by Jaime Marks
Devyn paced the sitting room, working through things in his mind. Felycia sat in the middle of the floor playing with Bryce and he smiled at them. She was starting to hear him, to listen when he offered advice. He paused to lean down and kiss her head. They were everything to him.
“You ok?” She asked softly.
“Of course, dear girl,” he reassured her. “I am just sorting through how best to manage the issues with our family. It must be dealt with.”
As if he had called one of them forth, Marcus appeared from the mist and Devyn rose to address him. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I thought you should know Narysia’s awakening was somehow triggered and it might be a rather late eve meal.”
He assessed him a moment gaging his mood. “Who is awakening her?”
He sighed. “Wytheryn with the aid of Byryn and Kyle.” He raised a hand. “I trust Byryn and Kyle. I know they would never betray their mates or harm her. There were, however, words exchanged between Byryn and Cymeryn. He left the realm to clear his head.” Devyn watched as the Fae paced. “And I realize you think I should be able to rein in my brother but it’s not that simple. He’s been a bit off ever since Lazurys managed to obtain the kids in the first place. It eased when they returned, but then we found out about Terynia, there was the encounter with Pravyous, and Tatyna has been damn near suicidal. Now he is struggling to come to terms with Narysia, though he already loves the girl. He is ever there for me and Reya. He is in complete control but…” Marcus shook his head. “It’s not something I can explain.”
Devyn stilled him with a hand on his shoulder. It was clear he had needed to air his frustrations. There was more, but Marcus was one you could not push. He would reveal the pain that festered in him when he was ready and not a moment before. “How are you handling the revelation of Narysia’s lineage, or even Kyle’s? We have not discussed it and I sense it is not just your brother that struggles with such things.”
Marcus sank down to the couch smiling as he watched Bryce crawl around, but his expression dropped as he met Devyn’s eyes. “I honestly don’t know. My Father was a difficult male. He struggled greatly with the loss of our Mother, but I had always believed him to be honorable. As close as we all were as young, and all the time we spent together, it should not surprise me that Father and the Queen sired young…but how could he, Devyn? Did he care about no Fae but himself? She could’ve been executed, as could he. And if he lived, did he know of Terynia? Did he know of her when he faced Alayne in battle? Is that how Syneous found her in the first place?
“He never left us any clues. In all the years that have passed, he never once reached out. Then to hear Narysia’s story? How he knew he was on his death bed and still he took her Mother, sired our sister? I am grateful to have her, but she has struggled so and some of it under our very roof. If we had even an inkling, if he had ever reached out to me, I could have found her, protected her. If we knew of Terynia she could still be alive.”
Devyn sighed heavily as he sat beside him. “I should perhaps discuss this with each of you, and perhaps I will, but right now Mythos need only focus on Stephynia and I do not believe Cymeryn is in the frame of mind to hear it.” He turned facing him. “Your Father, Cymarcion, led a difficult life. He had only been bound to your Mother a short while before you were conceived and he lost her in your birth. The four of them; Cymarcion, Melydia, Terysia, and Mythion, were extremely close. They were quite inseparable. Your Father and the King may well have been brothers and they had both courted their mates for years. There was no rush. We were all immortal. The Fae thrived. There was no urgency to mate and they simply enjoyed one another. Also the awakening occurred at a later age. It proceeded far slower and was less predictable on timing. If I remember correctly both your Mother and Terysia were late bloomers even in our time. Your Fathers may have been far older, but remember, Terysia and Melydia were both younger than I by well over a century. They were males of patience and once they found them, merely enjoyed their time together.”
“When Melydia died, all three of them took it extremely hard. We all did, but none worse than your Father, although Terysia was a close second. She helped raise you boys, often treating you as her own. It was clear she and Cymarcion held some form of connection and Mythion and he were very close as well. The King never had an issue with the time they spent together or the intimacy of their relationship. In fact, Cymarcion held the Right of Succession.”
“What?” Marcus sat back in shock. “But…what about Mythos?”
“He had not yet been born when the decision was made and even after he was but a boy. If the King fell his rule needed to be upheld, and there was none he trusted more. There was an oath between them which they renewed in front of the Sons of Lucerna annually until your Father’s death. Cerulyion held it after until they felt Mythos was of age and maturity, though I doubt they expected him to claim his birthright so soon,” Devyn explained. “Regardless, we all knew that the King had asked your Father to take the Queen as his own and raise the four of you together should he ever fall. He wanted her to always know love and never be alone.”
“I…I didn’t realize they were…that close. Do you think the affair was…do you think Mythion…”
He cut him off, “I do not know. Both the King and Cymarcion came to me after the affair. Terysia was sickened by the breaking of bonds and readily admitted what had occurred. If it was consensual among the three of them I doubt that they anticipated that issue. Cymarcion was riddled with guilt and the King was concerned with how to protect his mate. It was a mess, but they never once came to blows and Mythion never expressed anger with your Father. In fact, when a trial was called for they worked together to protect her. That is when she was sent away. Your Father took what she endured quite hard. He blamed himself for every moment of her pain and her separation from all four of you young. Mythion, Cerulyion, and I stopped him from taking his own life several times.”
