Chapter 26

Béke Day Six

Unconditional love was rapturous, and Ruslan's devotion was endless. I didn't need my empath magic to feel the depths of his desire or the intensity of his infatuation. We spent the whole day in bed, and I could hardly walk by the time Drazen banged on the suite door, finally hunting us down to attend to our responsibilities.

"I could hear you fucking from the base of the mountain!" he shouted through the door.

I snickered, totally unashamed. Ruslan threw clothes at me, and I pulled them on as he jogged to open the exterior suite door for Drazen.

The half-Dragon walked into the living area with hands over his eyes. "Are you decent or will uncovering my eyes result in the removal of my hands?"

"You can open your eyes, Drazen," I teased, curling my legs beneath me as I propped my head on my hand, bracing against the couch.

He dropped his hands and looked between us before a wide grin broke out across his face. "Thank the Goddess you finally accepted the bond. But you are hosting Béke, Ruslan. You're needed to judge the horseback competition this afternoon. And you," he turned his attention on me, "have been nothing short of obsessed with horses since I met you. I expect high marks from you."

I rolled my eyes. Obviously, this was the competition I was most excited for, and I planned on flying around the courses on Mistik's back.

"Can you do it?" my mate complained as he scooped me up from behind. His arms formed a vice around my torso, pinning me in place as he nibbled on the crook of my neck. A squeal slipped out, and I tried to shove his hands away, only serving to make them tighten.

Drazen rolled his eyes. "No, it has to be the hosting monarchs. Don't even think about passing me the Iron Crown. I don't want it."

"Fine. We'll be ready shortly." Ruslan dragged me, squirming, back to our bedroom.

"I will be waiting right here, so don't get any ideas about crawling back into bed!" Drazen called after us.

Ruslan released me, and with a sigh I made my way to the closet, hunting for warm leathers. "He's no fun."

"I heard that!"

Damn Dragons.

"We'll come back tonight, mate." Ruslan planted a kiss on my cheek when I finished fastening a thick jacket all the way up to my neck. At least the snow had cleared around Radence, though the wind still chilled me to my bones.

Ruslan pulled on light-plated armor that moved as if it were leather, similar to the set he had gifted me a few days before, then threw me warm riding pants from where they'd been hidden in the back of the closet. "Thank the Goddess," I exclaimed, slipping off my current pants in exchange for the black ones that immediately warmed my legs. "This place needs to be straightened up," I said, glancing at the chaos. "It would help if I could keep my clothes on for more than five minutes. I'm constantly losing my favorite attire."

Ruslan chuckled, dark and low. "I'll just have to buy you everything in multiples, so there's always at least one item to be found."

I rolled my eyes, moving discarded, half-worn clothing around in search of another pair of boots, since my favorites had been irrevocably destroyed the previous night. "Where are my other boots?"

"Over there," he gestured toward the back with his foot. He fumbled with a strap just out of his reach, his muscles preventing him from getting the right angle to fasten it. After revealing the shoes and slipping them on, I grinned, returning to his side and securing his strap in place.

"Ready?" I asked, once he'd finished straightening himself.

"No, but I must judge," he laughed, leading me back to Drazen, who waited, arms crossed, for us.

Ruslan clapped Drazen on the shoulder, intentionally a bit harder than necessary, and then the three of us returned to the clearing where the strength competition had taken place the previous day, though the rings had been cleared or reformatted to accommodate the horseback riding events. Horses and people were already running about everywhere, preparing for the day's events.

No one noticed our arrival, allowing us a moment to gain our bearings. I spotted Liliana holding the reins to Mistik and Twilight, the horse Ruslan had gifted me, in the distance, chatting with Domi and Immonen. Ruslan's attention followed mine, and without warning he scooped me against his chest, bending me over and whispering in my ear. "Good luck, mate. My eyes will only be on you."

Then he released me, and I immediately craved him with a fierceness that stole my breath. Our mating bond was intense, more intense than anyone could accurately describe, and the pain of his absence speared through me as I took one step forward, then another. With one lingering glance over my shoulder, I skirted through the throng of people, blazing a path toward my friends. Liliana's face lit up when she saw me, her arms waving wildly despite it being obvious that I already knew where she was.

But the moment I closed the circle with the three females, their faces fell somber. Liliana's words burst out in a tumble of breath. "Kazimir has been named King of the Night Realm. I wanted you to hear it from me before you saw him because you deserved to know. None of us were around when the males made this decision. They just showed up in our apartments last night with Kazimir wearing a crown and the news that House Arzeni was now among the High Houses."

My jaw dropped. All his lies, all his manipulations, were so he could rest the Night Crown on his head instead of mine. This action only confirmed that I'd made the right choice in my mate. Kazimir was calculating in a way I'd never realized, and my blood boiled with renewed fury.

How did the others not see this in him?

Domi's nose crinkled as Liliana recounted the events, then nudged her with a sharp elbow. "Tell her what else."

