7. Chapter 5 Zorvan

Chapter seven

Chapter 5: Zorvan

I t's been three weeks without Arden. Three weeks of the Keepers not speaking to me unless it's news about her possible whereabouts. Three weeks of Livarius threatening to challenge me for my throne, and me being tempted to just hand it over. If I can't even protect my mate, how can I be expected to protect an entire kingdom?

Not that she is my mate anymore. I made sure of that. I continue to curse the Stars for the hand they dealt me.

The satyr is long dead. He didn't last long after we got what we needed from him.

"You don't understand Prince Zorvan. We were being threatened. Held hostage in our own town."

"You should have come to me!" I roar. "I would have figured out a way!"

"With all due respect, sir, you haven't been able to protect us from them before now."

That stings, but I ignore it. "Why did they want her?"

"He didn't say. Just told us to contact him if we saw a human girl!"

"And how did you contact him?" Jarrah asks.

"Through a looking glass."

"Where is it now?" Emyth demands.

"Gone! The second he got to town he took it. Then he took the girl. That's all I know! Please! Let me go home to my family."

I don't think twice. I pull the sword from Walden's sheath and run the satyr through. I leave him to bleed out on the floor of the interrogation room, and return to my office.

Since that day I've been planning a trip to the different villages and towns to see if anyone else knows anything. But I have too many affairs to get in order before I can leave. Since I'm the last of my line, I have to leave a Keeper in charge. I wait for them at my desk, bracing myself for their rage.

They arrive one by one, Livarius arriving with Tavin. They've been nearly inseparable since their return. Livarius has even been sleeping in Tavin's room. With no extra cot, I can only assume they're sharing a bed.

Rupert is inconsolable. He just keeps repeating that he should have known better than to let her out of his sight. Helena has threatened to castrate me on multiple occasions, and Airen won't even speak to me. She writes anything she needs to tell me and goes back to ignoring me. Even Blevora who met Arden for all of two hours is refusing to talk to me.

It doesn't take a brilliant man to understand why they prefer her over me. It doesn't even take an average one. Arden cared deeply about the people in the castle, and put all of their needs above her own. And while that's something that I've strived for, I've allowed my anger and need for revenge to get in the way.

"Do you have news?" Emyth asks. His already pale skin is sallow.

"No. And I'm out of things I can do from Feldorn proper. I need to travel to the villages to see what information I can glean. Which of you is willing to take the throne while I'm gone?"

"If you're going, I'm coming with you," Jarrah says. His words are absolute.

"Same here. I won't sit by while you go out searching for her," Lysander says.

"I think it's safe to say we're all going," Livarius agrees.

"Then who do I put in charge?" I ask.

"I don't care. You could give Iona the throne and I wouldn't bat an eye. I just need to do something," Jarrah says.

"What about Rupert?" Tavin asks.

"What about him?"

"Well, he was mated to a royal so the stars deemed him worthy of something . Plus he's been here forever, and it's not like there's not much to be done while we're gone."

I let out a sigh. I don't think it's a great idea, but it's better than trusting the council. "Fine. I'll go read him in. Be ready to leave immediately. We have a little over three weeks before Queen Cyndair comes to discuss Iona's fate. We need to have Arden back before then, or we hardly have a case."

"But you were all there! You can administer the serum," Livarius interjects. "You saw it happen. Why wouldn't you have a case?

"Unless the person directly affected is dead, they need to be the one to make the accusation." Tavin explains softly.

"If there isn't anything else to discuss, then let's get ready to go," I say.

The others take their leave, save for Emyth who folds his arms over his chest and asks, "Do you really think you should be the one out looking for her?" His voice is cold, and his face is hardened.

It's well deserved, but it breaks my heart that he's so angry with me. Even if we get Arden back, I'm not sure I can salvage my relationships with my friends. I haven't been a good friend to them in a very long time.

"I need to get her back, Em. And the five of us are stronger together."

"Six. There are six of us now. And the six of us are strongest with our mate, but you didn't care about that when you sent her away."

"It's nice that you're including the vampire. Arden would be thrilled. We leave in an hour. Go get a bath. You stink." I decide not to acknowledge the rest of what he said.

"You're a coward," he says as he walks out of my office. Even though I'm angry, I don't say anything, because I know he's right.

