they get jumpy when we try to talk to them,” Knox teases, and Valen laughs.
“How was the tribunal?” I ask.
I’ve been worried all day since their summons came early this morning.
“Hostile,” Siah reveals.
“They weren’t happy that Bastien and Knox weren’t there. We explained that we weren’t going to leave you unprotected and they could call Bas and Knox another day, but that didn’t go over so well,” Ryker explains.
“They asked us what your Shields were even for. We just said extra protection, but I don’t know if they’re buying it,” Valen adds.
I take a deep breath and go to run my fingers through my hair. I remember just in time that it’s up and fancy and drop my arms to my sides instead.
“I’ll talk to Tok and Marn tomorrow. I’ll tell them about Sorik and explain Vaughn and his situation. We’ll just have to hope they stay quiet about it. We can get him and Sorik moved over here, then the Shields won’t have to guard them at the castle separately, and no one will be the wiser,” I lay out and hope it all goes so easily.