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‘You are using it, My Queen,’Cedric chuckles.

‘You can hear me?’

‘Yes, and know that your powers have awakened. You should be able to reach all of us, command all of us and find all of us through this link. You’ll get the hang of it.’

‘I remember hearing you even when I passed out. You revoked your pledge to my mate,’I remind him. The tinglingsensation as their tethers linked to me is still fresh in my memory.

‘We were and always will belong to the Landeena Kingdom. Landeena is our home. You are home for your people, My Queen.’

‘And the guards, they all agree?’I question him, unsure about this new tether.

‘Yes. All 71 of your guards will fight, kill and die for you.’

‘I don’t want anyone dying for me.’

‘But we will and you’ll understand soon enough,’he assures me patiently.‘Your powers are awake now; you just need to learn how to use them. So feel free to call on Trey or me or any of us anytime. We are your people, and you are ours. You have no idea how happy I am to know the bloodline lives on, and what a bloodline. I can’t wait to see you at full strength. See what you can do.’

I ponder over his words for a second when the door opens. Liam steps in.

‘My guard is here. I need to go find my mate,’I say to Cedric as Liam halts, scrutinizing me.

‘Very well, My Queen. We’re posted around the castle. Call on me through here if you need me.’

‘Wait. Umm, how do I call you through here?’

‘Just think of my voice. You’ll figure it out. Trey will show you. Stick close to Trey. Trust no one, My Queen, not until you know for sure they can be trusted. Landeena has many enemies.’

‘So I shouldn’t trust you.’

‘No. But I will earn it. But I assure you, we can be trusted. We didn’t just pledge to you, My Queen. Your father assures your safety, us guards are personally picked and set aside for you. We were given no ties, just a command when we pledged. We didn’t just pledge, we tied our lives to you. Not only that, butwe all thought Trey was mad when he said you survived. He kept insisting we look for you. We did for years.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘He is your sire, and we figured he had it wrong. We even convinced him of it after a few years. Trey insists that you are alive because he is,’Cedric tells me before cutting the link. My brows furrow in confusion.

“The King is on his way,” Liam tells me, and I nod, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

“Who are you talking to?” Liam asks curiously, and I startle.

“You knew I was talking to someone?”

“Yes. Your eyes turned white,” he says.

“Cedric,” I answer, and he nods.

“Where is Kyson?” I ask Liam. He bites his lip before sighing.

“He’s organizing the punishment for Ester and Peter.”

“Punishment?”

“Yes. Punishment,” Kyson says behind him, making me jump, having not heard him. I look over at him to see him standing just inside the door.

“Leave us,” Kyson says, strolling over to me and Liam quickly does as he is told. He closes the door behind him.

“You challenge me.”

“You were going to kill him. He’s a boy,” I tell him because I can’t bring myself to say he’s my brother, not yet.