Chapter 15

15

RAEGAL

I allow Moryen to guide me towards her office, leaving Eretreya with her new maid. I should be glad to finally be rid of her, but as we move away, my shadows protest at the distance. She irritates me to no end and her sheer prejudice against my kind when she knows nothing of us infuriates me. She's a typical Asen, full of pre-made assumptions about my kind and believing all the gossip and rumours she hears.

Moryen closes the door, sealing us off, and my shadows itch to leave me and find the angry Asen and I grit my teeth as I try to keep them leashed. What is it about her that has them so fixated? Moryen gestures to the armchairs by the fire, as she walks over to a small drinks trolley and pours us both a measure of Rosuk, a strong alcoholic drink infused by the flower Lyllia grown only in our realm.

She hands me my drink before taking her seat. Moryen has been here at the mansion preparing for the girl's arrival for about six months. She is a good friend of my mother's and was the perfect person to take up the responsibility of preparing these girls for life in our realm. I feel sorry for whoever chooses the fiery little ascian at the reaping because she'll go kicking and screaming. I laugh at the absurdity of her playing the housewife and being round and pregnant with her Shadow Borne mate's child. Yes, I think she would take being sacrificed to Arawn better than suffering the fate of being married to my kind. I'd never really thought about how it looks to the people of Asen when we take the chosen ones to our realm. It's true they never returned to Asen and in some ways, I can understand why that has led to concern and mistrust. We know the truth. Let them think what they want. I'd hated my father when he had taken an Asen woman as his second mate. It felt like a betrayal to my mother, but she sat me down and explained that she couldn't give him anymore children and that father wanted more heirs. When he wed the Shadow Kissed female, I'd refused to speak to her or acknowledge her and when she provided him with three more children, my hatred only grew. I watched my mother's face as she watched his new wife cradle her babies and I could feel the pain she felt at not being able to give him anymore children. As I got older, as much as I still resented her, I could see that his Asen wife was a good woman. She loved her children and tried in vain to offer me the same love and attention. She also treated my mother with nothing but respect and she made my father a happy man. I'd made a vow on the day he'd wed her that I would never take an Asen mate. I don't deserve a mate, Asen or Shadow Borne, given I robbed my dear brother of the chance to grow up and one day find his mate. No, I don't deserve the opportunities and experiences available to me, not after what I did.

I recall the time I last saw my parents. It had been five moon cycles ago when they'd summoned me to their private rooms and my father had informed me I needed to prepare to choose a wife at the reaping. I refused; I told him I would rather die childless than take an Asen woman for my mate. My father had replied that it was my duty to secure a wife and the future of our race, and I'd spat back that he could get one of his halfling children to carry on his legacy, if that was the case. I grimace as I think back to the pain that had flitted across my father's face when I'd referred to my siblings as halflings. It was a derogatory term and deep down; I didn't hate them. How could I, when they all grew up admiring me and hanging on my every word? I tried to hate them, but I failed miserably. Mother had tried to reason with me. She'd sat me down, held my hand in hers and said that my behaviour was not that of the fine son she had raised. Being of aristocratic birth, I had to set an example for our people by marrying and continuing the line. She'd asked me to do it for her if I wouldn't do it for my father. After much brooding and drinking and Jasiel trying to get me to see reason. I agreed to attend this year's reaping.

"Care to tell me why you've brought a chosen one here three months early?" Moryen asks me over the rim of her glass.

"A lot of lives were lost because of the mutts' attack on her town. I didn't feel it was safe to leave her there," I explain. There were other reasons too, such as the mutts following her scent and behaving in a way I've never seen them do before. But for now, I am keeping all of that to myself.

"I heard about that. Such a tragedy." Moryen sighs, finishing her drink. "With that hair and those eyes, she'll be popular at the reaping. Is it me or are they a darker shade than the other chosen ones?"

I nod my head and place my drink down on the side table. "Fair warning to you, Moryen. She's going to be a handful for you."

And that's an understatement. Eretreya will despise every moment here.

Moryen chuckles. "Nothing I can't handle. And you? Has your mother convinced you to choose a girl at the reaping?"

I shudder inside at her words. "That is the expectation."

Moryen studies me. I can tell she's trying to work out what I'm thinking. "Well, as you'll be based here, come to some of the events, get to know the girls. You never know, you may find yourself drawn to one of them."

Sighing, I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know about that. I barely tolerate the Asen's as it is. Being around so many may be a tall order."

Moryen bobs her head from side to side. "Perhaps you'll realise there's more to them than you think."

I smirk. "We'll see. I should check in with my captains." I get to my feet, and she rises from her chair and walks me to the door. I place a kiss on her forehead. "Lovely to see you, Moryen."

"Say hello to your mother for me the next time you speak," she says, and I glance back over my shoulder at her.

