by Jaime Marks
Kyle shook his head. “Even if you didn’t feel like saying something about this last night, after what happened this morning why wouldn’t you say anything, Astryn?”
“I told you I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. If I feed into his drama he and my Father will just get worse,” she argued in exasperation.
“No, they won’t,” Kyle ground his teeth. “Because if they keep this shit up they’ll either be banned from the realm or I’ll deal with Talerys personally.”
“What occurred this morn?” Cymeryn demanded. “And neither of you girls are off the hook for this. We will discuss this issue further once we decide what needs to be done with Talerys,” he warned.
“He was escorted out of our corridor,” Kyle offered when Astryn remained quiet. “Trycen said he claimed Astryn had asked to see him and he was coming to meet her, but she didn’t send for him. He didn’t even have the right hall thankfully. I was just about to head over to her quarters to escort her when I heard him arguing with Trycen at the top of the corridor so I waited until he was escorted away. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.” He turned to Byryn. “Trycen wanted to report to you immediately but I told him I’d make sure you were informed. I figured we’d need to discuss it with the others anyway, but then, I didn’t realize that there’d been an issue last night as well.” He glared back at Astryn with disapproval.
“I picked up on the issue this morning in your mind,” Byryn confirmed. “I let it go because I knew the immediate situation was dealt with and you’d bring it up here. I trust you Kyle,” he iterated holding his gaze as something unreadable passed between them.
Cymeryn visibly ground his teeth expelling a breath that drew all of their attention. “I will deal with Talerys. With his mouth in our meeting and his recurrent attempts to see Astryn despite my ruling, his actions can be perceived as a direct challenge to my authority.”
“We will deal with him together, brother,” her Dad added. “I don’t trust his obsession either. As for you two…Astryn, you need to inform us of issues like this and trust us to assist you. If you really feel like you shouldn’t bother us at least tell Kyle and let him make that determination.” He turned to face her. “Star, you are more than aware of the reasons why when something of this magnitude occurs you need to at the least discuss it with your mate. Byryn is Head of the Personal Guard. The fact that Talerys was able to get so close to Astryn shows there was a breech in security. If something occurs that might affect security, I don’t care how insignificant either of you feel it is, you are to bring it to your mates or one of us immediately. I am extremely disappointed that you would not do so in the first place, Star.”
“I’m sorry. I fully expected that it would have been reported.” She shrugged nonchalantly trying to hide her concern because she already knew it was but that Byryn hadn’t seen it yet.
Byryn pinched his brow in exasperation. “Seriously, Staryana, that is the lamest excuse you’ve ever tried to pass off with me. We both know the real reason you didn’t mention it is because you want to have your girls’ night tonight. If you’re going to act like a spoiled teenager maybe I should put you over my knee and punish you like one.”
Star blushed catching the double meaning of his words. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” he replied before taunting her in her mind. “I do love it when you blush, brightness. You’ve been doing that a lot this morning. What else are you hiding about this, hmm? What has you so worried? Because believe me, I will find out. I can just about hear it in your mind now.”
“If someone wasn’t torturing me maybe I could...” She snipped back but he interrupted her.
“I haven’t even begun to torture you, baby. We will deal with your blatant disregard for your own safety when we return to our chambers but I want to know everything first. Now you can either tell me on your own, or you can make this worse on yourself and force me to pull it from your mind. Either way you will be punished so decide how bad you want this to get.”
She swallowed hard knowing she’d given him full rights to this. She hated disappointing him but she needed this time out and she’d known how he would react to her getting into it with Talerys. They were all so damned over protective of her now. She just wished that he would trust her to defend herself like he and her Dads had shown her.
“I do trust you baby, but that isn’t the point. You need to realize that there could be more to this thing with Talerys. What if he’s Tainted but it’s masked in some way we can’t sense, hmmm? What if he’s trying to take Astryn to Lazurys and because the two of you were together sees you as an added bonus? It’s not that we don’t think you can defend yourself but there are too many risks to ignore the little things like this. We both know we are stronger together. Not to mention you only have to look at the damage John and those bastards caused with Kylion to know the repercussions something like this could have. Now tell me.”
She looked down at her feet feeling the full weight of her choices. He was right. She did know the risks and it was stupid of her to even pull something like this.
“I’m sorry, Byryn. I should’ve just trusted you enough to talk to you about it. Instead I hid it from you and betrayed your trust. Wycelion did report it. It’s on your desk but I knew you wouldn’t get to see it until later. I moved it to the bottom of the pile after I told him I would make sure you knew because you were busy. I figured we could deal with it after tonight.”
Byryn shook his head as he studied her. Reaching over he lifted her chin, meeting her eyes. “First, don’t avert your eyes from me when we’re dealing with shit like this. You might submit to me, Staryana, but you are my equal in every other way. I may be upset with you but I still love and respect you. Second, you need to understand a few things. You just went through a series of very traumatic experiences. You were raped by Lord Lazurys and your mate was involved. You were bonded by the Dark Lord, tainting your essence then subsequently had his essence burned from your body. Then you had to have your essences rebalanced. On top of that you started submitting to me, not just your mate but, to use human terminology, as your dominant.”