Marcus inhaled deeply. “He loved her.”
“Aye, of that I have no doubt, nor did Mythion. After the trial Cymarcion knew he would never be able to again share in her life without risking further judgement upon her. Losing her also nearly destroyed him.” Devyn considered it all, “I did not know about Terynia or I would have brought her home long ago. She was a secret Mythion took to his grave. I do not know what occurred, or if your Father knew of her, but I know he would have insisted he go to Earth to protect the Queen if he did. He would have been terrified Terysia would have passed in childbirth. Your Mother’s death still haunted him so.”
Marcus sat thinking it through. “Then it wasn’t just his selfishness that incited the affair.”
“Nay, your Father was far from selfish. He was an honorable Fae, despite how it all played out. He never once acted out of anything but love for you boys, your Mother, or even the Queen.”
Devyn measured him a moment before he continued “I do not know what your Father endured these years or how it is that Alayne held him. We knew that they had battled and there had been so much blood. The body we found was unrecognizable and the essence had faded, the Light gone from the body. I do not know how he came to be with her, but I know he would not have taken another mate if she did not own his heart. Even then, especially if he knew he would be leaving her, it would have been difficult for him to open himself to that level of pain. I will point out, however, that there is a reason Healers keep mates of those with Shade Sickness close. Light is love, Marcus. Her love may well have been what allowed him to survive his wounds even as long as he had.”
Marcus nodded. “Thank you, Devyn.”
He waved him away. “I perhaps should have told you sooner. Perhaps it would have saved you all some stress.”
Marcus smirked, “Have you met us? We would have found some other aspect to dwell on. We needed to hear that though. We needed to know.”
Devyn nodded. “Then your brother knows as well?”
“He’s been listening through our connection,” he confirmed
.
“Good, and the Queen?” He requested.
He nodded.
“Then I will tell Mythos when the time is right, once he and Stephynia have repaired this.”
“We’re working on it,” Marcus replied cryptically. He looked up into his quizzical stare. “It’s better for now that you don’t know. We are working closely with Mythos to try to protect her, but anything that cues her to something amiss may well mean this fails.”
“I trust you,” Devyn allowed giving him a pointed look.
Marcus nodded. “I know. I can see why the boys think we don’t trust them. We need to address it.”
Devyn clamped his hand on his shoulder. “Go. Be there for your twin and your mate. If she needs to eat see to her. We will meet later once they are free, and if not then, tomorrow.”
He watched the Fae mist from the room knowing now where he had to begin to repair this. Hopefully Cymeryn would hear reason. It was not a good path they were on. If things continued on this route the threat Cymeryn only perceived to the Princes and Princesses would be far more realistic. Isolating them only made it so they would not feel comfortable coming to them when there was an issue. It meant the support they needed to get through whatever was coming would not be there because they would not accept it.
Chapter 29
Steph woke up slowly in a strange haze. She didn’t know where she was. Sitting up with a start she found herself almost naked in the arms of a man she couldn’t remember. Actually she couldn’t remember much of anything for a moment. Her brain strained through the fog but she was so confused.
His eyes opened and he looked up at her with a warm smile. “Did you sleep well, my love?”
She blinked trying to sort things out. Mythos. Her mate. “I…I don’t know. I feel weird.”
He sat up studying her with concern. “Weird how, caria? Should I call a Healer?”
Slowly memories came back into focus. She shook her head. “No. I think I’m fine. Just a weird dream…or something.” It wasn’t the first time she’d felt like this but for some reason she couldn’t place when the last time had been.
He nodded lying back. “We are supposed to be joining the others in a while for meal but I thought perhaps we might dine alone this eve as you have been feeling under the weather.”
She smiled down at him. “Won’t we be missed? I thought there was some argument you needed to deal with.”
“Devyn and the twins can handle it.” He shrugged with a smirk pulling her down on him.
She giggled as he rolled her over. He held her in place as he stared intently into her eyes and for a moment she almost thought he was saying so much more. He kissed her hungrily, as if it were the last time he’d ever see her, devouring her. Something inside her fought his touch and she went to move back, but his hand slid up to her throat holding her as his body pinned her in place.
When he pulled back he held her there and his eyes held hers. “If you wish me to stop you need to tell me, Stephynia, otherwise you are mine and I mean to have you,” he warned waiting only a moment for what he’d said to register before his tongue delved deeply passed her lips.
Her essence surged in response to his control. It wasn’t something she was capable of just giving up. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she thought as his hand caressed her breast in a firm grip through the thin slip of fabric that covered her.
Mythos pulled her essence into him as his voice rolled through her mind. “You cannot. I am yours, Stephynia. You were made for me.”
He gripped her wrists and wrapped the belt from his robes around them, binding her to the bed despite how she struggled. She wasn’t afraid. Really she didn’t want him to stop. There was no reason in the world for her to fight him, but she couldn’t help herself.
