Chapter 9

Robin sat dumbfounded in a chair, he'd been here several hours and still couldn't fathom why he was getting so wound up over Simon having had a sliver of the experience he'd engaged in. He'd never been possessive, and this was an unwanted set of feelings he would need to deal with as he was being unreasonable. Simon had been almost too understanding about his past, but then he'd have been annoyed if Simon had got jealous. Why was he being a twat over something that was in reality insignificant? That the tipping point had been Isaac Galloway had blindsided him.

The door to his room opened and Claude let himself in. "I have heard from Her Majesty, Queen Hylei, that her son thinks you might be upset."

He was touched that Simon had spoken to his mother and that she had thought to reach out to Claude. "I am a little out of sorts. I've no reason for it, and I need to stop myself from getting worse."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

His and Claude's relationship had always been along the lines of familial. He'd been orphaned as a child, and Claude had been the only father figure he'd known.

"Of the two of us, it should be Simon at odds with my past, but he's not and instead it's me who is hung up over a few things."

"I see. The boy is not na?ve, and while he is still considered young for a fae, he has a lot in his future so I am not surprised at his maturity. But what has upset you?"

"There are a few things, not just Simon." He might as well broach the subject since he had Claude here. "It was brought to my attention that I was designated at birth to be his bonded and I was turned so I could survive long enough to ensure Simon's transformation. I always thought it was because I was a vampire, and you wanted our Houses joined, not that I was to be Simon's irrelevant of my biology."

Claude sat opposite him. "Were you shown the rose?"

At least Claude wasn't going to deny it, which was a comfort of sorts. "Yes."

"James had been keeping tabs on you since you were born, wanting to know who would be the one who would one day be pivotal in transforming his son and heir. Through school and university, he saw to it that you had connections to the right people, were gently guided in the right direction, and Liam Cartwright thought it an excellent opportunity to build a bridge to another House—in particular the House of Hewel."

"But Hylei said the rose took shape when I was twenty-one. I wasn't even a vampire let alone a Flint."

Claude smiled. "When I met you, you were at Oxford, and you were, and still are, a brilliant man. Intelligent, erudite, you had a way of charming the birds from the trees. I had already seen your potential and had a couple of conversations with Sebastian regarding turning you and your part in the succession for the Dark Viscount Whetford. Sebastian confided in me about your bond to the future Dark Earl of MacLove, and he was all for me turning you. But you'd caught the eye of several others, including the members of the Houses of Langley and Devereaux, who weren't aware of the bond. There needed to be a decision made about who would get the marvellous Robin Tewin."

His ego was big enough, but he liked the idea that he'd been sought after. "And the decision for you to turn me caused the rose to form?"

"No, as you said you hadn't been turned at that point. We don't know why the rose formed, James investigated it as well, but James saw it as a sign for you to be mine. Sebastian made an official claim and the rest was history."

But this wasn't the whole story and Robin had many other questions. "I was told that the marriage to the MacLoves was open to competition in the House of Hewel."

Claude gave him a fond smile. "We had to keep up appearances. None of the others knew about the bond. I was the only one who had all the information so it had to look like it was open to debate. But it never was, you two were destined for each other."

Robin let the information settle, but he couldn't fight the knowledge that Simon was his, and there was no other truth to be had. "I do have another question, do you know why they waited another twenty-five years before having Simon if they knew I existed already?"

"You were turned but not officially my successor. James wanted to see what sort of position his son would be in—he is a prince, so he needed to have someone of a worthy standard. Remember, you had to earn your place as my official heir and take the name of Flint. That took a couple of decades, and I suppose the rest of the time was due to them preparing for the conception."

Hylei had said James had carried Simon, and Simon had said it was powerful and tiring magic, so it made sense that it wasn't something that could be achieved overnight.

"The bond does seem rather all-consuming."

"I daresay it's that way to safeguard the continuation of the vampire-fae." Claude smiled. "The bond might fade afterwards, or it might not. I know your contract discussions included space to renegotiate."

"I don't think it will fade." He didn't want it to, the few hours he'd spent with Simon had enforced the pull he'd had to him years ago. His irrational behaviour over Simon's less-than-spicy past was another flag—it had to be the bond. Somehow that made him feel better, that his annoyance was real but driven by an outside force. "I think he's my Eternal. I've been having issues with the fact he had had a few minor dalliances with others."

"Eternal? I have never been blessed with that. Virginia and I are happy with our agreement. She's my best friend, lover, and companion, but not my Eternal." He paused. "By the sounds of it, Simon is still chaste, so are you really so annoyed by a few inconsequential happenings?"

"We were talking about Ben and he asked if there had been anyone else from the Vampire Council families, and I admitted that I've fucked around with Isaac Galloway, and he had also had an experience with Isaac. I was unhappy he had done so."

Claude's eyes widened. "I see. You have a shared encounter, and you had not expected Simon to have done so. But you cannot brood over this, Robin. You must see that Isaac was a safe place for Simon as a member of his House."

He hadn't thought of it like that, in the same way Ben was a safe harbour, then so was Isaac, who would not overstep due to the fear of retribution from their Head of House.

"I do now. And I know neither of us has an interest in repeating what we did with Isaac."

"Then surely that's all the reassurance you need. You should reflect but I think with a little time you'll come to the right conclusion."

He'd been a jackass about Simon finding a moment's pleasure with someone else as a relief from what must have been years of loneliness, while he still had things to work through, it did not stop him from recognising he was in the wrong. He would need to do something special, and finding the perfect place for them to live might be one way to do so, and would acknowledge Simon's request of not having Robin's past dominate their future. He would need to be more mindful. If Simon could look past Robin's reputation then he could shelve the thoughts of Simon being with others in a far more innocent way than the many and varied things Robin had experienced. He just needed a few days of calm, and all would be well.