Reign To Rule (Myth of Omega Book 6)

by Zoey Ellis

  As she climaxed underneath him, he reveled in the strength of her fight against him, against the binds, and when she opened her eyes and looked up at him, the expression within them, and the powerful waves of desire and love that crashed through the bond, sent his own orgasm cascading. He slammed his knot in and held her tight in his arms as he jerked, filling her with his seed.

  “Malloron.” There was a smile in Amara’s voice.

  Malloron grunted as he released the magical binds but kept himself on top of her.

  She stroked his cheek as her breathing calmed. “As much as you claim you hate them in here, you like seeing me with the children. You fuck me like that every time you catch me cuddling one of them in here.”

  Malloron squeezed her in annoyance but didn’t say anything. He did like seeing her with them. He loved the way she spoke gently to them and held them close and played with them. He hadn’t seen anything like it before. “I want you to myself,” he said gruffly.

  “And you have me,” she whispered into his ear, before pressing a kiss on it.

  “They disrupt the scent in here,” he grumbled. “And put unnatural dents in my pillows.”

  Amara laughed softly, wrapped her smooth arms around his neck. “You are, once again, sulking, my king.”

  He growled, but said nothing, too comforted by her laugh, and the feel of her around him, and the deep contentment within the bond. Her attention was on him and nothing else in the known Lands mattered right now.

  “You know they like you, don’t you?” she whispered.

  “Who?”

  “The children.”

  “What difference does that make?” Malloron growled. “They don’t do as they’re told.”

  Amara stroked her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, and he began to purr, completely content. “Did you see the way she hugged your arm when she left? Even though you shouted at her?”

  Malloron hesitated. “So?”

  “It means she likes you unconditionally, whether you’re angry at her or not. That is how family and friends are supposed to treat you.”

  Malloron was silent for a long moment. He couldn’t recall witnessing anything like that from his father. Everything had been dependent on his studies; whether he had learned a certain spell, or memories of a particular period in history. His father withheld his attention until Malloron was achieving at the level he expected.

  “What were you talking to the boys about in the throne room?”

  He exhaled. “I was explaining some of the history of the art and the throne.”

  “They like it?”

  “They’re always looking at it,” Malloron said, shrugging.

  “Did they listen?”

  “Yes. I explained that your throne was being shipped in from Grence and why it had to be specially made.”

  “You like talking to them,” Amara said, her accusing tone ingrained in her laughter.

  Malloron planted his mouth on hers and kissed her long and hard to shut her up. Sometimes the bond was a fucking annoyance.

  As their kisses became softer and less urgent, Amara pulled away. “We are having our own babies, Malloron,” she reminded him. “They will want to spend time with us too. A lot of time.”

  “Hmmph.” Malloron didn’t like the idea of even more of her time, her eyes, her touches, taken away from him, but at least with the babies, he had time to prepare.

  “We need to think about names.”

  Malloron nodded. Names were important in the royal family and he wanted to make sure he carried on the tradition. These twins signified the start of a new beginning and their names should reflect that. “Children are usually named after previous family members,” he said. “But there is no one in my family I wish to name them after.”

  “Agreed,” Amara muttered, her voice lowering. He knew she would. She had been very clear about her feelings about his family, which was all the more reason it was bewildering that she had allowed Elion to stay within the Western Lands.

  A lot had changed in the three weeks since the tenebris had been released back into the children, and it was both exciting and stressful.

  Malloron didn’t feel that dissimilar within himself, but he did access magic slightly differently now. He could feel the presence of the children within him, and if he focused, he could detect each of them on an energetic level. When he went to draw magic, it felt purer, as though it was a living breathing thing, exactly the way Amara had described it. He wasn’t sure he liked it at first, but it was certainly much more powerful. He also discovered he didn’t have to actually speak the words of the Ancient Tongue if he wanted to cast a spell. It only took focus and concentration, and he could cast wordlessly. That discovery surprised and pleased him. He hadn’t ever heard of anyone other than Omegas being able to cast wordless spells.

  The strongest thing he could feel within him was the soul-bond and that had certainly become a more pleasurable experience. He realized that it was like a wave from the White Ocean—sometimes ebbing gently, other times like a tidal of emotions, but always constant and present within him. He cherished it greatly to know Amara’s moods, and it helped him to understand her much more easily than trying to figure out her confusing ideas and reasonings. Amara insisted he was an orb that changed in shape and tone according to his moods, but that just sounded like magic to him.

  The Lands were finally settling into a new sort of normalcy. Duke Valinor had been the key to turning the tide about King Malloron ruling the Western Lands, and Amara was the deciding factor in Valinor’s decision to support the throne. Malloron was shocked by how much Amara knew about DarRojan and the desires of the people there, and he suspected Valinor had been too, even though he acted as though he knew it all. They hammered out a negotiation that benefited DarRojan more than it benefited the throne, which Malloron wasn’t at all pleased about, but Amara was right; giving that little bit more than necessary made Duke Valinor a solid supporter of the Visant family.