He tore the slip from her body making her gasp as she stared at him in shock. He smirked at her reaction but pulled the fabric from her and tore it in two. She’d been struggling to get her legs free and now she kicked, but he caught her ankle and wrapped a piece of fabric around it. Holding her leg firmly, despite how she kicked him with the other, he tied it off somewhere on the side of the bed and walked to her other side. He grabbed her other leg before she could even think and tied that one off as well.
She watched him strip off his shorts as she struggled against the binds that held her, her tongue moistening her lips subconsciously as she took in her King’s thick proud erection that seemed to throb with need. He was watching her closely, gaging her reactions as if he was searching for something as he tested her restraints, sliding a finger between them and her skin.
Mythos cupped her breast, running his hand over her swollen nipple before running it down her body. His fingers slid into her warm, sensitive folds spreading her moisture. “So ready for me,” he mused with satisfaction, almost seeming to talk to himself.
She watched as he climbed onto the bed, straddling her body so his knees pressed against her arms. He leaned forward against the headboard and the head of his sex rubbed against her lips. She stifled a moan even as her essence fought against him. He looked down in her eyes as he absorbed it easily. “You can stop this with a single word but I already know that is not what you want,” he smirked pressing against her lips. “Open caria, I want to feel your mouth wrapped around me.”
Her eyes drifted closed at the stern command in his voice as she obeyed and he thrust in deep. He didn’t gag her, but he definitely held all the control. She didn’t know what had gotten into her mate. He’d never been this firm or demanding with her. It was turning her on.
He wasn’t hurting her. He’d made it clear he’d stop if she wanted him to but he was seriously overpowering her and she loved the rush of it. Her mind stopped warring over what she was allowing because there was no way to fight it and she just let go.
Mythos felt all the tension and strain bleed out of her as she sucked hard on his length, which was buried deeply in her mouth. He felt her mind ease as she gave all control over to him. He had not thought he would be able to do this, but after feeling the separation between them it was actually fairly easy to take a more forceful approach to taking her back to his bed. He only hoped she would forgive him when she realized what they had done.
He assessed the state of her mind, ensuring the blocks had remained in place and continued to thrust deeply in her mouth, just enough to steal her breath. The twins had blocked off her memories. She had no recall of the Shade or their past together. Cymeryn had needed to remove most of her human memories to accomplish it and left only those of her parents and coming here. If anything made her think of that time she would realize immediately her mind was blocked, but for now she was free.
It was something he almost felt shame at doing, but the twins felt she had been bound by Ravyshyn similarly to how Alayne had bound Wytheryn. She had been trying to leave the realm and Cymeryn had assessed how much control he really held over her. It was substantially more than they had suspected. More than should have been possible for her merely drinking his essence as unawakened. At the same time it was fragile. Their awakenings had damaged the bond in some way but his visits to her mind and the control he wielded over her was stealing her will to fight it.
Cymeryn claimed it was fulfilling a need in her that even she, herself, did not understand, and explained that he needed to show her that he could do this. That he could give her what she needed. They had argued over this. It felt far more Shade than Fae, but Cymeryn had merely laughed at him and asked that he sense the tension and stress in her mind for himself. He told him to consider her nature, the fight she waged with her warrior half that he had not even noticed in her mind until Cymeryn pointed out.
Stephynia felt she needed to be on top of everything, especially in her role as Queen and her training. She felt she needed to excel in her skills and pushed herself to the limit. He knew her mind rarely stopped. It was something he adored about her, that drive and determination, but there was never a moment where she had been able to relax and it had
all but overwhelmed her without any of their notice. It hurt to know she had not felt comfortable enough to come to him, or even their family, but all he could do now was attempt to aid her.
As Cymeryn explained it, ceding control to another allowed her mind to silence and still. It allowed her a different form of release that would only fuel her passion. If he had not been so desperate to find some way to reach her, to help her, he might have punched the smug bastard; but any doubt he had was erased when Cymeryn directed him to the memories of the visits Ravyshyn had paid to her mind.
It had hurt, seeing her give in to him, but he realized she had not even understood it herself. The first time she fought him with everything she had as he took from her, raping her until she gave in and let herself enjoy the pleasure of what he did to her. In her mind it was a defeat of sorts and a betrayal of their bond, but he did not see it as such. The male had abused and manipulated her, playing on her fears. Mental manipulations were difficult to withstand and she was not versed in how to fight that level of control. She had done nothing he would ever fault her for. The second time was the one he was having a hard time dealing with.
She had gone to him, called him to her mind knowing it would give him more control over both her and the situation. He knew her reasons, but what she had done had put herself in danger and given him a firmer hold of her mind. In essence, she had all but surrendered herself to him and savored in his attentions.
He cut off his thoughts, realizing he was all but punishing her as he forced her to gag on him. That was something he did not want. If he was going to punish her for it, if they were going to deal with that, she would be fully aware of the reasons. He would not take that out on her now while she was utterly helpless to defend herself. She did not even know it had occurred.
He pulled from her mouth and kissed her head as she caught her breath. Sliding down her body he took her core with his mouth. Her essence wrapped around him, but rather than pushing him away she gave herself over to his pleasure. He wanted her so desperately but he needed to draw the moment out.