"We both know you'll be speaking to her before me. Don't think I don't know that she's likely asked you to keep an eye on me and to see if any Asen catches my eye."

Moryen laughs and winks at me. "You know your mother too well."

"That I do," I reply as the guards open the main doors and I head back outside. It's late. It must be around two in the morning. I make my way over to the barracks and check in with one of my generals for updates from the front line. A soldier on watch comes to my office with reports of increased mutt activity outside the protected walls of the valley. I frown at his words. This is unheard of. The mutts always steer well clear of the valley. They know there are large numbers of Shadow Borne here, so they stay away for self-preservation. Our magic can't kill them, but it can burn them and leave them incapacitated for a short time. General Warbow and I follow the soldier outside and along the wall to the front entrance of the valley walls.

"Look," he says, pointing out into the dark landscape beyond the walls, which is mainly made up of dense forest and rolling hills. "You see them?" he asks.

I follow his line of sight and sure enough; I see the glint of their eyes in the treeline. The soldier passes the general his looking glass and his frown deepens at what he sees.

"There are at least a couple of hundred of them out there."

The soldier nods his head. "They've all arrived in the last half an hour. It's odd. They seem to be waiting for something."

"Send out scouts tomorrow to check the seal to the void. Notify me immediately if there have been any changes."

"Yes, Lord Commander. I'll make the arrangements now," he says, saluting me and leaving to carry out his orders.

"What do you make of this?" General Warbow asks as we both make our way back towards the barracks.

I shake my head and bob my shoulders. "It certainly is odd behaviour."

He grumbles in agreement, stroking his bushy black beard. "Especially after that incident over in Terleigh. I hear many Asen lives were lost?"

"Many. Young and old," I reply with a grimace. "I dread to think how many more lives would have been lost if we hadn't been there that night."

The General nods his head and looks grim. "The mutts come from the void. Do you think there could be something happening there?"

I sigh and shake my head. "No. Maybe. There has been no activity from the void since their king's demise. Why now?"

"I'll report back to you when the soldiers have been to investigate."

We both pause upon hearing a chorus of howls from beyond the walls. It's not a sound you hear very often around here. In the stillness of the night, it bellows through the valley, echoing against the thick protective walls. There is a responding chorus of howls from further afield. They are communicating across packs. It's unheard of.

I head to my quarters in the barracks. I was offered rooms at the mansion, but I prefer to stay with my men. My rooms here are small but sufficient. My shadow wolf, Nyx, wags his in tail in greeting when I step inside, and I crouch down to stroke him. His ears perk up when the howls beyond the walls start up again.

"It's okay, boy. They can't get beyond those walls," I assure him, but even as I say the words, I doubt them. How can I say that when they breached the walls at Terleigh just a few nights ago? My thoughts drift to Eretreya. Somehow, this is all linked to her. Her being left in the forest that night started something. I just don't know what.

I strip out of my clothes and climb into bed. The moment my head hits the pillow, I feel the effects of the restorative energy from the onyx. Which is why we made our base here, within the natural valley of these onyx mountains. The crystal helps us to rejuvenate and recover.

The howls continue, getting louder and closer. I sit up in bed with a sigh. There's no chance of getting any sleep. I climb out from under the covers and walk to the window to look out at the mansion across the valley and I call upon my shadows to take me to her.

S he sleeps soundly. How is she sleeping through this racket? I don't know what brought me here. Her long blonde waves fan out across the pillows. Her eyes closed and her lips parted slightly. My shadows sneak out and make their way towards her, disappearing under the covers, and I close my eyes, savouring the moment when my shadows touch her skin. I wonder if I cloak her in my shadows again, if the hounds will lose her scent?

My shadows urge me to take her. Itching to be close to her again. They climb up her limbs, gently wrapping themselves around her, caressing her as they go. Once she's secure in my magic, the covers pull back and, ever so gently, I bring her to me. Her slight frame hovers in the air and I frown when I see she's in his clothes again. Scared of waking her, I ever so slowly bring her to me and when she is within reach, I take her in my arms and my shadows wrap around us, transporting us back to my room.

I lay her down on my bed, my shadows dancing delightedly around her, excited to have her close. I carefully lay beside her and wrap her up in my scent and my shadows, covering every inch of her body. Nyx sits up and studies the stranger in my bed. He trots over to the side of the bed and sniffs her scent. Studying her quietly, he glances back at me before disappearing back to his bed in the corner of the room. I lie beside her and, like some crazed stalker; I inhale her scent, my shadows almost sighing in contentment. I'll return her to her own bed in the morning before she wakes. She'll have no idea she spent the night here with me. The night falls silent again; the mutts stopping their frenzied howling the moment I covered her scent with my shadows. Who is this girl in my bed and what is her connection to them?