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Ancestors save us.

“Born under a double moon and marked by a radiant star.”

“You and Arthur were twins born at night,” Parys countered without hesitation.

Veyka’s fingers twitched. “What about that radiant star?”

I felt the swirl of wind around us, circling the table, hot and angry.

Veyka laughed ruthlessly. My cock twitched.

“Rifts, the void, call it whatever you want. But the prophecy is bullshit, just like the one Merlin made about the Round Table. Everyone has something they want, even the Ancestors who wrote that prophecy down. I don’t have time for their nonsense. I have a kingdom to protect.”

I wanted to worship her. She was everything I’d known she could be. More—she was my mate.

Mine.

And I would not let her be ripped away from me again.

“Then you must train.” I didn’t mean it to sound like a command; knew on a conscious level that commanding Veyka to do anything was a mistake. She’d dig in her heels just for spite. But I couldn’t help it.

The thing in my chest—maybe it was my beast, maybe it was the mating bond—it was in full control now.

“No one tells me what Imustdo.”

Power swirled around the room. Mine—I couldn’t feel Veyka’s, though I wasn’t sure what it would feel like anyway. Instinctively, I thought I’d recognize it.

But it didn’t matter. The dark, rising power within me was enough to send everyone else from the antechamber to their respective posts.

Everyone but Veyka.

She stood pinned between her chair—thrown back hastily, and the stone table. But I’d done battle often enough to recognize an opponent sizing me up. I stepped up and away, toward the middle of the room.

“Just because you are my mate does not mean you get to decide for me,” she seethed. She kicked the chair out of the way and stepped wide, clearing her path.

Weapons or words, I was ready for her. “I am not trying to decide for you. I am trying to convince you to see reason.”

One hand went to her hip, her chin lifting in defiance. “I have my reasons.”

“Then tell me what they are.” We were supposed to do this together—rule. Veyka thought that the decision to train her power was just about her; I’d have to convince her to see that it affected all of us. Every soul in Annwyn.

But convincing Veyka of anything was like trying to shift the goldstone bricks that held this palace in place, built into the side of the mountain itself. Nigh on impossible.

She didn’t budge. “I already told you—everyone—I am not a danger to anyone but myself.”

“That is an excuse, not a reason.” She was scared. I recognized the set of her shoulders, the slight wobble of her breasts as she dragged in a breath just a bit too forcefully. But I didn’t ease up on her. She wouldn’t thank me for it and neither would Annwyn.

“They are the same damned thing,” she spat.

“Veyka, you are High Queen of Annwyn—”

“And you are the High King. We are equals, now.”

Equals. But nothing about this felt equal or right or balanced. It all felt fucking wrong. Even the mating bond in my chest, the pull to her, demanding—was unsatisfied. Unsettled. We were no longer prince and queen, betrothed, enemies… now we were Joined, mates, both powerful… and yet I’d never felt more distant from her.

I couldn’t let the words sound as broken as I felt, so I said them forcefully instead, like an accusation. “What were we before?”

“That doesn’t matter.”