Page 58 of The Sovereign: Part One
Maxim held me to him, and after the dust settled, he gave me a gentle squeeze.When he finally spoke, he rested his chin on my hair and sighed, and his voice was thick with emotion.“Isara?Will you tell Joss, if and when he comes to you again, that you’ve made your choice?That you’re staying here with me?”
The question hung in the air.I could hear the hesitation in his voice, and his fear of my answer.
“I promise,” I said, nestling in beneath his chin.“You underestimate the effect meeting you for the first time had on me.From that moment on, I didn’t think about Joss again until he showed up at our table this morning.You’re the one I want, Maxim.You’re the one I’ve always wanted.I chose you, and I will never stop choosing you.”
He exhaled, a long, relieved breath.“Now that I know that for certain, I can navigate those moments with more patience and understanding.I won’t have to react out of fear, thinking I’m about to lose you.I know this was an uncomfortable conversation but thank you for being honest with me.When I brought you home, I thought I was going back to The Crèche to report a deviance from my programming.I wasn’t sure what that would mean.I just wanted to protect you, even if it was from me.But I think—even knowing something within my code is anomalous—we’re going to be okay.If we get an infraction, and I have to suffer twenty-four hours without you, everything about today was worth it.”
The thunder outside grew louder, the booms coming closer together, shaking the walls with each relentless crack.The dark clouds pressed in, suffocating the sky, casting the room in an eerie, unnatural twilight.I couldn’t help but jump, my body reacting before my mind could catch up.
Maxim held me, unflinching.The blanket we shared pooled around us as he adjusted, settling deeper into the oversized chair with me safely in his arms.
“You know I’d never let anything happen to you, right?”he asked.
“I’ve never liked storms.No matter how long I’ve lived alone, it’s the one thing I can’t get used to.”
“If I have to fight Zeus himself, I will… and I’ll win.”
I breathed out a laugh.“I believe it.”
Maxim scanned the ceiling.“There was a time that the lights would go out during a storm.Sometimes for hours.”
“I’ve been known to be nostalgic about the old world, wishing I’d lived back then.Maybe not.”
He stretched an arm behind his head, his tone almost too light.“Entire cities plunged into darkness.Peoplewould light candles, tell ghost stories, pretend they weren’t terrified of what they couldn’t control.”
I frowned.“I couldn’t pretend.”
“I don’t know.Huddling together by candlelight.It has the potential to be romantic.”
I looked up at him.“With you, yes.Thank Chiron, we no longer suffer from power outages.But a ghost story does sound intriguing.Know any?”
“The archives mention a few.”His tone was light, almost playful.
I raised an eyebrow, intrigued.“Actual ghost stories?”I asked, half in jest but genuinely curious.And, with the storm raging outside, I was eager for the distraction.
“No, not ghosts,” he said, chuckling.But then, he blinked.“Frightening stories, yes.”
“Really?Tell me.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t,” he said, leaning away.
“Please?”I asked, pulling him back to me.“Whatever it is, it’s just a story.Not nearly as terrifying as thunder.”
His warm eyes drifted toward the rain outside, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the edge of the blanket.For a moment, I wondered if he was lost in thought, or if he was searching for the right words.
Finally, his voice cut through the silence.“It’s something worse than ghosts, and not just a story.”
“I still want to hear it.”
He frowned for a moment, but ultimately gave in.“Have you heard about the village beyond the walls?The Skaarth?”
I paused, my heart skipping a beat.This certainly wasn’t a ghost story.The Skaarth was real enough.I’d heard whispered warnings, tales told to children to frighten them into obedience.
“Do the archives mention it?”
“The Drave are real,” he said, less a statement than a warning.
The Drave were the men convicted of abusing, misusing, or exploiting their Supplicant wives—like Mr.Nyland.By now, he’d been sent beyond the walls to wander the wilderness.Taken beyond the safety of Hyperion Proper by a restricted, secured car of the Skith, Drave were forced off and out, and they were never seen again.
