by Mari Byrne
Shan Lin took a few deep breaths of the air surrounding him and did his best to bring his anger under control. The knot in his belly softened when he felt the soothing calm his brother eased into his being.
Even as they continued on their journey, Shan Lin felt the comfort his brother pathed into his mind. The corner of Shan Lin’s mouth lifted as he conveyed his thanks through the mind-link they shared.
My pleasure, brother mine.
Shan Lin knew there had been times that the telepathy the twins shared had been the only thing keeping him from going mad when his mind turned in on itself and the visions he saw jerked him into their world. Vincent never thought twice about having to pull Shan Lin’s consciousness back to itself. His brother had commented on it only once when they were but eight years old.
“I am your other self. I am but half of a whole, which will not be complete until we are juniane’. Where you go I will always follow. You belong to me as much as I belong to you. Until we are juniane’ and belong to our mate, I will pull you from the ending brink of your journey just as you will drag me kicking and screaming from my fear of losing you to that horrifying end.”
As complex at it had seemed to both the young boys, they had understood Vincent would continue to travel through Shan Lin’s mind when the visions came to find his brother. At one point, Shan Lin had voiced the unfairness of the situation to his brother, and Vincent had shrugged it off.
“For you, brother mine, there is no other thing I can do.”
The words had humbled Shan Lin. No other, including their father, believed what Shan Lin saw. Even through the mind-link, Vincent couldn’t see what Shan Lin saw, but never questioned Shan Lin when he spoke.
The only thing Shan Lin could give in return to his brother was his love and protection against any and all that would deem it necessary to harm Vincent.
The two of them had become known for the way they fought. One would always protect the other’s back when vulnerable, and they nearly always fought side by side. It was how they had climbed so far in the ranks of the Queen’s Guards.
Which was how they had come to be in this place at this time.
“As if you would harm a hair on the spoiled child’s head.” Vincent spoke aloud at Shan Lin’s thoughts. Thank you, brother mine.
“No. Neither of us would want the slightest thing to mar her pleasure in life.”
Both men did their level best to insure their younger sister’s life was a string of one wonderful event after another. The death of their mother when Lyssa was so young drove her two brothers to shower her with more affection than they would have had their mother still been alive.
The two men being so far apart in age from their little sister played a heavy role in their feelings toward their younger sibling. There was a seventeen-year difference between them, and their mother’s death had come almost directly after Lyssa’s second birthday.
“She’s been spoiled beyond any other man or men to imagine,” Shan Lin pointed out reasonably.
“True,” Vincent replied grudgingly.
Both Shan Lin and Vincent had vowed their sister would know all memories the two brothers could offer her of their gentle-loving mother.
The belief their mother, Evelyn, would still be alive if Shan Lin and Vincent’s father, Thaddeus, hadn’t sent Evelyn to stay with Aunt Gwen and Uncle Darias, while he trained the boys, played a heavy factor also. Lyssa had been left behind because Thaddeus hadn’t wanted to part with his beloved daughter.
In Shan Lin and Vincent’s eyes, Thaddeus had sent Evelyn to her death. All four had paid the price for Thaddeus’ beliefs. Vincent came to an abrupt halt, Shan Lin stopping beside him as the two looked around them once more. They had come upon a sprawling lawn at the end of which stood what looked to be a stately home.
“What is it, Vincent?” Shan Lin asked as they came to a halt. He looked at the home, then scanned the surrounding area for some danger he had not picked up himself.
They had been walking for no more than twenty minutes, leaving the buildings of the city behind as they made their way through what had to be the back alleys of the city. It was early morning now, the sun had barely risen over the horizon and the soft glow of the morning was quickly turning into the beginning heat of the day. Both men quickly realized they had directed themselves toward this specific home. They had already passed a few other dwellings, but had unconsciously ignored them.
“I suppose she’s in there.” Shan Lin made the statement in a gruff voice. A feeling stirred through his mind that someone had guided them to where they now found themselves.
To finally be within reach of their new Queen brought an excitement brewing in both men. If there was a new Queen…
They let the thought trail away.
“You sure?” Vincent asked.
“Don’t know,” Shan Lin answered, beginning his forward progress once again, even though he could be wrong, “but I’m not going to stand here and wait to find out.”
Vincent watched his brother walk forward toward what most likely was their new Queen and quickly took off at a loping gait to catch up with him.
“Then let’s go find out for sure.”
Chapter Three
Shan Lin and Vincent knocked on the door to the lavish house that stood before them.
“Riad,” Vincent muttered. “Queen Sara’s got to be ticked.”
“Why do you say that, brother?” Shan Lin asked as the two waited for the door to be answered.
“You know her. She’s got to be going into tantrums left and right if it’s true there’s a new Queen. She thought her sons would never marry and she’d rule Aranak forever. Never mind that she’s never had her throne challenged, she now has to give it all up. Power, treasures, everything. To a woman who isn’t even Aranakian. How exactly do you think she’s feeling?”
Shan Lin paused for a moment before speaking.
“I imagine the woman is ticked. If it’s true. If this is the True Queen as we’ve been hearing…”
Before he could finish his thought, the door was finally opened, a servant of some kind stood before them with an inquiring gaze.