"Oh! Right. Kazimir has binding magic." She whispered the last part with a hiss of distaste. "I managed to get it out of Endre last night, and Domi confirmed with Kaztar this morning."

"What's binding magic?" I asked, brows dipping together, confusion replacing shock as I wondered why the females seemed so disturbed by it.

Immonen cut in, her willowy frame tense with worry. "Binding magic has been known to corrupt the mind and soul of its wielders. There is a reason it is so rare. Most succumb to the madness that goes along with it. It is dark magic, Fates-gifted instead of Goddess-gifted like the rest of our magic. Essentially, Kazimir wields thick ropes of magic that render others immobile, like an actual rope, but it also blocks access to our Goddess-gifted power. If he were to bind you completely, you'd be utterly helpless."

My dream of the Goddess and my parents returned to me in full force. If the Goddess was warring with the Fates over the outcome for our world, it made sense that they'd gifted him with additional dark power to achieve the victory they sought.

A shiver wracked my spine as I felt a pair of eyes on me and a tug low in my belly. Domi's eyes widened a fraction before she schooled her features, and I spun on my heel to find Kazimir stalking toward me, a black crown resting on his brow.

Why did I still feel this tug with him when I'd accepted the bond with Ruslan?

I didn't have time to chase the thought as he stopped before me, towering over me in a way that was nothing less than sinister. My skin crawled as that oily aura exuded into the air around him, and with my new knowledge, my certainty was doubled, tripled, and I was grateful I had already made my decision because the way Immonen described it made me think that Kazimir could have bound me and forced it out of me if he wanted.

"You are glowing today, Izidora," Kazimir said, looking me up and down with his dark emerald eyes.

I stepped toward Mistik, needing something to do with my hands. "Meet us in the far arena," Liliana whispered before taking Twilight's reins and following Domi and Immonen away, giving Kazimir and me space to talk.

Wave after wave of emotion rose within me as he stood there, waiting for me to say something. The first that crashed through me was anger, for him taking the Night Throne away from me after he had worked so hard to convince me to want it in the first place – not that I still did. It was the principle of the matter, of his continued deceptions and games, knowing how ignorant and naive I had been in the months after they rescued me. The second was disgust as the oiliness swirled around him, bringing that manipulative side of him to the surface, laid bare for all to see. The third was fear, though that wave was smaller than it ever had been, thanks to my sessions with Zuriel and the slaughter of my abusive captors the previous night with Ruslan. The feeling of ripping their balls away still lingered, giving me a heady rush that I channeled into my magic.

I was fucking powerful, and Kazimir would not hurt me, not when I was prepared for a new type of attack from him. Armed with the knowledge Liliana had passed on, I tuned in to the flame-and-moonlight-wrapped crystal in my chest, stoking the white fire and filling the crystal with energy so that it lay in wait, ready to use on a moment's notice.

Viktor had taught me that the person who spoke first lost the power in the dynamic, so I continued to say nothing, checking Mistik over while Kazimir stared at me in a way that made me want to bathe and rinse the feel of his eyes from my body. The tension between us could have been sliced like a cake, and it was thicker than any dense dessert I'd ever eaten. Finally, I could take it no longer, and the pent-up fury burst from me like an explosion of fire.

"So you manipulate me into wanting the Night Crown and then take it from me?" My voice was pure venom, and I did not disguise the disgust in my tone.

Kazimir only shrugged and stepped closer. "We didn't want the Night Realm to fall into the hands of a bastard from the Iron Realm."

My teeth clacked with how hard I bit back a retort about Ruslan, and it took several breaths dragged through my nose to be able to respond in a way that would not reveal that we had accepted our mating bond. Kazimir had been unpredictable in the worst type of way since he'd arrived in the Iron Realm, one moment the sweet male who had rescued me from the cave, and the next, a torrent of barely contained violence, unstable and unreasonable.

What would he do when he found out?

I knew then that I had to keep it a secret until Ruslan and I had convinced the other monarchs to ally with us over Kazimir. With this binding magic, Kazimir could lose his shit at any moment and have all of us bowing to his will.

I would never be powerless like that again.

"I appreciate the heads up," I gritted out, clenching and unclenching my fingers from Mistik's gray mane.

Kazimir stepped closer again, and Mistik tossed her head as if she sensed the emotions swirling beneath my skin. "I thought you wanted a king, Izidora. Here I am. I can give you everything Ruslan has, and more. After all, I'm the one who brought you back from the brink. I saved you. I can save you again, from him. Just say the words and I'll spirit you away, home to Este Castle, where you belong. We'll rule the Night Realm together like we were always meant to."

I could only blink at him. Was he fucking kidding me? All my growth was on him? But that statement wasn't the one that angered me most. "What I wanted was a male who was honest with me, who made me feel safe, who I could trust. You broke my trust, you manipulated me, you lied to me. Being a king does not make up for that."

