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“I understand, Luka. Don’t leave. I got it.”

He stood at her words. “I will be right back. It…will get easier.” When she still didn’t say anything, she heard his retreating footsteps, and a moment later, she heard the door shut.

It will get easier.

Would it though? Would she eventually just accept her fate?

Maybe it would get better when they were back at the Acropolis. At least there, she would be able to see Dex and Oralia and the others. She would have activities to keep her mind occupied. She had never been one to sit idle, and she hated being alone. It was part of the reason she’d found her way off the Estate so often. Maybe she’d find a new sense of normalcy over the next few months.

And maybe she’d come to form some kind of…relationship with Theon. His father certainly made it clear enough that he expected their relationship to be physical. It obviously was between him and Eviana. Eviana looked like she was enamored with Valter. Was that just the bond? Or had she actually come to care that much for her Master?

And what had Valter meant when he said she would be expected to contribute to the Arius Kingdom? Not much was known about the intensely private kingdom and bloodline of Arius, but the things she had heard weren’t particularly heartwarming. She had little idea of their gifts outside of the darkness they command and the apparent shadow-walking.

They were beyond wealthy, like all the ruling families, but how they amassed such wealth no one knew. The other kingdoms were all known for one thing or another. The Falein Kingdom was the scholars and healers, hiring out their services to the other kingdoms. The Anala Kingdom was the agriculture experts, helping the other kingdoms cultivate their own food sources, for a fee, of course. The Celeste Kingdom was the peacekeepers among them all and was in charge of planning and carrying out the Selection every five years with all the kingdoms paying them handsomely for taking on the task. The Serafina Kingdom was the artists and architects, selling beauty and entertainment and designing the kingdoms’ towns and cities. The Achaz Kingdom was the law. Each kingdom had their own forces and defenses, but the Achaz Kingdom upheld the established laws and accords of all the kingdoms, created new ones, and cast judgment on those who broke them. The Legacy themselves could live in whichever kingdom they wanted, provided it was approved by the ruling Lord or Lady of their bloodline’s kingdom.

But Arius Kingdom? There were the mines in the Ozul Mountains, but what exactly they mined, Tessa didn’t know. In fact, the only other thing she could really remember being said repeatedly in whispered words about the Arius Kingdom was that it was a kingdom you never wished to cross.

And now she suddenly found herself a part of it.

Question after question bombarded her. Maybe a quiet moment to herself had been a bad idea. She was too overwhelmed by it all. Too much had changed too quickly. She couldn’t process it all. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to scream or cry or rage.

When she heard the door open again sometime later, she hadn’t moved an inch. Luka found her still huddled in that chair staring at an unlit hearth.

“Tessa,” he sighed, coming to stand in front of her, “come and rest.” When she didn’t move, he tentatively reached out and unwound her arms from her legs, pulling her gently to her feet. The bond was becoming more frantic with each minute that passed and Theon did not return, and she gritted her teeth against the additional pain now coursing through her. Luka started to lead her to Theon’s bed, but she resisted.

“No, not in his bed.”

“He would prefer you rest there. It is far more comfortable than the one in that room,” he protested.

“I’m not sleeping in his bed, Luka,” she repeated, pulling her arm from his grip and making her way to what was apparently her bedroom. She stopped in the doorway. There were no windows in the small room, and she already felt suffocated just looking around it. The only light illuminating the space was what found its way in from the main bedroom. A bed for one was pushed against the wall to the right, a thin blanket across it. A little nightstand next to the bed had a small lamp, and a small desk stood on the back wall, scarcely two feet from the end of the bed. Tessa was positive that if she looked, she would find the closet four times bigger than this small room. At least there was no door. It made it feel bigger than it was.

“Tessa,” Luka said from behind her, a hand coming to rest against her lower back. “Come and sleep in the other bed.”

“No,” she whispered, somehow finding it in herself to put one foot in front of the other. She pulled the thin blanket back and winced at the coarse fabric before climbing into the bed and curling onto her side facing the wall. She pulled the blanket up over her shoulder, effectively telling Luka to fuck off.

Footsteps retreated and returned a few seconds later, and she felt a much heavier, softer blanket being draped over her.

“Theon will not like this,” Luka murmured as he left the room.

What did Theon care anyway? He had done this to her. He got what he wanted. He got his precious Source. He got his strength and his power, even if it meant putting her through agony. Then it occurred to her that she was going to have to go through this again.

And again.

And again.

She had to assume each new Mark would happen just like this. And what about when he drew power from her? Would that be as excruciating as being given the Marks? How often would he draw from her?

They kept telling her she was going to be okay.

They kept telling her that everything was going to be all right.

But they were liars.

7

THEON

Theon pushed out a breath, already restless at being so far from Tessa. Then he straightened his tie and tugged on his shirt cuffs before raising a hand to knock on the solid onyx doors of his father’s study.