“But that doesn’t ex…”
“No. It doesn’t make it alright to betray our trust, but it does justify your behavior.” Byryn cut in. “You’ve been through hell, baby, and you’re still re-acclimating to this reality. We both are; but you need to understand that I’ve always got you. I know you need time with just the girls, especially with Steph leaving soon. I would never deny you that, but I still needed to know this so I can be sure you have the security you need to be able to enjoy it without placing yourself and the others in danger.” He paused to gently caress her cheek. “We need to trust each other baby, more now than ever.” Pulling her into a deep kiss, he quieted her fears.
Her Dad cleared his throat, apparently waiting for the answer to some question she missed. Byryn broke away pinning her with an intense stare filled with promise that sent shivers through her body. “We will finish dealing with this later.”
He turned to face the others. “No your majesty, I don’t think we need to cancel the girls’ night together. I know you believe she needs to learn her lesson, Reyana, but they really do need the time together, especially with Steph leaving the realm soon.” He glanced at her before turning to her Mom again. “I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. I realize Staryana should know better, but you all need to remember everything she’s just been through. That could challenge anyone’s ability to trust. You’ve all been a bit overprotective since we’ve been back. Further infringing on her freedoms, the main thing that she’s trying to prevent, will only reinforce those issues.” He faced her a moment with that promising glint in his eyes. “Aside from that, I know she’s your daughter and you feel the need to ensure you teach her properly, but she’s my mate and she’s not a child anymore. If she’s struggling and there are things that need to be addressed it’s my place to help her with them now. I’ll always hear you out and ta
ke what you say under advisement, but you have to understand, I know the whole of her heart and her mind. I understand what caused this and why with just a few thoughts. This is an issue of trust and she and I will deal with it, together.”
Star blinked taking in what he said as turned to Astryn. “And I realize you don’t really understand all this but Kyle, and if necessary I, will explain this until you understand it. You’re not alone anymore, Astryn. What happens to you affects all of us. Before you came all of the girls, Kyle, and my son were taken which led to your mate being shot and nearly killed. Queen Reyana was abducted from the realm and turned over to Alayne, and Kylion was beaten by an unawakened who was looking to make a name for himself. It might seem like we’re making a big deal about this, but any breach of security has the potential to be a big deal. When something like this happens it has to be addressed before someone gets hurt.”
Byryn turned back to her Dad and Cymeryn. “I’ll deal with Wyce and Ryo. They should’ve come to me directly, but I have a feeling there was a report made that got lost in the chaos last eve. With all the changes in the department some of the protocols have gotten confused. I’ll see that it doesn’t happen again and put procedures in place to prevent further issues. And yes I will have a complete report on the Mentoring Program drawn up and on Cymeryn’s desk before this eve.” He smiled smugly at her Dad’s amused grin. “Did I miss anything?”
“Now if we could only teach him to mind-link and at least appear to be paying attention to his surroundings half that well,” Cymeryn quipped and her Dad laughed.
“I’m working on it.” He shrugged. “I can follow everything around me but moving while doing it takes a lot of effort.”
Her Mom sighed heavily but glanced between her Dads. “You’re right, Byryn. I’ll let you handle it this time. If it happens again though, we’ll have to step in.”
“I understand and I’ll see that it doesn’t.”
Star bit back her smile knowing she was still in hot water, but her mate was impressive. How he’d followed all that while they were distracted in a mind-link she had no idea. What amazed her more was that he still had her back despite the fact that her actions pretty much put his department on the line. She really should’ve taken that into consideration before she tried to sweep this all under the rug for a day. More than anything she should’ve trusted him. She was just so overwhelmed lately that it was hard to see past her own needs.
Realization rolled through her just about making her sick. That was exactly what the Shade did. She was acting like a Shade.
“You’re right, baby. You should have trusted me, and I’m not happy that your actions compromised my position as Head of the Personal Guard, but I’ve always got your back.” He pulled her close gently caressing her back. “Self-preservation and putting your needs ahead of others isn’t just a Shade quality. It’s also a human defense mechanism. You’re just trying to hold onto what you know.” He met her gaze with a glint in his eye. “But don’t worry. I can find very creative ways to deal with these issues.”
She blushed again causing him to chuckle quietly as he kissed the side of her head. Sitting there in his arms she felt safe. It was the only time she really felt that way anymore, when he held her, when he bound her. When Byryn had control the rest of the world faded away and she didn’t have to think. It was only the two of them.
She’d never let anyone else see it, but if he wasn’t right by her side she felt violently out of control. If she were honest, she never said anything about Talerys because she wished the Guards would’ve let her to deal with the guy personally so she had a chance to unleash some of the rage that suffocated her. It had been really was stupid of her. What if he hadn’t been alone?
