by Zoey Ellis
“Your Majesty?”
Emric’s voice penetrated Malloron’s thoughts. He cleared his throat, leaning forward on the table between them. “What did you say?”
“The number of citizens at the gates have increased. We cannot get supplies in or out of the castle city now—the people have stopped attacking but the sheer number of them make it immensely difficult.”
Malloron held in a grunt of frustration. As expected, the Western Lands was in an uproar about Malloron’s overthrow of all of the rulers in every country. While Malloron had been thoroughly enjoying Amara in her Haze, each ruler had been taken through portals back to Eiros castle. This was exactly what was planned; however, Malloron's absence after the rulers had been captured had not. He was supposed to have sent out a broadcast to reassure the Western Lands’ citizens that he was now the ruling power and that they were all now citizens of Eiros, the name he was extending to the entire Western Lands. But that had not been what happened. Instead, citizens witnessed strange men capturing their rulers and killing their Talent-crafters. It had caused mass panic.
Emric pursed his lips and raised his blue eyebrows. “Have you thought about addressing them?”
Malloron shook his head firmly. “Not yet. There is still time.”
The rumor that spread about Malloron's queen was the only thing that stopped the entire Land descending into civil war. Many citizens had traveled to Eiros to camp out at the city gates to get answers. While they wanted reassurance that Malloron would protect their well-being, some of them were calling for Malloron to declare his intentions for the Western Lands now that they’d been left without their ruler. And everyone wanted to know whether there truly was a powerful queen.
Malloron refused to say or confirm anything. He needed to think things through, but Amara was making that difficult.
“Do you have a plan for the rulers?” Emric asked tentatively. “I fear the longer you do nothing, the worse it will get out there. We can always use portals to transfer goods if we need to, but in the meantime it is likely to get pretty brutal out there.”
“They need to be made an example of,” Malloron said firmly, lifting his goblet from the table.
“Yes,” Emric said slowly, “but if you kill them, the citizens will certainly revolt, Your Majesty.”
“Maybe, but they will not be able to keep it up forever,” Malloron said. “They will suffer long before anyone in this castle will.”
Emric hesitated. “Do you intend to kill all of the rulers? Even the ones who weren’t involved in Brecc’s plan?”
“None of them sought to punish him for his actions,” Malloron bellowed, slamming his goblet down on the table. “Not even when they found out about the attack on Eiros. All they were concerned about was what I was doing! They chose to disrespect me when they all came to this castle and made demands.”
Emric bowed his head. “I understand, Your Majesty,” he murmured. “What would you like me to do?”
Malloron took a long drink of his ale as he thought. With the land in its current state, he needed to show the citizens that he was a capable and strong leader, willing to go as far as it took to uphold the Visant family line and lead the people of Eiros. And there was still the matter of recovering his grandfather’s research. “Prepare them for questioning. All of them.”
As Emric left, Malloron’s mind, of course, returned to Amara. The healer he had sent in hadn’t been much help—she simply confirmed that Amara and the babies’ physical health were fine and explained that Amara felt he needed to be with her more. But he wasn't sure whether he could put too much emphasis on what Amara said about Omega pregnancy. The whole point of sending the healer in was to give him guidance on how much he could hold back, both physically and emotionally, without damaging her and the children, but the healer simply assured him to follow his instincts. Completely fucking useless advice. When he threatened to slit her throat for her lack of knowledge, she shakily pointed out that she had been with the family for a long time and there was no other who would be able to serve him with the knowledge and history of his family that was required. That was, of course, true. Even though the healer wasn’t aware of the tenebris, she had overseen his birth and the birth of his siblings. Her experience was invaluable to ensure the health of his children.
Malloron exhaled heavily as he got to his feet. He wasn't sure if he could truly stay away from Amara; last night when he had kept himself absent, he’d almost gone crazy. He had once again stood outside her bedroom door, leaning against the frame, trying to talk himself out of going in while her guards stood on either side of the doorway. He couldn't keep doing that. He was king. He couldn't show that kind of weakness for his queen.
There was no doubt he would have to see her tonight, but in the meantime, he needed to make sure that she was safe and healthy. He went to Amara's old bedroom and collected the books he had left there for her to read about Omegas. Surely there had to be something in there that he could learn from, and if not, the only other person he could potentially ask was Emperor Drocco, but that had to be a last resort. Drocco would most certainly not approve of Malloron's decision to hold back from his Omega, and he didn't need his ridiculous righteousness getting in the way of what Malloron needed to do to secure the safety of everything he had been working for.
He headed down the corridor and entered another meeting room. The two women inside jumped to their feet, startled.
“I don’t understand why we have been bought here, Your Majesty,” Elion’s future wife said.
Malloron swept through the room, barely looking at Kyus as he headed to the servant girl, who still clutched her potion bowl like her life depended on it. “I did not ask you to come,” he shot at Kyus.
“Anywhere she goes, I go,” Kyus snapped back, pointing at the servant. “And I cannot understand why you need the potion anyway, you have bonded with Amara, haven’t you?”