***

I approach Rupert's cottage, but hesitate before I knock on the door. It's hard for me to face him. I'm the reason his granddaughter is missing. From the moment I brought her to this realm, she became my responsibility to keep safe.

I finally grow a pair and rap my knuckles on his door.

"Come in," he calls from the other side.

I open it and find him sitting at his kitchen table nursing a glass of dark liquor. I can tell by the look on his face that I am not who he was expecting. "Hey, Rupert. Do…do you have a second?"

His eyes meet mine and I have to force myself to stay in his cabin. His aura feels different–stronger. Dragon or no dragon, I get the impression he could kill me right now and barely break a sweat.

"Well, spit it out, boy," he snaps.

"Myself and the others…we're leaving shortly for a tour of all the villages to see if we can find a lead. The problem is that I need someone to watch over the throne for me, and you're the only other person I trust," I say. It's straight and to the point.

He laughs a deep belly laugh. "You want me to watch your stupid throne after you lost my granddaughter—my last remaining link to my mate?!"

"I need someone and you're the best choice, yes." I'm trying to push down my need to make him submit, and I'm almost unsuccessful.

"Why would I do that? Why wouldn't I just burn your precious castle to the ground? It's the reason you sent her away isn't it? Sent her off to be taken by monsters."

"That's enough," I say quietly. "If you don't take the throne while I'm gone, we cannot leave. If we can't leave, we can't find her. So yes, or no? Will you take the throne?"

He doesn't answer me. Instead he says, "They've called you The Cruel Prince since you were practically a boy, you know that? I always thought you were misunderstood, until the night you broke Arden's heart. Big bad dragon can't even handle his own fucking feelings."

I can't handle his vitriol anymore, no matter how deserved it is. "I said that's enough . Where do you even get off judging me? She's been gone for weeks and you haven't lifted a finger to find her. Not to mention the fact that you were supposed to be with her. That was our deal! That's why I felt I could send her away. Because she would have you and at the very least Livarius with her.

"But it didn't fucking matter, did it? She had two of my Keepers and a royal's grandson with her and she still…" a tear slides down my cheek as I choke back a sob. That's new. And embarrassing. I haven't cried in nearly a century and a half. Not since Eletha. And here I am weeping in front of the gardener—my mate's grandfather.

Rupert's face softens. "Oh, son," he whispers.

He moves across the room and wraps his arms around me, and I crumple. He supports me entirely so I don't hit the floor. I'm not sure how long I cried into his shoulder, but eventually I pull away and look at him. Gardener or not, being this close, I can feel real power radiating off of him.

I must be making a weird face because he asks, "What's wrong?"

"What do you shift into?"

He steps away and scrubs a hand the back of his head. "I've never been able to shift."

"Really?" That doesn't sound right, but I'm not going to argue with him. "What were your parents?"

"My father was a wolf shifter, my mother was a bear shifter."

"Huh. I wonder what Arden will shift into. With a dragon, a wolf, and a bear all in her bloodline."

"Maybe she won't shift at all since I can't," he says with a shrug.

"No, her eyes changed in the mortal realm when Iona tried to control her with her blood."

Rupert's eyes go wide. "Well, since I can't shift I would assume she's a dragon, like Nuvian."

A growl emits from me at the mention of his name, and Rupert says, "You're going to need to get over that if you want Arden back."

"I don't know if I can," I say and sit with a sigh. "He killed my parents , Rupert. And my father–I get him killing my father. I considered it myself a couple of times. But my mother? It wasn't her fault that my father was such a prideful man."

"I know. But I also know how stubborn the women in Arden's bloodline can be. She won't budge on keeping Nuvian alive."

"All of this is assuming we can even get her back," I sigh.

"You will," he says confidently. "Give me an hour to sober up, and I'll go sit on your stupid throne," he says with a smile.

I stand and give him a quick hug. "Thank you. I'll do my best to bring her back."

"I know you will."

***

I have the tedious job of finding each of my heads of staff and telling them what's going on. I want them to all be aware of the change of authority, and of my absence. I technically don't have to do this every time I leave, but I like to make sure that there's no question about who is in charge while I'm gone.

When the Keepers are here it's obvious, but since they're all coming with me, some of the staff may give Rupert a hard time.

