Page 32 of Oaths & Vengeance (Realm of Zadrya #1)
After locking the door with a key, I moved swiftly to my father’s office.
I found him inside with a glass in his hand.
“Perhaps you should explain from the beginning why you decided to marry our enemy’s niece.
As you know, with your mother, such alliances often do not work out.
This arrangement won’t even bring us peace since it’s too late for that bargain. ”
I detailed the night Aella appeared at the tavern in Siggaya, leaving little out.
Then, the days that followed leading up to our marriage.
“She is powerful and brave, though I don’t trust her, of course.
It is why I had her ring spelled for concealment from her family, and so I could always track her location within a quarter mile. ”
“I would have talked you out of this if you’d brought the plan to me first,” Lord Gannon said, a stern look on his face.
“Yes,” I agreed. It was why it was better to ask forgiveness after the fact .
He rubbed his face. “But then, I wouldn’t have seen the two of you together.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
“She’s your true mate, though I can’t imagine a worse possible pair.”
I stiffened. “That can’t be true.”
“Very few know this, but I can sense true mates if I spend a few minutes close to a couple. My first wife was mine.” He shook his head, lost in memory for a moment.
“I couldn’t love her, of course, but something still breaks through our curse, making us very protective of the one fated for us.
I could see it clearly by how you held her when I came close to you. ”
That explained so many things, such as why I could not truly harm her even before our vows, and possibly the same reason she hesitated with me on the battlefield and in the tavern.
True mates could not seriously injure one another, and normally, it would only take a kiss to recognize the connection.
My family’s paternal line curse ensured we could not do so, nor could our intended.
At least, that was what my father and grandfather had always told me.
“How is it possible you have that gift, and it works with us?” I asked, confused.
He shrugged. “I have no idea, except it is mostly useless. It did help me recognize my first wife when choosing a bride, and despite everything that followed, she was perfect for me. I’m only sorry my lack of love and understanding ultimately made her miserable.”
“I’ve made it clear to Aella that our marriage will be one of business and convenience,” I said, glad I’d told her as much from the start.
My father gave me a rueful smile. “Your souls will still call to each other. For you, strong feelings won’t be part of it, but you’ll still want to protect her and be with her physically.
I couldn’t get enough of my first wife. As for Aella, she will feel the pull toward you as well.
You’re her other half, so she won’t be able to resist that for long, though living apart will help delay the inevitable.
Ultimately, I’m sorry to say, you’ll make her miserable as all the men of our line have done to our wives. ”
That was something I was well aware of since my grandfather had explained it to me in detail when I came of age. Lack of love wasn’t our only curse, but also failed relationships.
“Perhaps fate had mercy on me by granting the one woman who might be able to help us end this problem,” I said, pacing the floor.
“We know the Naforya Fountain is not on this planet, and we continue to find clues to where it might have gone, but none of that will mean anything without someone powerful enough to open a cross-galaxy portal.”
My father nodded. “You could be right about her, which is why I’ll allow this misdeed to go unpunished.
I can hardly argue your intentions when they will benefit our family, as well as the planet.
Just last week, we discovered another area in the south is beginning to die faster than I’ve seen before.
Spring crops that had begun to grow withered within days. ”
I swore under my breath. Normally, it took weeks or months for that to happen. Finding the fountain would solve so many problems. For the last ten years, we’d seen the damaging effects on Paxia rapidly get worse. It was impossible to guess how much time we had remaining before it would be too late.
“Until we can break Aella’s curse, I do not want her uncle to know she’s married to me.
We can’t keep her away from him for more than a few days since she cannot eat or drink in her current state.
She will grow weak before long. If we give her back, and he is aware I’m her husband, I suspect he’ll punish her for it or possibly kill her. I cannot abide by that.”
“And we don’t have legal justification to kill him overtly,” Lord Gannon said, grimacing.
“It would solve so much if we could.” I raked my hand through my loose hair. “I’d hoped to catch him on the battlefield yesterday, where I could have killed him without breaking the king’s law, but as always, he proved elusive once again.”
We began suspecting years ago that once the Lord of Therress entered a battle, he donned glamour to blend with his troops or perhaps hid somewhere.
Our spies also reported that he always kept a soldier with strong shield powers close to him to keep him safe.
That combination made it next to impossible to kill him .
My father drummed his fingers on his desk.
“We must also save face with our people if we return her without telling them the truth. The only thing I can think of is to exchange her for the fury, Csilla, and the elf, Quim. I’ve been trying to find a way to free them for the last year since they were captured, so perhaps your wife is the answer to those troubles, at least.”
I could hardly argue with him. While the two Veronnians we’d lost when we attempted to assassinate Lord Morgunn a while back were important to us, we’d had nothing of equal value to trade.
I couldn’t say why they weren’t executed immediately, but my spies told me they were still alive, though suffering greatly.
If there was a way to free them, we had to take it.
“Considering his niece’s rare and powerful gift, we can also ask for holmium powder,” I said, considering the matter further.
“The nameless ones know that he makes it difficult and expensive to acquire since Hisgar is the only other land to produce it, and they only sell meager amounts beyond their borders. Not to mention, we must nearly freeze to death, acquiring every allotment the ice giants give us, and portal hop our way there and back.”
Lord Gannon appeared to mull it over. “Yes. That is a good point. Your sister was due to take her turn next month, so you’ll make her happy if she can put it off a while longer.”
That was my thought exactly. Faina always became ill-tempered when dealing with the northern fae, and it was a wonder they hadn’t killed her as a result.
She lacked a certain finesse with her words.
Our father felt she needed the experience anyway, so he kept her in the rotation no matter the potential consequences.
I’d gone last month, and my older brother, Hagen, the time before that.
“I will send a message to Therress,” I said, giving my father a pleased smile.
It had been a while since we could agree on much of anything or have a conversation that didn’t end in a fight. I’d thought for certain I’d have to work a lot harder for him to see the advantages with Aella, but he was undoubtedly tired of our curse and more of our land dying as the years passed .
Aside from the newest patch of dying land he’d mentioned, a section in the north where the vegetation had withered away years ago finally lost its magic last month. Thankfully, we’d already moved all the fae out of there before it became too deadly to stay.
The harshness of Lord Gannon’s features softened. “You’ve done well, son. This plan could very well save us all if we handle it carefully.”
“Thank you. With luck, we’ll have our assassins back within the next few days.”
I left out the unsaid part. We had no way of knowing how Lord Morgunn would react to his niece’s capture and the sacrifices he’d have to make to get her back.
She may very well pay a price for it, but the only other choice was to keep her here, wasting away until she died.
That, or break the curse. The whole reason Therress had prisoners of ours to exchange was from trying to kill her uncle surreptitiously once before, so trying again on short notice wouldn’t be possible.
I could only monitor Aella the best I could through my spies once she returned.