Page 55 of Mated By Twilight

“Naturally,” Tillos chuckled. “Our fathers take good care of her.”

“Right…” She pushed a bite of the sweet past her lips. That didn’t really answer her question, and now she was afraid to ask another one.

“You’ll be like her soon enough,” Sollit promised, pushing her hair back. “She’s been under our fathers’ care for a long time. It will take a while to get you caught up, but you’ll eventually be the same way.”

“Right…” She said again, heart thumping. Was that why they were pushing food on her? Was this stuff drugged or something? Was Ariell okay? Should she talk to her privately? If she had to help her, was there something like an alien women’s shelter they could go to?

“Leah?” Tillos cocked his head at her curiously.

She fixed her smile back again. “I’m actually still kind of hungry. Can you get me something else to eat?”

He smiled. “Of course.”

“I’ll get it,” Sollit said, standing eagerly.

Leah spooned some more of the custard into her mouth. Concerned now.

What was up with Ariell? And was she okay?

Would Leah be okay?

Chapter 23

Tillos

“Die, loyalist scum!” Tillos roared, slashing his sword across Sollit’s chest.

His brother and mortal enemy let out a roar of agony, his body dropping back, as blood burst from the ‘wound’ Tillos inflicted upon him. The cut through the costume was a trick of Shorvi’s involving a clothing seal and the tip of the sword. The blood, however, was a light prop. A hologram projected onto the stage. Hologram props were extremely versatile and helpful for stage craft – and they moved with Sollit, spilling dramatically on the ‘ground’ and ‘staining’ his clothing as Sollit fell back, grasping for his wound.

Overhead, Leah lay in her bed. Motionless and beautiful.

Shorvi had made some alterations to her dress. It glowed under the bright lights in a way it didn’t in the dressing room, making her something of a guiding star in their story. But he had also added a delicate piece of lace, extending from the off shoulder sleeves, up and around her neck. Concealing her chest but keeping her absolutely stunning.

He was rude and unpleasant, but he was thoughtful in his way.

Leah was doing great. Not peeking. Not moving at all. And that was really the hardest part of the role. The actress playing the queen absolutely couldn’t move. It maintained the question of whether she was dead or just cursed. Some plays didn’t even have a live actress playing her. They kept her as a dummy or a prop and either removed the arm drop or had the one who stabbed her nudge her enough that it happened by way of gravity.

Tillos and Sollit were the ones that had to remind themselves not to peek at her.

She was just so beautiful and wonderful. She played the sleeping queen so effectively, Tillos found himself questioning if she was even breathing at all. When there was a scene that neither himself nor Sollit were part of, they met understage and agreed that there was no one who had ever played the sleeping queen quite so perfectly before.

She was a natural. Made for the stage. Tillos couldn’t wait for her to be brave enough to actually sing for their audience. They would adore her. And she would shine.

And once he and Sollit were done feeding her?

There would never be a more beautiful person. He couldn’t wait to see how she looked when she was properly tended.

But that was something to look forward to later. It was just so immediately on his mind because he had recently seen his mother. Truly, his fathers did an excellent job of tending to her. She looked even more beautiful than the last time they commed.

Maybe they should have taken more notes when their fathers were giving them advice. Never too late, of course.

But for now, he had to focus on slaughtering his brother and gloating over him – after he finished reciting his death monologue, of course.

Which he did with much aplomb and grandiosity. Sollit never failed to give one hundred percent of himself into a performance. Sometimes, he had to be told to dial it back a bit. But no one could ever accuse him of not bringing the proper emotion into a scene.

The tragedy of his death.

And the horror of his return as a ghost haunting Tillos throughout the rest of the play. Right until he met his own tragic end after killing Leah.

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