Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

T o say I was still fuming in the morning would have been a severe understatement. I woke feeling Esta's nearness, only to find her still in her dragon form sleeping on the balcony.

I moved to ring for some bath water. Maybe I could wash the rage off me.

"And Dex," I added in afterthought. "I'm going to need to use a serious amount of magic today."

He gave me a nod. "Emric said they're waiting until after the meeting with the advisors this morning to get the all clear to go do the healings for today. Do you want to go along?"

"Yes."

The door shut as he went to let Emric know.

"Morning," Esta said, now in her human form. She was wearing black leather pants again, and I knew she knew I liked them.

Good morning, I responded through the bond.

"You are still angry," she noted.

We could both feel it. I wasn't sure why it was necessary to say it out loud. I am. Maybe I'd just speak to her only through the bond until she finally used it. That was the level of petty I felt after only a few hours of sleep. We are due in the war room in less than an hour, I reminded her.

I soaked in the tub in scalding hot water that I warmed myself. Using that much of my power did nothing to edge off my rage. I needed to fly. And use my magic. And find and kill Morana.

So much of this was unfair. So much of this had been since the very moment I stepped foot in Dra Skor. But even as I dwelled in my anger, I reminded myself that the enemy among us finally had a face. I had a target for this rage, and it wasn't truly Esta. Even if I didn't understand her hesitations with our bond.

She'd said it wasn't regret. She said she needed to come to it on her own terms. But I also wasn't sure how many nights like the one before I would be able to endure.

It was a slow death, like periodically being stabbed every place which would always bleed but never kill. This pain was evidently my torch to carry until we found Morana and finished this.

I didn't feel Esta's regret down the bond, and that was the only thing keeping me from losing it entirely. Most times I spoke down the bond to her, all I felt from her was fear. Maybe I just needed to use it so much she stopped being afraid of it. Of the power of it all.

We were unstoppable together. Not only because of our dual Enchantments but because we were us. I was damn proud of us and didn't understand how she wasn't.

When I got out, I found Amory had arrived. She'd personally delivered our breakfast, apparently.

"Morning," she offered lightly.

"Good morning," I told her.

"We have a war room meeting soon," she reminded us. "I just wanted to get a game plan with Esta before we went in there. Fortunately, I knew where to find her."

Esta said, "Finding Morana and organizing the patrols to do it are the number one priority," She moved to grab a plate, bringing me one in the process .

"And Keir, the Wylan Enchanted, and the healings?" Amory asked.

Esta looked to me. "Are you concerned that you would be attacked?"

I'd welcome it.

She snorted as she spun from me. "Honorable as that may be, I am not sure I trust all of your men to be as capable of handling her as you would be."

Is that a compliment?

"You know it is." She sat directly across from me. Eyes on mine.

I still do not see a reason to worry. They are never alone. Shifters always accompany my men anyway. We want her to show her face. And if my men and the healings help that along, then so be it.

"You truly think they can handle it?"

Owen trained them. I wouldn't have brought them here otherwise.

"That is your call, Keir. They are your men. But I don't want you to make that decision right away. Should something happen to one of them, I know you'd carry that loss as your responsibility. And we are not dealing with a rational enemy here." She stopped to inhale. "So please do not decide today."

I turned to look at Amory and apologize to her for leaving her in the dark for our entire side conversation, only to find her mouth open as she looked from me to Esta and back again. Amory did not get emotional often, but this was one of those rare occurrences it seemed. "The bond," she choked out.

"Yes." I moved to stand. "The bond that allows us to speak telepathically. Me being the only person Esta can speak to telepathically no matter her form. The same one that she refuses to use."

"I haven't seen anyone speak telepathically in their human form since..." Amory's brow furrowed as her eyes flew to Esta. Esta was quiet a moment, taking a drink of her tea. Finally, she asked, "Nana?" A pause and then. "And that's why?"

Esta gave her a quick nod .

"Amory," I began out loud. "For today we will continue with the healings. I am going along with the men today anyway. I need—" I let out a sigh. "I just need to. So, I will be there today after the war room meeting. From there we will decide what to do for future healings."