Byryn squeezed her tighter as she felt the vibrator crank up. She gasped quietly unable to fully hide her reaction. She’d completely forgotten about it. “You are not stupid, baby, and you did what you needed to do to protect yourself and Astryn in the moment. I don’t ever want to hear you putting yourself down. Just relax for now and let me handle things. You’re not off the hook, but we’ll deal with your behavior when we’re alone and I can take you through your paces.”
She tuned out everyone and everything else out allowing him to shift her into his lap. No one else understood how overwhelming everything had become. They all expected her to be alright, that everything was fine now that they were all back, but she didn’t feel fine. She felt like everything she did was wrong. She needed to make this up to him. She needed him to take it all away. When he took control of her it was like the world righted itself again. His essence flowed over her as he held her tightly. He kissed her head comforting her, protecting her from the pain, from their judgment, and mostly from herself.
Chapter 30
Kyle watched his sister crawl into Byryn’s lap. Now he was sure they were struggling. He’d caught bits and pieces of Byryn’s thoughts despite the blocks that he was throwing up. He wasn’t as good at managing to split his concentration yet as he thought. Eavesdropping hadn’t been intentional, but he suspected the more time they spent together and the more they mind-linked the stronger the connection between them grew. He had a pretty good idea of what Byryn was hiding but he had no idea what to do about it or how to feel about it…especially because he was pretty sure it was consensual.
“Kyle?”
He looked down at Astryn refocusing in on what she had said the last few minutes. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to leave you alone with everything going on and he hasn’t shown up for meal. The last thing I want to do is interrupt him if they’re busy.”
“But you can’t just ignore an audience with the King because you’re worried about me,” Astryn scoffed.
“Indeed he can,” Mythos interjected as he walked in with Steph on his arm. “If he feels it is necessary to ensure your safety I would expect him too. Besides, it was merely a request.”
“Nice of you to join us this morn, my lord,” Uncle Marcus smirked. “I thought the needs of the Kingdoms took the utmost priority and punctuality in such matters, even if only for a meeting during morn meal, was of the highest importance.”
“Yes….well…” Mythos measured his mate a moment with a heated gaze. “I suppose sometimes attending to the needs of our mates must supersede the needs of the Kingdoms for brief periods. Is there anything of import we missed?”
The males all chuckled a moment until his Dad responded. “Apparently Talerys continues to attempt to approach Astryn. He got close enough that he grabbed her arm by hiding in an unused conference room. Marcus and I will deal with him this noon and Byryn will be addressing the security issues.” He turned to Demytria. “I also wish to know how he was able to hide there with no Fae aware. What happened to his guard?”
“Sheyna was on his detail. I already planned on verifying with her as well as the Guardians stationed in that corridor, Lord Cymeryn,” she replied and he nodded his approval.
Mythos looked to Byryn and Star with concern but when he turned to Marcus with a questioning look he just shook his head. Everyone was acutely aware that she had tuned them out and was seeking refuge in her mate at the moment. It was the first real sign of the damage she’d endured that she’d allowed any of them to see. He couldn’t tell if they were shocked, scared, or just not really sure how to react. It seemed the consensus was to allow them their space for now.
In a respect it was ridiculous for them to believe that any of them had made it out of the Dark Lord’s domain unaffected. Even he was having nightmares and he hadn’t been put through the trauma they had. Byryn had been tortured and they’d both been raped and bound by the Dark Lord. Kyle’s torture may have been intense but he’d grown up Shade with Alayne as his Grandfather. He was conditioned for such things. Even still, Lord Lazurys had taken him the closest he’d come to his breaking point in years, close enough to compromise Astryn’s identity.
He looked up to find his Dad studying him. If anyone had any concept of what they’d en
dured at Lord Lazurys’ hand and the affect that it would have on them it was him. There was no real way to hide it from him when he’d endured it himself. Cymeryn had spent a century at the mercy of the Dark Lord. He knew all too well the power he held over them.
His Dad cut into his thoughts gaining the attention of every Fae in the room as he looked between, Byryn, Star and Kyle. “He is not the Dark Lord, nor is he Lord Lazurys, or even the Dark God. Do not grant him a title that he does not deserve. He does not have power over you. You have been freed of his influence and if he still managed to retain any control I would feel him in you now. There may be some residual connection but he can no longer reach you more than a mild taunt. Do not give him more power than he has.
“None of you are alone in this, nor are you alone with only your mates. I have been monitoring all of you since your return and if there was anything,” he leveled his gaze directly at Byryn and Star, “going on that I believed needed to be addressed, I would have approached you directly. The three of you have bonded more strongly because of what you’ve endured, but because Lazurys has touched you and I was closely bonded to him for so long, I am also more closely linked to each of you. I would never pressure you into discussing any of it, but I am always here. I will not judge what you endured, nor will I judge your reactions to it or how you choose to cope. What I will suggest, is that if you do not feel you are comfortable discussing such things with me that the three of you learn to lean on and trust one another until you can fully trust the rest of us once more.”
The room fell silent as Kyle and Byryn exchanged looks and nodded to Cymeryn respectfully.
