Page 44 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Forty-Four

EVIE

A low rumble resounded in Zandyr’s throat, though he kept his face impassive.

He still held my hands, towering over me with an oddly comforting intensity. Curiosity simmered in me, yearning for an answer.

The air around us crackled with anticipation.

When Zandyr finally spoke again, his voice was rich and raspy. “Remember when you asked me about drinking my blood at the wedding ceremony?”

I remembered the revulsion I’d felt then. Now the idea drummed through me like a craving. A hunger for everything that was him.

I nodded.

“And you were afraid it would affect you,” he went on, lulling me closer with his voice.

I gulped and nodded again. I had been afraid. Not anymore, gods help me.

“I told you–” He licked his lips, gaze enthralling me. “–I told you about fated mates. True fated mates.”

My mouth went dry. Our lips inched closer, as if on their own accord.

Fated mates.

Fated mates with Zandyr.

My heart beat in triumph, but questions flooded my brain.

“But we haven’t drunk each other’s blood.” Yet. We hadn’t exchanged blood yet .

“You’re wearing mine right now,” he whispered, his breath ghosting over my face and igniting my senses. “This is unheard of.”

“Is that why–” I swallowed thickly, the smell of Zandyr intoxicating me. “Why I can feel you?”

The previous wave of anger made so much sense now–it hadn’t been mine.

“I can feel you, too.” His voice was a caress, snaking down my neck and settling between my thighs. “You’re nervous.”

I guessed that was the best way to describe this bizarre mixture of trepidation and excitement. “Are we true fated mates?”

Zandyr hesitated. “Truth?”

“Yes. Please. Always.”

“Until we can read each other’s thoughts, we can’t be sure. There can be countless other explanations. Both of our powers coming to life at the same time. The power of our betrothal contract,” he said, and a little part of me deflated. I ignored it. “Magic is fickle. We’ll find out at the wedding.”

He rested his forehead against mine. We stood there for the longest time, hands intertwined, breathing each other in.

“If we are true mates,” I began. “What does that mean?”

Because the image he’d painted before wasn’t a pleasant one. I didn’t want to be so absorbed by him that I ignored the world around me.

“The legends say it’s the purest love of all. The connection that makes this existence and all the sacrifices worth it. So intertwined, one cannot live without the other.”

“And reality?”

Zandyr fingers reached for my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear. “We make our own reality.”

“Your parents–”

“Have made their mistakes. I told you I don’t plan on repeating them.”

“You left.” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. I heard the hurt in them, barely leashed. “This morning, you weren’t there when I woke up.”

He might have been used to kissing the breath out of someone and then just getting up at the crack of dawn, but I wasn’t. I’d never experienced anything like this. I didn’t know the rules.

His fingers slid down my face, resting under my chin. He tilted my face up to his. The intensity in his eyes burned through me, pulling out a stuttered gasp.

“It won’t happen again,” he said. Truth, once again, deep and real. “I wanted to quiet some rumbles. But the alarm in the Archives didn’t help our cause.”

External anger, once again. Directed at hazy figures that hissed and slithered.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” I asked.

He shook his head, shadows crowding his gaze. “The advisors are concerned you don’t have the best intentions when it comes to our Clan.”

“They know I broke into the library?”

“Xamor, no. They still think you stumbled your way into the temple that day you saved the civilians. The “training” you’ve been doing with Adara in the yard has helped that illusion,” he said. I had the bruises on my thighs to prove it. Pretending to fall was harder than actually doing it. “But they suspect you sent someone inside. They’ve petitioned to have you appear in front of the great Oracle of the Shuddering Isles. It’s a tradition as old as arranged marriages, but it hasn’t been demanded in decades. They’re within their rights to do it and I was outvoted.”

My insides twisted. Adara, who was stronger than I could ever hope to be, had seemed uneasy when she’d mentioned this great oracle. “That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“It won’t be,” Zandyr said grimly. “It will be a public prediction, to read your fate in front of the Senate and all of Phoenix Peak.”

“Wait, I get to find out my future?” That didn’t sound so bad, crowd or not.

Zandyr locked his jaw. “The Oracle talks in tongues. Her words can be interpreted and I will intervene in the deciphering if needed. But even I can’t fight traditions that are so embedded. Not when the king and queen have also agreed.”

“Oh.” So Zavoya and Eldryan weren’t exactly thrilled I was here, either. I knew Zandyr was the only one who’d fought to uphold our marriage contract. Yet the king and queen’s casual doubt, when they’d only met me once, stung.

“Banu and Valuta have hissed words in their ears behind my back, as they’ve always done. My parents will never forget they were the ones who saved my life as a child.”

“What happens if the Oracle says I’m a danger to your Clan?”

Zandyr hesitated. “I will protect you and get you out of the Capital to a safe place until Banu and Valuta are dealt with.”

My heart dropped. “This so-called prophet can just eradicate our marriage contract with a few words?”

I didn’t even want to know what dealing with Banu and Valuta meant. From the way Zandyr’s gaze sparked menacingly, nothing good.

“No, the contract has been sacred and binding since it was first signed. But one wrong word, and the advisors will try to turn the Capital against you. It will become a dangerous place. The good thing is that the Oracle doesn’t lie. Never has, never will.”

“How can you be sure?”

The look he gave me, steady and profound, sent a shiver through my entire body. “She also foretold my future and she was right. You are no danger to my Clan. Apart from stealing things you could have asked for.” He nodded at the bed, right where I’d stashed the scrolls. “Next time you decide to steal some texts, ask Leesa, not Goose.”

My brows furrowed. “Leesa never mentioned the Archives.”

“That’s because she hates the building. But she was selected to live in your house for a reason–she’s very clever. And she loves old texts.”