“I want to use the potion to suppress the feeling of the bond,” he said to the servant girl. “Can that be done?”
The girl glanced at Kyus who took a sharp breath in. She stormed to stand in front of Malloron, edging the girl out of the way.
“What have you done to Amara?” she demanded, her eyes blazing. “If you have hurt her—”
“Be careful of your tone when speaking to me,” King Malloron bellowed. “Do not think I have forgotten what you are.”
The woman clamped her mouth shut, but her eyes were filled with hatred.
Malloron turned back to the servant girl. “Can you?”
The girl’s eyes flicked between him and Kyus. She cleared her throat. “The potion is only for head trauma, Your Majesty. It cannot penetrate deep enough into the body on the energetic level it would take to impact a soul-bond.”
“What is your name?” Malloron asked her.
“Shaya.”
“Shaya, you have three days to figure out a solution,” Malloron ordered.
“And how is she going to test it?” Kyus bit out. “All potions need testing to ensure they don’t—”
But Malloron was already heading for the door. “Anything you need, ask my assistant,” he said to Shaya. Turning to Kyus he said, “You are welcome to help her but if you get in the way, you will be removed.”
He slammed the door shut without waiting for a response. If they could dim the effect of the bond on him, then he would be able to focus on what he needed to.
“Your Majesty.”
Malloron turned to see Emric rushing down the corridor. “What is it?”
“Duke Valinor is asking for the queen,” Emric said, somewhat bewildered. “He says they spoke while Brecc was holding her in the prison. He said she argued in favor of your rule, and she is the only one he will speak to.”
Malloron bristled. “He's lying.”
“He knows her name,” Emric insisted. “And he can describe her quite accurately—”
Malloron swept past him. “Where is he?”
“He's in his cell,�
�� Emric said, hurrying after him. “But he says he won't speak to you, Your Majesty.”
Malloron didn't bother to respond. Valinor would certainly speak to him, or he would die.
***
“I wish to speak to the queen only.”
Malloron snarled at Duke Valinor's audacity. The man had been stripped of all of his grand fabrics and jewelry. He hadn't been fed since he’d been captured, and it was beginning to show. His hoarse voice was due to barely drinking any water, and yet his eyes were defiant. He was a fucking fool as far as Malloron was concerned. A fool that didn’t know when he had lost. “You have no authority to make demands,” Malloron hollered at him. “You’re not even a duke any longer. You have no staff, no wealth, you no longer even have your territory to your name. You only have my mercy. Mine alone. The queen does not factor into this.”
“So you admit she is your queen,” Valinor said dryly. “It was difficult to know whether she was telling the truth. But now I know she was truthful about that, I…” He straightened his shoulders. “I need to speak to her. She is the only one I will negotiate with.”
Malloron frowned, watching the Alpha before him closely. He was known to be an arrogant, quick-tempered man led by his emotions the majority of the time. It was unusual for him to be so calm and levelheaded when faced with the loss of his status and wealth. Curiosity burned through Malloron about what kind of conversation he could have had with Amara. “Then you will die,” he said to him. “The queen will never be available for you to speak to, for any reason. If you choose not to negotiate with me on behalf of your territory, then that is good for me. Your citizens will learn that you do not give a shit about them.”
At that, the Duke stiffened. “My people know that I will do anything to ensure that DarRojan thrives. I have a history of such care of my territory behind my entire rule.” He glared at Malloron. “All you have behind you is a history of doing whatever the fuck you want regardless of the needs of your people. The only thing you care about is the Visant family line and dominating the other countries. Do you think your people haven't noticed? Do you think they're unaware of that?” He made a gruff noise of disapproval. “I have no doubt that I will not be able to return to my territory as ruler anyway so it makes no difference what you say to me here. And that is why I want to speak to the queen.”
Malloron chuckled but there was no humor in it. “You have somehow convinced yourself that you are a righteous man,” he said, shaking his head in disgust. “You are not. Your people are completely aware that you have squandered their wealth on your own vices. They are aware that you use the money that should go to repairing their homes and improving their health on my pleasure chambers. They are aware that your own temper has caused them the loss of many agreements that could have been made with the other countries that would have benefited them. And now they will learn that you and Brecc and Thon tried to overthrow me using magic you do not understand. Do you think they will accept you when I can give them a better offer? Because they fucking won’t!” He leaned forward, his eyes locked with the dukes. “You will tell me everything you know about what Brecc has done, and then I will consider letting you live. But you will never lay your naked eye on the queen again.”
Malloron turned on his heel and stormed out. “Have him visit Brecc as a reminder of the fate that could befall him if he does not abide by my instructions,” Malloron ordered to Emric as he exited the dungeons. Emric nodded and Malloron marched straight to his bedroom.
It irked him that Valinor had wanted to negotiate solely with Amara. What the fuck had been said between them that he felt consultation with Amara would be more beneficial than consultation with him? If she had argued on his behalf, why wasn't the duke willing to negotiate with him directly? How many of the other rulers did Amara speak to? It annoyed him that he did not have the full picture of her time in the prison, but it didn't even occur to him to ask and find out. All he cared about was getting her back, and making sure that she hadn't been violated, nothing else seemed important at the time, but now he needed to know.