I find Walden in the guards room on the third floor, spending some time with his men. He and the rest of the guard give a bow when I enter.

"Prince Zorvan, what can we do for you?"

"I'll be leaving this evening with the Keepers to go find Arden. I need you to be able to send me a message if you need to get in touch." I pull out a vial and a knife then make a cut on my hand that I'll have Airen heal before I leave. I fill the vial with my blood, cork it, and hand it to Walden.

"If you need to track me or get a message to me, you can use that. Make sure that it stays under lock and key. I don't need any of the fucking blood mages getting their hands on that."

"Yes, sir," he says.

"You'll also need to be on high alert while I'm gone. It won't take long before word gets out that I've left. Rupert is in charge while I'm gone."

"Rupert?" Walden asks in surprise, and maybe a little out of annoyance.

"Yes. He's trustworthy, and capable. It's important that we leave tonight, so I ask that you just trust me on this."

"Yes, sir. But in the future, you know you can ask me, right? I've been head of the guard of Feldorn long enough to be able to handle it."

The annoyance in his voice was because I hurt his feelings. Truth is that Walden is fantastic at strategy and his job, but there are a lot of small detail issues that need my attention each day that I don't think he'd be able to do it successfully for very long .

"I appreciate the offer, Walden. But you're so good in your position that I simply wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. I want you particularly focused while I'm gone so that we don't have any issues."

The praise of his work seems to help smooth things over, "Yes, sir. You can count on me."

"Thank you Walden," I say and take my leave.

My next stop is the infirmary to talk to Airen. She's the only healer on duty in the castle. She lives here, works here, eats here. If she ever needs time off we have her sister or Emyth's brother come in to heal people.

I loiter in her doorframe for a moment, watching her work, and when she finally notices me, she jumps, placing her hand over her heart.

"Stars," she whispers, but that's the only thing she says before scowling and returning to her work.

I waited in an attempt to not startle her, but that clearly didn't work. As a child I walked in on the healer mixing herbs, and because I startled him, he caused a small explosion. So now I try to wait for them to notice me instead of barging in like I do in most places.

"Hello, Airen," I say. As usual, she just ignores me. I don't wait for her to give up and speak to me. I just explain why I'm here.

About halfway through my little speech she stops what she's doing and looks at me. Finally when I'm done she says, "Rupert?"

"I'm going to have this conversation with every member of staff, aren't I? Yes. Rupert. Please just trust my judgment. I'll need some of the cardimythium salve, and an antidote for most of the more popular poisons just in case."

She considers me, probably weighing the pros and cons of refusing me. Then she says, "Yeah, okay. I'll have those ready in about thirty minutes."

"Thank you, Airen."

I'm almost out the door when she says, "Zorvan? Make sure you get her back."

I give her a curt nod and go to the kitchens. I'm least looking forward to talking to Helena. She never misses an opportunity to remind me of how badly I fucked up.

I walk in to find her baking some pies. They're the kind Arden loved. Loves. She's still alive, asshole. I chastise myself for even thinking of her in the past tense. If she were dead, Livarius would have felt it.

"Hello, Helena."

"Zorvan," is all she says, refusing to even look at me.

"I needed to let you know, and ask you to tell your staff, that the Keepers and I are leaving tonight to go find Arden, and while we're gone, Rupert is in charge."

She sets down the rolling pin she's using and clenches her fists before rounding on me. "You waited nearly three fucking weeks to finally decide to go after her. I'm shocked that you're even bothering. I'm glad you're going, but whatever terrible things have happened to her these last weeks are your fault. Assuming she's even alive."

Her words hit their mark, and I flinch. I've thought about it countless times since she's been gone. What that man is doing to her. She's without her magic and she can't defend herself. My confidence in my ability to lead this kingdom has faltered since Arden left. Because what kind of prince lets their mate get taken?

A bad one, that's what kind .

"Right. Well I suppose I deserve that. Anyway, I'll need enough rations for the six of us for about five days. We have a meeting with Cyndair and Iona's trial in a few weeks, so we'll have to come back for that, and then we'll go back out if we haven't found her by then."

"Fine. Come back for your rations in a bit. I'll have Tara pack them up." She waves me off, and I leave to make the rest of my rounds–and lick my wounds.