  Malloron had moved the rulers to more comfortable accommodation within the castle and negotiated deals with them also. The difference Amara’s presence made shocked him. The rulers were like different people.

  While the negotiations were happening, Amara visited the citizens camping by the castle city’s gates with the food and blankets that he had ordered Emric to provide. The citizens were cold and suspicious of her at first, but eventually began asking her questions, and then looked forward to her daily visit. The crowd grew as rumor of her spread, and soon Emric advised that she stop because it was becoming too dangerous for her.

  Within a week, new negotiations were created and all rulers made the announcement by appearing on a broadcast with him about the changing status of the Western Lands, now renamed Lands of Eiros. The ruling power was the Visant royal family headed by King Malloron and Queen Amara, and the rulers served as extensions of the ruling power in their own countries. Surprisingly, many of the rulers were excited by that idea alone—the royal family name and reputation held such power and exclusivity attached to it that many of the rulers abandoned their belligerence once the chance to speak on behalf of the throne was offered to them.

  “The Mothers will be here soon,” Amara sighed.

  Malloron growled again and rotated his knot in her tightness, causing a sultry moan to escape her lips. “They can wait,” he said as his fingers found her clit.

  ***

  “They seem to be functioning well,” the Mother said. “Their energy is very strong, but it is healthy.”

  “But they don’t speak and they barely eat,” Amara pointed out. “They seem to enjoy spending time quietly around the castle, and with both of us, but…” She struggled for words. “They’re not like normal children.”

  “They’re not normal, Amara.”

  “You will address her by her royal title,” Malloron demanded, anger surging.

  Amara pressed a hand against his chest but he ignored her glaring at the Mother across the table in fro
nt of him.

  Mother Azia nodded in agreement. “Apologies, Your Majesties,” she rasped to both him and Amara. “But these are not normal children, we cannot expect them to behave as such.”

  Malloron glared at the Mother across the table. He was aware she wasn’t trying to be antagonistic, but their entire existence and the actions they had taken against him agitated him.

  The aged Mother Azia and dark-skinned Mother Orlee sat next to Carilla, one of his red dungeon Talent-crafters. He hadn’t wanted to agree to this. He didn’t need these deceitful, powerful women in his castle examining the tenebris-children, but Amara had insisted and argued with him viciously about it. He couldn’t deny that they needed all the possible theories and answers they could get about the children. They were odd and it disturbed Amara that she couldn’t tell if they were suffering.

  So he’d agreed to the Mothers examining them, but only if one of his own red dungeon Talent-crafters were present to also examine them. Luckily they hadn’t been killed in the attack, but he’d been extremely annoyed they were so easily knocked unconscious. It was only Amara pointing out that they hadn’t been trained to fight the Mothers that had saved them.

  They had spent the day examining the children and he could feel the trickle of hope from Amara in the bond.

  “You are the expert in this… tenebris, Your Majesty,” Mother Azia said to him. She was clearly extremely old and seemed to have an exceptional use of the Talent from what he had seen, so it shouldn’t be that hard for her to deduce a conclusion.

  Malloron shifted in his chair. “I told you all I know,” he said, his voice gritty. “I think the process of the tenebris entering them without separating their energies is what caused this, but I can’t be sure about anything.”

  “And is there anything you could have forgotten?” Mother Orlee asked. “Anything in your grandfather’s research that may explain what has happened here.”

  “This has never happened,” Malloron explained, as calmly as he could. “The tenebris has never returned to the children. Ever. There is no explanation that can be provided by my grandfather’s research.”

  “And it has been destroyed?” Mother Azia said slowly.

  “Most of it, yes.”

  The Mother breathed out. “Do you know if he mentioned a Queen Kasmira? She was one of your ancestors.”

  Malloron frowned. “Yes, that name was mentioned at some point.” He thought carefully for a long moment, trying to recall the context he had seen it mentioned. “One of his breakthroughs came from reading something she wrote,” he said, slowly. “Something in her diary entries.”

  “Are her diary entries in the castle?”

  “They were destroyed.”

  The Mother didn’t hesitate. “Do you think I could have a look at that part of his research?”

  “No.”

  The Mother stared at him, expecting more, but he did not offer any. No one was getting his grandfather’s research, at least what was left of it, especially not the Mothers who had set out to destroy his rule.

  “Malloron and I have agreed that the research will be destroyed,” Amara responded, respectfully. “We don’t feel that anybody else should gain that knowledge.”

  The Mother looked as though she wanted to say something, but decided against it.

  “Do you have any more advice you can give us about the children?” Amara asked.

  The Mothers nodded. “Their energy is unusual,” Orlee began. “It is extremely powerful, and yet incomplete.”

  “Incomplete?” Amara repeated.

  “Yes,” Azia responded. “Their ability to function at all relies partly on King Malloron’s blood and partly on the energy within you. I believe they need both of you to function.”

