12. Rehn

TWELVE

REHN

W aking with his mate snuggled in his arms was about the best way Rehn could imagine ending his rest. He couldn't remember a time when he had slept so soundly. The closest might have been after intense training when he'd hardly had the energy to take off his armor before falling into his bed. He much preferred the exercise he and Leila got up to last night. With his fingers stroking her arm, he wanted another round.

The doors to his bedchamber opened and servants wheeled in the cart for his usual breakfast. His stomach rumbled, smelling the food. The noise, or his stomach began to rouse Leila. She let out a yawn, and stretched, pressing her body against his. The servants quickly left the room, leaving the cart behind, and closing the doors behind them

Leila froze. She must have realized where she was and who she was with. It only took a moment for her to relax, but then her stomach growled, too, sending Rehn into chuckles.

"Good morning," he said, fingers moving down her arm. "It sounds like you're as hungry as I am. There's more than enough for two. Would you like me to bring the cart closer?"

"Please," she replied.

Rehn slipped from under the covers and stood. He felt Leila's eyes on him even with his back to her. The attention had him beaming a smile. Knowing she was his fated mate, it was to be expected but that didn't stop him from basking in it, and that went double as she herself did not know yet. Still, he snatched his clothes and slipped them on.

Leila sat up in bed, pulling the covers up and holding them under her arms for a modicum of modesty with her legs pulled close. Her eyes tracked Rehn as he moved the cart closer and sat on the bed beside Leila's feet. She reached out and grabbed a bowl of sliced fruit while Rehn picked up two bacon strips and started eating.

In the silence of the moment, Rehn couldn't help but fixate on telling her the truth about their status. Last night had been everything he could have wanted and she seemed to enjoy their time together as much as he had, still did, judging by her stolen glances at his naked chest while she munched on a slice of apple.

Despite last night and his desire to have her again and again, to keep her with him from now on, the thought of telling her the truth about being mated worried him. How would she react to the truth? She wasn't a shifter, she didn't have the same primal drive, and she could choose to leave him.

"Are you okay?" Leila asked. "You've been staring at that bacon as if it offended you."

"Too much on my mind, I guess," Rehn replied, then added a half-truth. "Idris and I have duties to attend to today, just lost in thought."

He had indeed been lost in thought, just not the thoughts he described, and even those he kept vague. In truth, he and Idris would begin their investigation, obtaining samples of the local sorcerer's work to determine if any of them were the man who aided Drystan's insane ambitions.

Again, he was hiding things from his mate. It rankled his inner beast. The bear rumbling under his skin had no concept of concealment. He wanted nothing more than to share everything with his mate, damn the consequences. As much as Rehn wished for that, too, he dared not, not yet.

"I'd be happy to help," Leila said.

"I promised to keep you safe and that is what I intend to do," he replied. "You will remain here with Yaldred."

As king, he was so used to people just accepting his commands, even his statements. Idris and Yaldred would call him out if he took things too far or if they thought he should reconsider, but few others. Leila looked as if she wanted to argue but she gave a slight nod, accepting.

After they finished their meal, Rehn stepped out of the room to allow Leila the opportunity to dress. Again, his inner beast disagreed. Why should they let their mate hide away from them? But he did not listen.

Wearing the dress she had on last night for dinner, Rehn escorted her back to the queen's quarters where Yaldred waited. The way the two women shared smiles, he knew he was to be subject to gossip the moment he was out of earshot but he couldn't try to eavesdrop and that would be unbecoming of a king.

Soon enough, he and Idris mounted their horses and were off. Other teams scoured different parts of the kingdom for sorcerers, taking samples of their work to compare and hopefully find the culprit.

After an uneventful morning moved into the afternoon, they found themselves deep in the forest at the far edge of the valley making their way to the abode of Altair.