“We’re looking for one of the Aranak Princes. Are they here?” Vincent used his best soldier face, the one that made lower-ranking soldiers, and some high-ranking officials, do his bidding.
The servant opened the door wider and gestured them in to a small hallway.
Shan Lin looked around and stepped further into the next room after the servant had asked them to wait here and then left. He went even further into the room when an item caught his eye. It reminded him so much of home he couldn’t help himself. He walked over to the artifact that lay in a prominent place in the room and picked it up. After he had turned it a few times in his hand and it wouldn’t work, he turned to Vincent and showed him.
“Recognize this?” Shan Lin asked as he held it out to Vincent.
Vincent took the sculpture in his hands and turned it in the same way Shan Lin had. He waited for it to come to life and when it didn’t, he hastily put it down with exaggerated care.
He looked at Shan Lin and raised his eyebrows. “So. It’s true then.”
When Shan Lin looked at the statue again, he nodded his head and turned to stand fully in front of Vincent.
“Look. Let’s wait to see. After all, just because it no longer answers to us doesn’t mean it no longer answers to Mitch and Kristain.” Shan Lin waited for Vincent to agree, and when he didn’t immediately reply, Shan Lin looked at him questioningly.
“What? You don’t agree it might not have happened?”
Vincent looked back at the statue and shook his head, “No, I don’t agree with you.” He continued to stare at the statue as he spoke. “Every time I’ve touched that statue, throughout my entire life, mind you, it has responded to me as one who could be in line to the throne.” He took a deep breath while he pondered the situation a moment, then looked directly at Shan Lin and continued. “It has never not respond
ed. And since it no longer responds, I know I am no longer in the fight for my Queendom’s crown.” Staring deeply into Shan Lin’s eyes, he made the obvious statement.
“And neither, dear brother mine, are you. It has come to pass, and we will accept it.”
Shan Lin knew in his heart it was true, but he didn’t have to like it. “Fine. You believe it. But until Mitch and Kristain say different, I’ll hold onto what I have been raised to be.” He paused as if his brother didn’t already know what the answer was. “A mate to a Queen.”
He walked back over to pick up the statue.
Vincent turned to watch while Shan Lin picked it up once again and ran it around in his hands.
When he finally set the statue back in its place, Shan Lin looked up at Vincent with near desolation, then went to him and embraced his brother.
Vincent knew what his brother was thinking. He knew Shan Lin didn’t mind losing the throne. Though his brother would mind all the time, wasted, training for a throne they would never gain.
If they had believed Shan Lin when he had told their mother that the brothers would never marry a Queen, they would have realized all of Shan Lin’s prophecies would come true. There would have been more time spent as a family instead of their father continually sending their mother away so he could concentrate on properly training them in the ways of a Queen’s Consorts.
Let it go, Shani.
Shan Lin looked to his brother. “Thank you for believing in me when nobody else would. I realize it’s the one thing we won’t ever share until we’re matched, but it is always better with the knowledge of your belief in me.”
Vincent sent soothing thoughts to him.
“It hurts just to know our mother could have been with us instead of Aunt Gwen when the Horrds came to take their village. She would still have been alive if Father had believed me.” Shan Lin took a deep breath and waited for his emotions to come under control. When he had them mastered, he looked around for a place to sit and came face to face with a goddess.
He smiled a moment before he realized just who she was.
He looked back to his brother and found Vincent prostrate on his knees with his forehead bowed to the floor. Shan Lin whipped his head back around to look at the woman, then immediately took the same position as his brother.
She had the deepest midnight blue eyes he’d ever seen. If you looked at them long enough, he knew you could drown in them. Her hair swept her shoulders and was the color of the fierce, dark plains he had glimpsed in Aranak. On her, it was the loveliest color he’d ever seen. She truly was a goddess in her own right, and most definitely their Queen.
Stephanie looked down in exasperation at the two men with their heads bowed on the floor. She stepped closer to the one directly next to her and touched his head. “Oh, not again. Everyone who comes does that,” she said under her breath. Louder, she said, “Get up, please.”
In turns, it continued to amaze and irritate her when a man or woman from Aranak came through their door. People took one look at her then dropped to their knees with their foreheads on the floor.
Mitch and Kristain had explained it had been their mother’s wish. This was how Queen Sara required she be greeted, and any royalty who visited her of a lower rank also had to adopt this position.
For herself, Stephanie would have been more than happy to have everyone stop bowing before her, but since she hadn’t wanted to offend Mitch and Kristain about their Realm’s customs, she hadn’t said anything. She vowed she would though, and soon!
She went to the other man and touched his head while she asked him to get up. When this one came to his feet, he blanched when he saw her.
“What is it?” Stephanie sounded almost alarmed.
Shan Lin couldn’t speak. The ability to form any kind of sound left his mind and took most of his ability to stand. He swayed toward the beautiful woman and would have fallen over if she hadn’t caught him.
“Are you all right? Do you need to sit down?” When Shan Lin still couldn’t get a word to come out, she guided him to a nearby chair and sat him down. Gesturing for the same servant who had answered the door, she asked the man to go and get her a glass of water.
