Page 95 of Heart of the High King
“What did it say?”
“You apologized for not responding and told me that you needed time. You asked me to respect your need for space.”
“Well, at least I was polite about dumping you.”
Aleksander reached over and tugged on one of his curls. “Didn’t make it hurt any less. Nor did the things your family told Kendrick.”
“He mentioned he was talking to Sullivan.”
“Sullivan told him you were dating a woman. We even invited him here to visit D’Vaire.”
“I hope the Reverent Knights were told that.”
“I’ll make sure they know,” Aleksander promised. “I’m connecting the dots here Rafe, and I don’t like where my brain is going.”
“You’re a smart guy, so my guess is that you’re figuring out the truth.”
“I want you to tell me I’m wrong and that it wasn’t your family who did this to you.”
Rafe shrugged and set his fork down. Aleksander was happy to note that he’d eaten his entire meal. “I don’t want to lie to you more than necessary.”
“Tell me why the men you love would do this to you.”
“I don’t love them, Sander. I don’t even know who they are. You want to know why they kidnapped me and tortured me for five months?” Rafe asked, their gazes locking. “I told Sullivan about us. Let’s just say, they didn’t take my homosexuality well. But I won, because what they wanted was to enjoy hurting me and then killing me. I got out before they managed it.”
Leaning toward him, Aleksander cupped his cheek in his hand and refused to let Rafe shake him off. “Stop moving away.”
“I don’t know what to do about you.”
“We’re going to figure it out together, but right now there are things I need to say to you.”
Rafe’s eyes were wary but he stayed still, allowing Aleksander to stroke his scarred cheek with his thumb. “Yeah, what?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t owe me an apology for shit.”
“I have no other way of conveying my sorrow over what you endured at the hands of people who were supposed to love you. I’m sorry that our relationship was the reason they chose to do this to you. And, I want to tell you once again how remarkable you are to have made it out alive. But what I’m most sorry for is that I don’t get to personally rip them apart for laying one single fucking hand on my mate.”
“You could. Your dragon is probably a million times more powerful than any of them.”
“Rafe, what happened to yours?”
His mouth twisted into a frown. “I don’t know, honestly. I was knocked out and when I woke up, he was gone. It wasn’t like what you read about heartsickness. I didn’t have any symptoms or feel him sliding away. But it was a terrible situation, and I didn’t know at first how I was going to get away. There were moments when I thought I’d truly lost my mate. I also had a shitty relationship with my dragon. I was forbidden to shift. King Kestle and everyone else convinced me that it was bad showmanship basically, on my part, to eclipse him with my black dragon. It was imperative that I only do it at night and wait as long as possible between flights. I resented my beast for singling me out and irritating my family. I think maybe the loss of his other half just pushed him over the edge he was balanced on since the day I became a dragon.”
“I wondered about that. I remember you had to ask permission to shift. That was weird to me.”
“There was nothing comfortable about my relationship with my beast, and I think it was freedom for him. I can’t really blame him for being unhappy. I didn’t respect our bond. One of the many mistakes I’ve made in my life.”
“Rafe, you didn’t choose to not shift.”
“I know, I was manipulated into thinking it was best, but the reality is if I wasn’t so stupid, I would’ve seen the truth of the situation and fought for my dragon.”
“Against people sadistic enough to torture you for being gay?”
Rafe pulled away to stare at his empty plate. “I probably would’ve died a long time ago…long before I met you. Fate would’ve brought me back, so you weren’t alone and maybe we’d be living happily ever after here at D’Vaire.”
“If that’s how it was meant to happen, it would’ve happened that way.”