Like many sorcerers in the kingdom, Altair lived far away from others, in a small cottage deep in the forest. Rehn and Idris left the main road, following the narrow and winding trail into the hills. They found hoof prints in the mud beside a small stream. They led back the way the duo came so they couldn't be fresh.

"We may have missed our sorcerer," Idris said, pointing at the tracks.

"Or he had a visitor yesterday," Rehn replied. "Either way, we continue."

"Of course."

Altair's cottage soon appeared in the distance, just a sliver of it at the end of the trail framed by trees on either side and their canopy above. The door cut into a wall of thick logs was shut. No smoke plumed from the chimney jutting from the thatched roof.

They rode into the small clearing around the cottage. Bunches of herbs and wild plants hung from the edge of an open stable with an empty water trough and no horse. Rehn handed his reins to Idris and approached the door to the cottage.

A circle of intricately woven wicker hung from a nail on the door. Rehn didn't recognize the pattern but he knew a sorcerer's charm when he saw one. His fist thudded below the charm but no answer came. He heard nothing from within the cottage.

"It appears you were correct, he is not here," Rehn said after another booming knock remained unanswered.

"Should we enter and find something with his magic in it?" Idris asked.

"No need, this charm should do," Rehn replied.

He carefully lifted the wicker charm from the door, plucking it from the nail holding it. Back at his horse, he opened his saddle bags and set it among the other sorcerers' items. Once he closed the bag and clasped it, he mounted his horse.

With Altair's wicker charm secured, Rehn and Idris started back through the forest to the road leading to the castle. Neither spoke as they wound down the narrow trail with Idris following behind his king and friend. Only when they reached the wider road did he move up to ride beside Rehn.

"So, we have what we need, now we have time to talk about last night," Idris said, flashing a wide smile. "Yaldred couldn't stop talking about the dress she got Leila to wear. How did you like it?"

"She is my mate. I'd find her beautiful in a burlap flour sack," Rehn replied.

"True, true. I feel the same about my Yaldred, but that doesn't mean I don't love it when she slips on something special," Idris replied, then his smile turned into a feral smirk, "and that goes double for when she slips that something special off ."

"It was a wonderful night," Rehn finally said after staying silent for several seconds. "Everything I expected after finding my fated mate."

That was all he said, much to Idris's disappointment. The king's closest advisor watched him, brow raised, waiting for more but Rehn wanted to leave the conversation at that, not that his closest friend would allow that, not even from the king. He never did when they were growing up, either.

"Have you marked her yet?" Idris asked, watching the king. He shook his head at his old friend's expression. "You haven't even told her, have you? Why not?"

Rehn shrugged in response, holding his tongue. This was no surprise for Idris. He was used to having to pull words from the king's mouth when he wanted to keep to his own council.

"I told you yesterday she will need wooing, and you seem to have listened," Idris said. "And I hope you listen to me well now. You've never been great at expressing your emotions. I remember when your parents died, how stoic you kept yourself at their funeral."

"A king needs to project strength," Rehn said, head shaking. "Behind closed doors, you saw how great my grief was."

"Yes, away from your subjects, among those you trust the most, but what of your mate? Even after last night, are you hiding your true emotions from her?" Idris asked. "That could become an issue. You need to tell her the truth and tell her soon if you don't want to lose her."

"She is my fated mate. I will not lose her," Rehn growled

Idris held his hands up and shook his head. A chuckle escaped his lips after a moment, and not even the glare of his king and closest friend could stop it.

"I can hear your passion, my friend, but that is not enough to keep her," Idris said. "Mark my words well. You are going to have to open up to her, tell her she is your fated mate, or you very well might lose her."

As Idris expected, Rehn stayed silent. He thought about his advisor's words, the very idea of losing Leila filled him with dread, and that doubled if he did so through his own unwillingness to be open with her. Ironic that fear held his tongue so far as he did not want the pressure of such a revelation to send Leila fleeing. Idris was correct, now he just needed to determine when would be the best time to tell his mate.