By the time the servant had taken a couple of steps, Shan Lin found his voice. “Wait.” It came out croaking and squeaky, but it still came out.
“Better?” Stephanie asked while she stroked his sleeve. She had looked through his mind when he had first come up and seen her. Even though she herself thought it was an intrusion, Mitch and Kristain repeatedly informed her they wouldn’t ever leave her side if she didn’t start scanning every mind she came in contact with. They informed her there were enemies out there who would dearly love to get their hands on the True Queen, and since it was her, they weren’t going to take chances.
The man before her didn’t want to hurt her; he was just feeling overwhelmed at the moment.
When he nodded, she looked to the other man she had immediately read. He was staring at her intently.
“He’ll be fine,” Stephanie murmured. “I understand you’re looking for my husbands.” Stephanie almost snickered at the phrase. My husbands. No matter how long they were together, she suspected the “husbands” part would always give her a tickle of pleasure. Saying it just made her laugh, but living it had made her deliriously happy.
Vincent watched the woman stroking his brother’s arm and nodded his head absently. There was a poetry of motion in the way she moved. It wasn’t anything which would be seen as overt, but a natural gesture. She wanted very much to soothe the man before her. Put him at ease as he was having difficulty managing it himself.
The gesture, more than her being their Queen, endeared her to him forever. This woman was exactly what their world needed.
Stephanie smiled laughingly at him. “I’m glad you think so. I’ve often worried about it myself, but my husbands assure me I’ll do just fine. I now find it’s not as difficult as I once thought it would be.”
Stephanie patted the sitting man’s arm once more while he seemed to come out of his shock.
She then fully turned toward the other man. “I could always pick it out of your minds, and I might just still, but would you mind introducing yourselves?”
Vincent made a face to let Stephanie know he realized he had made a faux pas, then bowed to her. “My name is Vincent Carrucci-Rayan, and this is Shan Lin, my brother. We are cousins to Mitch and Kristain and have come to see if the rumors are true.” He looked over at his brother then back to Stephanie. “I see they are.”
Stephanie nodded to him. “Yes. I get the honor of being both Wife and Queen. Took me by surprise, both roles I now have.” She chuckled as she remembered how Mitch and Kristain had told her she was now their wife.
She had been innocently going to get the Sunday paper. She had opened her door with Kristain behind her, bent over, grabbed the paper and had seen a man in the hall. He had tipped his hat politely, and she had nodded then backed into the apartment.
Kristain had almost gone berserk. When he had finally gotten himself under control, both he and Mitch had spilled the beans. Talk about a shock!
Shan Lin and Vincent watched their Queen’s face softened into a look of reminiscent joy. It made both of the men smile in return.
Stephanie looked from Shan Lin to Vincent and remembered where she had heard their names before.
“I know who you two are!” She gestured to them both, “Follow me, there are a few things I need to discuss with my top advisors. And from what I understand, you two are them.” She turned and started down a hall toward the living room.
Shan Lin and Vincent watched as she walked away mumbling and giggling about having advisors.
* * * * *
Stephanie looked toward her husbands who both sat in stunned disbelief. She could feel their shock and anger at the information both Shan Lin and Vincent had just imparted. The astonishment of being informed their mother had truly crossed a line neither man ever dreamed she would tore
her husbands’ last vestiges of love for their mother away. As hard as they had tried to believe there was love somewhere in Sara, the news Shan Lin and Vincent shared ripped away any chance of believing in Sara’s goodness.
Stephanie “listened” as well as “watched” in amazement as the memories of her husbands scrolled through her mind. It was all she could do not to cringe away from actually living with the cruelty Sara had inflicted on the men over the years. That the two men had held onto any love for Sara this long was a miracle.
Imagine! A mother turning on her own offspring. The woman who should have cherished and nurtured them, fostered their dreams, insured both men got a chance at happiness, even if she couldn’t. Instead, hurting them both physically and mentally, trying to ruin their future—the concept was beyond Stephanie.
On the other hand, Stephanie’s parents had done nothing but! In everything, both her mom and dad had encouraged, supported, and praised their children. Stephanie couldn’t imagine a life in which her parents ruled her before loving her.
My hearts. Stephanie reached out with her mind to soothe and comfort her husbands, even as she wrapped her arms around them both, turning her face back and forth, showering physical and mental love on them equally.
Both men clung for a brief moment before each asked simultaneously. “Why?”
Stephanie’s heart broke as the two most important people in her life bled from their souls.
Slowly easing their grasps on their wife, both men’s faces remained stoic as they turned toward their cousins.
“If what you say is true, then there is much to be done.” Mitch and Kristain stood, turning in opposite directions to walk around and stand in back of the sofa where Stephanie still sat. Each stood slightly to the side of her, both resting a hand on each of her shoulders.
Kristain spoke, “You know you’ll have to go back. Stephanie is the True Queen of Aranak, but until the Bell of Coronation is rung, she is cut off from hearing Moth…Sara’s thoughts.” He didn’t want to think of the woman, who was Queen, as any relation to himself at this moment.
