Page 10 of Bleeding for the Prince
“For now. But I have heard that the mining has stopped.”
Metra’s tribe, the Elementa, had agreed to the marriage because of their debts and that Hoffman had offered a way to settle them. But the agreement hadn’t been a one-off thing, and the shitbag still continued to prop up the royal coffers under the guise of buying a mineral called golashe, which was a form of chalk.
“Has the mining stopped permanently?”
The idea didn’t seem unlikely because Hoffman had told the Elementa he hadn’t wanted Hyax marrying Gwil, pretending to be a jealous ex, and the golashe was a cover. The thing was, Hoffman had wanted the golashe for his research but hadn’t wanted to pay more than he had to; the spineless little cunt had sold his and Gwil’s happiness for fancy talcum powder. Somehow, Hyax couldn’t see Hoffman giving up a ready supply of something he would be experimenting with.
“We’re not sure. The equipment was removed and the workers relocated, but it’s only been a couple of weeks, so we’re monitoring the area.”
“If the activity has halted, then the contract between Hoffman and the Elementa would be over.” He knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up, but he’d be delighted if it were the case.
“Yes, so it would be only a matter of time before you can petition for divorce. But it would be for the best to find groundsfor a mutual separation that saves face for both parties. That needs to be conducted in a civilised way.”
As far as he was concerned, he’d just tell Metra to fuck off and be done with it, but it was a delicate situation, and for all his contempt for his husband, Metra hadn’t wanted to marry Hyax either. “Irreconcilable differences.”
“If you lived with each other or spent much time in each other’s company, that might work, but I would think you could come up with something more creative.”
He would talk to Gwil and do some research on what might be acceptable. Divorce was common in fae society; one of his aunts was on her twelfth husband, but there were caveats and he didn’t want to fuck up. “I’m sure I can be.”
Talia was looking back at Gwil. “You know, there are precedents, and you can find them easily enough, but I would also encourage you to see if there’s anything in the bonding protocols.”
He’d not spoken to her about bonding with Gwil. She’d not been in favour of them getting married and bonding was far more involved and conveyed a higher importance than a mere marriage. His magic stirred at the thought; it loved Gwil as much as he did.
“Would I have your blessing?”
She smiled. “Yes, if you can position your reasoning well, and Gwil continues with his upward trajectory. He will need to have some of his rougher edges smoothed.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She nodded at Gwil. “He’s not what you’d call polished. He’s going to find himself in increasingly more formal situations, both with the fae and the vampires, and he’s not had an ounce of training.”
Hyax knew what she was alluding to. “You can’t mean to have him take etiquette lessons. I hated mine.”
“They are necessary, darling. This soirée is a friendly situation. Rohi is ready to step in and redirect if Gwil veers in the wrong direction, but that won’t always be the case.”
“He’s survived thus far.”
“I could have pushed for the lessons to be a condition for him being the Prince’s Beloved. Technically, there is a requirement. And they are definitely part of any royal bonding agreement.”
He’d known this for fae partners; there’d been hours devoted to protocol and deportment in his lessons from a stream of tutors, but he had thought that being a vampire, Gwil would have escaped such indignance.
“But he’s a vampire, not a fae.”
“I had noticed, and that’s a different problem. You’ll need to come up with a reasonable explanation of how you can bond to a vampire when he would seemingly have no magic.”
He had no doubts that either of those caveats couldn’t be dealt with one way or another if it meant his mother agreeing to their bonding. He would love to bond to Gwil in his tribe’s sacred grove, and he was sure Gwil could cope with a few well-intentioned sessions on how best to conduct himself and not to appear a knob in fae society. “Then it will be done.”
“You need to do everything by the book. Talk to Gwil, and I’ll look forward to officiating. Don’t rush this, though, Hyax. We don’t want the world to know what type of extracurricular activities you’re up to with your Beloved.”
Most bonds were between two magical individuals, linking themselves to each other. Their link was due to the type of magic Hyax could perform by working through Gwil, and it wasn’t an easy thing to explain. Some people would consider their connection as a form of necromancy. “Prince Simon is bonded to Robin Flint, and he’s a vampire.”
“You and I both know there are other things at play there. Although I have heard, the once well-known lothario no longer had eyes for another. So perhaps it was a true bonding.”
Robin adored Simon. Heaven help anyone who’d dare get in the way of that pair. He’d seen the fallout firsthand when someone had tried. “They do seem well-suited.”
“I wouldn’t think you so close to know.”
He would need to be careful with this topic of conversation, as he had a direct line to Simon, which his mother was not aware of or would be happy to know about. “You know I helped Prince Simon, and we are peers and I would think it reasonable to remain on non-antagonistic terms.”