He braced himself as he approached his bedroom door. Within the bond, he could feel her mood was low. He hadn't seen her now since yesterday afternoon, so there was no guarantee what was going to happen once he entered.
***
His rooms were dark.
He frowned as he closed the door. It was the middle of the day, there was no reason for any of the drapes to be closed. He navigated through the living area looking for Amara. Her scent softened the air, and he found his body reacting instantly in so many different ways. Of course his cock hardened, but also the desire to have her in his arms again slammed into him full force. He searched the entire set of rooms and then entered the bedroom last, where she had to be.
She had built her nest on top of the bed, making use of all of the blankets and pillows that he had brought from her rooms back to his own bedroom. His bed had four posts and she used them to tie the blankets on and made a snug enclosed ball in the center of the bed for them. But it looked different from when he saw it last. It looked as though their nest had been shuffled around a little, as though she had rebuilt it, and an irrational annoyance bounded through him at the idea of it, but he wasn't sure why. He approached the nest slowly, knowing she was in there, and searched for the new opening. When he found it he reached in and carefully pulled her out.
She didn't resist, simply whined at the fact she was being moved. She barely even opened her eyes, and Malloron was partly grateful for that because her eyes were what undid him every time. He needed to speak to her.
“Amara.”
She lifted her head to look at him, her brows raising. “Malloron?”
“I need to speak to you,” he said sternly. “Sit up.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Amara pushed herself upright and Malloron released her and moved to stand a few feet from the bed.
“Tell me what happened when you were being held by Brecc.”
She looked up at him, uncertainty in her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I want you to tell me about your time there. I want to know exactly what happened, who you spoke to, and everything you did.”
Amara shuffled on the bed, tucking her legs underneath her until she found a comfortable position, and then she remained still for a long moment, as though she was thinking.
“This isn't a request,” Malloron said sternly. “I want to know everything right now.”
“Why?” she asked, glumly. “You want to hear about what Brecc did? You want to hear about how I suffered?”
Malloron tensed, and his anger for Brecc returned full force. He had almost forgotten that Brecc had actually touched her in some way. He hadn't wanted to know any more than that, and he was sure that he still didn’t want to know. He released a growl of annoyance and noticed that Amara shivered in response. She was only wearing her night tunic.
“Why aren’t you dressed?” he asked gruffly. He didn’t need her getting ill.
“What’s the point? You’re only going to shred whatever I put on anyway.”
He growled again, louder and rougher in his annoyance, and she shuddered again but this time it burrowed deeper through her. Every movement of her body was like torture to his cock, his mind, the bond, every-fucking-thing he could feel—he needed to get out of there. “Tell me what you said to Valinor.”
She squinted up at him. “Duke Valinor?” She lifted her shoulders. “We spoke about his support of Brecc. I told him Brecc wouldn’t stop with overthrowing you, he would want to rule himself once you were out of the way.”
Malloron eyed her carefully. “Brecc is not a leader. Valinor is well aware of that. Brecc doesn’t have the capability to lead the Western Lands.”
“But he has no idea of that,” Amara said. “He thinks he can do it successfully. Just like you do.”
Malloron’s face contorted. “What did you say?” he bellowed.
Amara shifted on the bed and lay down on her si
de, curling her knees up to her chest, then closed her eyes. “You all think you can rule, but you’re all corrupt,” she breathed. “Do you know what I learned in the Omega Compound? Nothing can thrive and be healthy in a hostile environment. This whole Land is hostile. It is cruel and vicious and depraved. Your people will not thrive. Your throne will not thrive. Your children will not thrive.”
A fierce anger irrupted inside him at her casual condemnation. He was her Alpha! She should be praising him and supporting him, and have faith in his abilities to run the Lands. As it stood, she couldn’t even be bothered to look him in the eye as she disrespected him.
Malloron grabbed her arm and yanked her up onto unsteady feet, fully intending to tell her exactly how suitable he was to run the Lands, show her if he had to, but as soon as her eyes lifted to his, he realized his mistake.
Those fucking eyes. They made him lose every thought in his head. Of course he knew they were stunning—they always had been—but this time they glistened with moisture as they searched his own. And deep within them was a desolation and sorrow that was echoed in the bond. He hadn’t realized what it was before, why the bond had so completely distracted him, but now he could see it, clear as the wisps of magic that always hovered around her when she was distressed. His Omega was suffering more than he’d thought.
“Why didn't you come to me last night?” she whispered.
The question took him by surprise and he wasn't prepared to provide her with an answer while he was caught by the sapphire of her eyes.
She lifted a finger to his face, and every muscle in him relaxed as she traced it over his cheek. It was as though his body was reminded of when she had healed him—that perfect moment when her eyes came back to him and after he had shared the memory of his weakest moment.
“It's not enough,” she mumbled. “The time that you spend with me isn't enough, Malloron. I feel…” Her palm pressed against his cheek and Malloron didn't need to wait for her to continue, he could feel it in the bond. He simply drew her into his arms.