"He is not happy I'm not using the bond to speak back," Esta filled her in.

I wanted to be mad, but Amory and Esta were not only queen and advisor, but they were also best friends.

Amory's eyes went to mine and back to Esta. "Do you really blame him?"

Esta moved a hand to rub across her brow. "No." She let out a shaky breath and I felt down the bond how at war with herself she was. "Nor do I want to do to him what occurred to Nana."

"I—" Amory shrugged. "Let's just find Morana then, shall we?"

I snorted. As if it would be that easy. "Yes. Let's."

I was sitting there like a good prince. Crown upon my head, tea in front of me, while I let the Dra Skor generals and advisors determine what should be done to find Morana. Patrols were decided upon.

It didn't take nearly as long with fewer advisors; we were down Jagen, Mikael was still being held in a cell with Zaccai filling in for him, and Morana was obviously absent. Were it not for Nana filling in Reyald's spot, the room would have felt far emptier. The good news was that at this point at least all the shifter advisors were healed and able to go between forms.

Esta needed to promote some new generals and advisors in the middle of all this. I made some mental notes of who I thought would be good candidates and thought I should ask Malachi too.

"Having the general population also on the lookout will only help us," Whit suggested from his human form in the chair next to me.

For twenty minutes we had gone over the pros and cons of whether or not we should make it public knowledge we were looking for Morana.

He's right, I sent to Esta.

Her eyes flicked to mine before going back to Zaire, who was now speaking.

"She cannot hide for long. We let the people help us find her. Unite us all behind trying to find the traitor."

Will he be able to apprehend her? Kill her if need be? Since they were together?

Esta gave me a look and a small shrug as if to say of course .

Amory caught the motion and gave me a look across the table which warned me to behave. I had no intentions of doing so. I was patient. Hell, Esta asked me for time, so I sailed across the sea and back, hand delivering her a treaty buying her that. But it seemed my patience was not just wearing thin, it had splintered.

"Prince Keiran is quiet," Nana chirped. "Do you have an opinion?"

"I think the people knowing and helping is a distinct advantage we can't afford not to use at this point. That is the easy question. The hard one is how to draw her out. Once she knows she can't show her face anywhere, where will she hide, and what can we do to get her to come out of hiding?"

That launched us into a long discussion about Morana's motivations. The obvious answer was the crown. Which meant Esta and Jagen would not be safe so long as Morana lived.

Zaccai's eyes went from me to Esta as Malachi offered up a fake kidnapping of Esta to get Morana out of hiding. It wasn't a bad option, honestly the best one we had thus far.

But Zaccai kept looking at me until finally Esta said, "Zaccai? "

"Forgive me, Your Highnesses, if this is rather intrusive, but what about a wedding and bonding? Surely that would be enough."

There was a weighted pause as I shoved both of my powers beneath my skin with everything I had.

"Or in the very least, an engagement?" Zaccai asked. "It could be real. Or otherwise."

My eyes went to Malachi, as I pleaded for someone to help get us off this damn topic. A topic in which part of it had already transpired. A bonding the likes of which would tie our countries together for centuries. Yet a bond that was going undoubtedly ignored because of Esta's fears of soul bound pairings.

"An engagement should do it, don't you think?" Nana Mallick asked Esta.

"A fake engagement is absolutely unnecessary," Esta managed.

Only a bonding which is real but treated as fake? I raged.

"Even just whispers about a bonding should do it," Otis agreed.

"I do not mean to intrude," Zaccai added with a hand up to me as if he could feel the tension rolling off me. "As the advisors of Dra Skor, the state of your relationship is none of our business, other than to know when things will happen so we would be able to protect you both."

I sent him a nod and a tight smile. I truly was not mad at him. My issue was with the love of my life. My other half. My soulmate.

Oh how I wanted to shake her.

Esta leaned back in her chair. A fake sort of relaxed look that my brother used often. "I will marry Prince Keiran. That is not the issue." A deliberate pause. "The issue I have with planning a public engagement to lure her out, or a wedding, is that something which is mine will be used as a ploy to get to her. "

Nana put her teacup up to hide her smile. Pot stirrer that she was.