Kazimir's eyes flashed dark, and my magic flared in my hands, still hidden in Mistik's mane. "And yet you allow Ruslan to teach you to read? He is manipulating you, and you are allowing it. He is making you reliant on him, to teach you, to protect you, to take care of your emotions. How am I worse than a male who isn't secure enough to allow you to spread your wings and fly?"

The scoff that fell from my lips was as unbidden as Kazimir's presence in front of me. Everything he had just described was a direct reflection on him, and not on my chosen mate. Ruslan had fought through his own demons to allow me space to make my decision. Ruslan had empowered me, magically, physically, emotionally, and sexually, begging me to open up and become the highest version of myself. Trust was not an easy thing for me to give away, and yet my trust in Ruslan, especially when he returned with me to the cave where I had been chained, was the reason I accepted our bond that night.

But then, I realized, I'd never read in front of Kazimir. "How the fuck did you know he was teaching me to read?"

"How long was it after he kidnapped you that you started fucking him?" Kazimir redirected the course of our conversation, but I was not done. A violent storm swelled within me, threatening to unleash a torrent of hateful rain over his dark hair.

"Don't change the subject," I hissed. "How. Did. You. Know?"

All the times I'd felt eyes perusing my form, only to spin around desperately searching for the source of my unease and find nothing. Was it always him?

Kazimir took another step forward, raising his hands ever so slightly in supplication. "Just tell me what I need to fucking do, Izidora. You're mine, and I want you back. What the fuck do you want from me?"

"Nothing." I let the word fall between us, as cold and cruel as I could manage with the trembling that was weaving its way into my voice. My body flooded with adrenaline as I sensed the danger lurking mere feet away from me, mixing with the rage at his insolence, ratcheting up my heart rate as I prepared to fight.

"Sprite, what's wrong? I can feel your fear."

I ignored Ruslan's call down our bond, shutting him out because I had to survive, and that meant all my focus needed to be on the male in front of me. I even loosened the white-knuckle grip I held over my emotions the way Zuriel and Drazen had encouraged time and time again, waiting to use their intensity to my advantage.

"I spent my entire fucking life thinking about you. Searching for you. Every waking moment of every day revolves around you and has since the day you were born. I am the reason you are where you are right now. You should be grateful to me, and instead, you spurn me for a bastard, a mongrel bastard at that."

"He is more of a male than you will ever be," I snapped, rising to the goading Kazimir was so clearly giving me. My emotions were slipping through my fingers like sand, and I hurriedly tried to get a grip on them before information I did not want to share burst from my lips.

Kazimir closed the distance between us in three powerful strides, and in an instant, my sword was drawn from its hilt in the saddle and bathed in white flame. The arrogant male stopped an inch from my blazing blade, an amused twitch of his lips breaking up the ugly aura around him.

"You've gotten much faster, Izidora." He opened his mouth to say something else, but a horn cut through the air, and Ruslan's magically amplified voice called a start to the first event.

Without hesitation, I swung myself into the saddle, staring down from atop my mare's back at the male I'd loved first. "I am so much more than the female you tried to create," I said with a sharpness aimed to wound, and then I dug my heels into Mistik's sides and steered her toward the far ring, glancing over my shoulder to ensure Kazimir was not following.

While his legs did not move, his eyes did follow me until I rode around a makeshift building, cutting off his line of sight.

Liliana and Domi's heads were bent in hushed conversation when I reached them, and they quickly straightened at my approach. Something wild must have been in my expression because Liliana immediately reached out a reassuring hand as I jumped from Mistik's back.

My eyes burned as I looked toward the sky, fighting back tears of fear as my body returned to a less heightened state, adrenaline slowing its race through my veins.

"Are you okay?" Liliana whispered to me, pulling me in for a tight embrace.

"Yes," I choked out, my voice barely a whisper.

I hated that I felt so powerful and so weak at the same time.

She released me, holding me at arm's length, her seafoam green eyes both hard and soft. "I don't believe you, but I'm not going to push you to talk. Kazimir is a bitch, and Domi and I don't want to stay near him anymore. The three of us will stick together through the rest of this fucking feast, and then, I promise, I'll always stay with you."

"But what about Endre?" A tear spilled over, heating my cheek as it escaped to the ground.

"You are more important," she swore, and another choked sob escaped me.

"I missed you so fucking much."

"I know, me too."

The announcer's enhanced voice cut through our conversation, and I heard our three names being called to the first ring. Swiping at my wet eyes, I cleared my throat and straightened, facing Liliana and Domi with a determination to forget Kazimir and allow myself to be free atop Mistik's back.

"May the best rider win," Domi grinned, swinging into her mount's saddle.

Her banter brought a smile to my lips, and as I mounted Mistik again, I replied, "I see some tough competition out there, Domi. But I'm still confident in my abilities."

Liliana snorted, arriving at our level a moment later atop Twilight. "As long as it's one of us and not those dumb brutes, I don't care who wins."

"Together?" I asked, grinning at my friends.

"Together," they replied.