Page 20 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
“This?” I asked, biting back a laugh when her left eye practically started twitching. “The answer is no. The fact that you are is both unsurprising and disappointing.”
Her lips parted. A hint of guilt crossed her expression, but it was fleeting, and in its place came another rush of anger. “I told you I’m not in a good headspace. I woke up to find my sister is missing, and then I fell into a hell portal made by someone I thought was my friend. Why are you pushing this?”
My eyebrows inched towards my hairline. “You’re serious?” I stopped and crossed my arms over my chest. “Let’s start with the obvious. The fact is we are mates. Your sister is missing, yes, and we’re walking to gods know where for who knows how long because we were double-crossed by a witch, the one you thought was a friend. All of that means something. If you’d rather fuck around with small talk like signs or how fucking hot it is here, I can do that, but I thought we had moved past that phase.” Meera spluttered, opening and closing her mouth, but I held up a hand to stop her from speaking. She didn’t want to talk earlier. Now it was my turn. “We found out we’re mates with possibly the worst timing imaginable, Meera. I know that. Is it so hard to believe that I want to check on you and how you’re processing this? Hear what you have to say about it? Given your avoidance on the topic with your family, I’m not exactly feeling confident about where you stand with things right now.” Some of the anger started to seep out of her. She bit her bottom lip, tugging it between two teeth as uncertainty played through her expression.
“I assumed you were going to push on the subject of where we go from here,” she said quietly. She wasn’t wrong that I wanted to talk about that, but I knew she wasn’t ready. While I was all in, it was painstakingly obvious Meera needed more time to adjust.
However, avoiding the subject entirely wasn’t doing us any favors.
“You know what they say about assumptions.”
She grimaced. “I suppose I deserve that.” She started to pick at her nails while we spoke; a nervous habit I’d noticed during our time at the castle.
“You’re going to hurt yourself,” I said softly. She paused, and I motioned to her hands. “Picking. You’ll go too deep. Last thing you need is for it to get infected here.” Her cheeks darkened as her hands fell to her sides.
She sighed, dropping her gaze and taking a moment to gather herself. “I get really grouchy when I’m hot.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m guessing that’s the precursor to an apology?”
“Something like that.” Pressing her lips together in a small smile, she looked away in thought and I measured the time by counting seconds in my head. “I don’t know how to feel about the whole mate thing,” she finally admitted, returning her attention to me. Meera kicked a small black rock with her boot and started walking again. “I thought fated mates weren’t even possible anymore. Everyone said the curse took that bond away.”
I nodded slowly, keeping pace beside her. “It was generally believed to be that way, yes. The fated bond wasn’t common to begin with, but after the curse took effect ...”
“Does this mean the curse is breaking down?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “No one would love that more than me, but after nearly forty years, it’s hard to believe that it would suddenly start to unravel.”
She inclined her head toward me. “You’re scared to hope.”
“Can you blame me?”
Her hazel eyes were soft when she glanced at me. “No, but stranger things have happened. I mean, we dreamed of eachother for years ...” Her voice trailed off, and I suspected where her train of thought went. “I guess it makes sense now.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I said. “I haven’t known or heard of fated mates who dreamed of each other before they met.”
Meera kicked another rock, strolling at a slow speed. Between the taxing suns and the topic of conversation, every bit of energy we had was being drained, but it was still better than walking with all of this hanging between us. “You said they weren’t common though, yeah? How many fated pairings did you know?”
“A few,” I said softly, picturing my sister’s face in my mind and feeling a pang of sadness. “I swear, no one was as strongly bound as Drayden and Maeve. The elements rejoiced at their pairing. You could feel it in the air when they were together.”
Meera frowned. “I’m surprised he even survived ...” She swallowed hard, then winced like it was painful.
“Physically, he did. I imagine that had something to do with the fact that they hadn’t completed the bond yet. Emotionally, he didn’t. Whatever light once existed in him died along with her.”
“Why ... why did they wait?” she asked.
“They wanted her to go through the transition first.” I remembered the fights they had over that. The halls of the palace shook when Maeve fought with him. “In truth, it was really Drayden who wanted her to. He had it in his head that if they completed the bond before she came into her full powers that it might hurt her.”
“Would it have?”
I shrugged. “Honestly? I have no idea. Our father believed it would.”
She squinted. “Your father was insane, though.”
“He was,” I agreed. “But he was also a genius and incredibly charismatic. He had a way of selling his ideas so they didn’t seem as bad. He favored Maeve, too. She was the heir to the throne,and his firstborn. Before he killed her, you never would have guessed at his plans. It wasn’t so crazy at the time for Drayden to think that he was right about Maeve and how it would affect her.” I shook my head. Out of everyone, Drayden was the person who had been blindsided the most that day, and he paid the price. It was no wonder he didn’t trust anymore. I fully believed the only reason I had his loyalty was because of my relationship with my sister.
“You said Drayden wanted to wait. Did that mean she didn’t?”
I nodded. “Patience wasn’t my sister’s strong suit. I also think she was more affected by the strain it put on the bond.”