  “And I think you cannot function without them either,” Mother Orlee said to Malloron.

  There was a short silence while the implication of that hit. That meant he was stuck with them. He was hoping that the Mothers would take some of the children—he had no idea how to run the castle when children filled it and they had changed the whole tone and mood of the castle.

  “They seem to see you as parent figures,” Mother Orlee added. “They have taken consistent steps to protect you both.” She gestured to Amara. “The wild energy that protected you whenever you were distressed came from their energy. When you were blind, they helped you to see. When you were deaf, they connected you to your Alpha. They built the portal to take you back to Malloron and then connected with him immediately to give him strength—they have tried to ensure your survival.”

  “But why?” Amara pondered. “Why would they feel so protective of us?”

  “I think Malloron is right that they prefer an Alpha and an Omega,” Orlee said. “You are the first real couple that has held the tenebris, from what I gather. And I assume you are the first true Omega that has held the energy.”

  Amara’s brows rose. “I am a true Omega?”

  Malloron took satisfaction in Orlee’s nod. He had suspected it since he realized how different the tenebris behaved inside her, but he had no way of knowing or checking.

  “Was it the tenebris that alerted you that Amara was in the castle?” Mother Orlee asked him. “How did you discover her?”

  Malloron’s jaw clenched. The question seemed like an attempt to find out how to continue to keep Omega’s hidden from him.

  “Usually true mates can detect each other in some way when they are in close proximity, even if the Omega is blocked,” Mother Orlee added. “Amara had been in the castle with you for years before you found her… I assume it was because of the tenebris?”

  Malloron didn’t plan to answer, but the more he thought about the question, the more he realized that the tenebris was involved in his discovery of Amara. “I had stopped taking the potions that subdued the pain of the tenebris inside me for a significant time while I was traveling,” he said. “As soon as I returned to the castle, I felt her from a distance and sought her out.”

  “So the tenebris strengthened the connection between you, but the potions were keeping you from finding her,” Mother Azia murmured.

  Malloron nodded.

  “The children are keen for you to be together,” Orlee commented.

  “But why don’t they speak?” Malloron asked.

  “I’m not sure that they are capable,” the robed woman, Carilla, said slowly. “Much of their bodily functions are similar to how they existed when they were in the chamber.”

  “So they will age,” Amara said slowly. “But they won’t do much else? They will just exist?”

  The woman shrugged. “This is completely uncharted territory, Your Majesty. The best we can do is keep an eye on them.”

  “There are over one hundred of them,” Malloron said sharply.

  “Yes, and interestingly they work like a pack, or a cell,” Mother Azia murmured.

  “What do you mean?” Amara asked.

  Mother Azia rubbed her chin for a moment. “They don’t all do everything,” she pointed out. “It isn’t all of them that will follow or surround you. It wasn’t all of them that created the portal or came through it. They seem to be in different stages.”

  “Likely because of their ages,” Carilla suggested. “As they age, they phase out of the spell.”

  “So they will all phase out eventually?” Amara asked, clutching onto Malloron’s arm. If they did, that meant Malloron would lose his control over his body.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Carilla said, thoughtfully. “Their process has been disrupted. But, as they are now, some of them are more reliant on the Talent and perhaps needier of you than others.”

  “Then some of them would also be more functional, I assume?” Amara said.

  Carilla shrugged. “It’s something we would need to find out, I’m afraid, Your Majesty.” She glanced at Malloron. “I would like to request a team who could solely be in charge of any progress with the children.”

  Malloron shook his head. “No,” He didn’
t want anyone knowing that children were the key to his mobility and health.

  “They don’t need to know the full scenario,” Carilla insisted. “Just people that can record information for me to look at. They don’t even need to be Talent-crafters.”

  That was good, because many Talent-crafters had been killed when his army stormed the Lands. Any that were left had been called for in order to serve only the royal family, but he didn’t want them working on this.

  Amara nodded. “Granted, Carilla. Please liaise with Emric to set up.” Turning to the Mothers, she said, “Thank you for visiting us, Mothers. I very much appreciate your expertise.” She hesitated. “How is my team doing?”

  Mother Azia smiled. “Very well. They miss you, but they hope you will invite them to visit.”

  Malloron held in a growl, but he knew Amara could feel his displeasure through the bond because she squeezed his hand.

  “And how is Mother Naysa? I haven’t spoken to her at all lately.”

  Something odd changed in the air and the Mothers glanced at each other. “Have you not spoken to Cailyn?” Mother Orlee asked.

  “Once,” Amara said, her smile fading from her face. “But not to talk about Mother Naysa. Did something happen?”

  “Yes,” Orlee said gently. “But I think you should hear it from her.”

  A torrent of alarm swept through the bond and Malloron immediately pulled her onto his lap.

  “Why can’t you tell me?” she said sharply. “Is she all right? I want to see her.”

  Malloron pressed her back to his chest and began to purr.