I sent Esta, So you are now unafraid to marry me, make me king consort to all of Dra Skor, yet you will not use this bond ?

Esta's eyes briefly touched mine before she pinned her attention back on her advisors. "So get yourselves used to the idea." I felt her love and respect for me come chasing down the bond, a nice break to the fear. "I will marry Keir, but I will not do so because we need a way to smoke out my traitorous cousin. I will do it on my terms. It will not be rushed, not a part of it will be about anyone other than the two of us. Absolutely no part of it will be about her . Understood?"

Rarely had I heard Esta take that tone, one of an absolute command.

Of course, it was that exact moment I heard Whit grunt out in pain as my wings shifted out and one smacked him in the back of the head.

Was it from excitement? Protection? Needing to stretch because I hadn't been able to use them since we arrived? Who knew. I wanted to feel bad for not succeeding in suppressing them, but I was also so damn sick of hiding them.

"Ha!" Nana smacked the table with a hand. "He has wings!"

Zaccai's eyes went wide. "That mea?—"

"We are soul bound," Esta explained. "Thus the reason he has wings."

Silence blanketed the war room. No one knew what to say, but everyone felt the need to stare at me, or rather my wings. I spent the entire time analyzing the bond, searching for Esta's regret with her admission to her advisors, but I found none. Only love with that fear tucked in around it so thickly it was hard to grasp anything else.

"Apologies, Prince Keiran," Zaccai stated. "It appears you may have been busier in Wylan than I originally thought."

"They are lovely wings though," Amory complimented while shooting me a grin.

Esta let out a huff of breath that reminded me of the sound she made before she growled in her dragon form. And was that jealousy I was feeling coming from her?

I sent Amory the same glare she had given me. One telling her to behave.

"I would like this kept quiet for now," Esta again commanded. "Morana does not know that Keir can fly. Nor does she know that I have his power." She opened up her palm and sent the tea kettle in the middle of the table sliding to herself. She gently caught it and poured herself more tea.

I knew she had been practicing, but the confidence and grace in which she had just displayed my own Enchantment stunned me.

She continued, "So as you can clearly see, the issue is not the absence of feeling between Keir and me. I love him with everything that I am, the dragon in me, the queen in me, and just me , but I am terrified to know what she would plan if she knew about this. That we are soulmates."

I felt down the bond how true all of that was to her. How terrified she felt, her need to protect me louder than anything else. Driving that fear I felt so often.

Which made me feel about an inch tall for thinking I could quickly ease that fear from her by using the bond. By annoying her.

"You got bonded in Wylan?" Zaire asked. I expected him to look defeated, and though he maybe did, there was a curiosity there I hadn't been expecting.

"Mad I'm not a small dragon?" I asked.

His lips twitched. "A little."

"We did get bonded in Wylan," Esta confirmed. "It was safer for us to do so there than here."

Zaire shook his head. "I am disgusted on your behalf that you had to go to the land of your enemies to do so instead of right here at home."

"My enemy is not there," Esta argued as she glanced at the carving in the center of the table, the one honoring all the shifter types. "It's been right here all along. Right under all of our noses it seems. Using the information in this very room and twisting it, using it against all of us while she befriended us all."

"We will find her," Zaire promised as he pounded a fist twice over his chest. "I will find her."

The rest of the remaining advisors followed suit, Nana using her cane on the floor for hers.

Otis raised his hand while half wincing. "Since it has already happened, whispers of you even considering a bonding might still help draw her out?"

"She would know that you would be weakened for a while after," Zaire added. "He has a point."

I am not going to sit here and have them discuss our bond like it is mere strategy, I sent to Esta before moving to stand. I am going healing. Let me know what you all decide.

"Please be careful today," Esta told me.

Realizing the rest of the room needed to be filled in, I explained, "I am going healing with my men today. Also evidently needed to stretch my wings."

Malachi stood and the rest of the advisors followed until only Esta remained sitting.

My gorgeous and baffling soulmate. Smiling at me with pride.

I swallowed hard, remembering what Malachi told me about our bond and how it would help things. This was an attention I would rather not have. "As you were."