Page 55 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

“Nothing to do but wait and keep checking in, Your Highness.”

“Please alert me if anything changes.”

“Yes, sir.”

I glance over my shoulder at my unconscious daughter, my stomach twisting with anxiety. It seems as though we’ve been pulled back through time, once again thrown into the uncertainty of her illness.

Returning my attention to Zaya, I nod and go just outside the doors.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” she says softly. “But Kantha is right about one thing. This is all my fault.”

“What?” I retort. “No. Do not let her poison get to you, too.”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“I shouldn’t even be here. I’m interfering with your family. I’m the one causing the rift in your guys’ happiness.”

I can’t stop a huge burst of laughter from coming out. It’s like all of my anxiety about Hanai, anger at Kantha, and love for Zaya escape my body in one enormous guffaw.

“I’m sorry for laughing. It wasn’t about you, Zaya. Just… Why would you think that I’d ever want to be with Kantha? I despise Kantha.”

“For all this time, I thought that Kantha was dead, but she’s standing there in that room.”

I only just now realize that I never explained. I didn’t know her well enough, and then when we were out there in the mountains, the last thing I wanted to talk about with my fated mate is the ex-mate, the one whose touch turns anything around her to shit. I wouldn’t want her to get a secondhand curse.

“I only wish she were dead,” I say with a smile. “But no, she’s alive and well. At least in body. In mind…”

“I know you guys probably have your issues but I can’t help but feel I'm getting in the way here. I think my simply being here is creating problems for everyone.”

“Let’s walk to my private balcony, Zaya. We have to have a talk. But no. You couldn’t be further from the truth.”

I take her hand, and she follows me down the hallway.

“Zaya, you have it all wrong.”

“Kantha wants to be with you, and I can’t blame her. Who wouldn’t?”

“No, no.” I shake my head and chuckle, and she crinkles her nose in confusion. “She’s with her fated mate now.”

“You mean that Cloud Kingdom guy?” she asks. “Reminds me of a funeral director. Wow, she left you for him?”

I take a step closer and smile.

“There’s a lot you need to know, so let’s talk through everything before you come to any conclusions about leaving, alright?” I say. She nods, taking a seat as I take a deep breath. From this vantage point, we have a view of the mountains surrounding the capital.

“So, where do I start? Kantha was my mate once upon a time. But the way mates work, it’s rarely a matter of love. It’s a matter of a suitable match, continuing the next generation. Her family was high-born and ran in the same circles. But we weren’t fated mates. She had to go to Cloud Kingdom for that. Fated mates are something different.”

“How are they different?”

I can see a look of pain on her face, and I need to get to the part where I’m not talking about Kantha. I need to tell her what she is.

“They’re pairings so rare, so precious as to be considered a blessing from the Divine Ones. It’s more complex than that. Something between your Pandora’s Box and the one about the canary. But it’s about finding the person who is so right, they open your eyes to the world and to yourself with a clarity that you’ve never known before.”

I look at her intently, hoping she can see that when I’m describing fated mates, I’m looking at my inspiration.

“And you weren’t that with Kantha?”

“No. Most marriages here aren’t fated. She met Zephyron, and they shared the mate bond. That was never the issue I had. I was happy for her, in my own way. The issue was she didn’t want Hanai unless she could take her permanently to the Cloud Kingdom, and I couldn’t allow that. She didn’t want to leave her new life even briefly. If she wasn’t there permanently, she couldn’t be bothered even with Hanai visiting. What happened was worse than a death.”

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