Page 29

Chapter 28

You Are Dismissed

Raiden

W e’d been in the field beyond the rose gardens for most of the night. I thought by now I’d feel exhausted, but so far, I hadn’t even started to tire. Which felt bizarre. Bastian, on the other hand, looked ready to sleep for the next four nights.

“Should we offer him a break?” I mentally asked Silvana.

She glanced over at me, a smile gracing her face. “ Nah. He wanted to do this after all.”

Figuring out we shared the mental link had been one of the first things we’d tried. It was an easy one. I just focused on the slight pull in my chest and thought about what I wanted to say to her.

The rest had been more… complicated. We’d definitely experienced a power increase, tiring was taking a great deal longer than it previously did for either of us. However, so far, our magic seemed to be the same. Not that we’d been able to fully test it. I wasn’t trying to kill the commander of my armies. But it still worked the way it had prior. Silvana didn’t seem to have any shadows, and I didn’t seem to have any ice.

The only thing we had noticed was we could feel each other’s magic. Which was strange. She’d told me when we’d woken up this evening that she could feel my shadows responding to her and even felt them when they’d calmed for her in the library. Her ice was different, though. It wasn’t as reactive as my magic and only seemed to come to the surface when she called for it, but I could still feel it rising to the surface when she did call it.

I focused on Bastian, who was across the field from us, and sent a few more shadows his way. He pulled up more of his own shadows, blocking the blow quickly, before throwing his arms into the air.

“Okay, I quit. I need to eat. Are you two even tired yet?” he asked breathlessly.

“Should we tell him?” Silvana asked me.

I smirked. “ I sort of want to, but maybe not. I feel bad.”

“Are you two speaking mind-to-mind? Fucking fuck. Stop it! I’m right here,” Bastian complained. “Ya know what? I’m going back inside. You two enjoy each other.” He started walking back to the manor, mumbling obscenities beneath his breath.

Silvana laughed, the sound tugging on my heart. I walked over to her, pulling her in my arms. “You are perfect, my ice queen.”

She wrapped her arms up and around my neck. “As are you, my Shadow King.”

I smiled at the nickname. I knew she meant it as a joke, but it made my heart soar nonetheless. Everything this female did had that effect on me.

I buried my face in her neck, gently kissing below her ear. “What do you say we have some fun before the sun comes up?”

I felt the small shiver that went over her body before she pushed me away. “Catch me if you can, My Lord,” she said as her teeth gently bit her lower lip. Then she turned and ran into the woods behind us.

* * *

I was back in the ridiculously opulent castle again. Surrounded by gold, beige, and blue—I wanted to scream. I didn’t know why my subconscious kept bringing me back here.

I’d had a thrilling evening with Silvana. We chased each other through the Forest of Feronia, and she let me fuck her right there on the forest floor. The way it should have gone the first time—we had a do-over. It was everything I could’ve wished for.

Letting out a breath, I looked around, realizing I was back in the vast room with the domed ceiling. Only now, there were people filling in around me. The first one was a tall bulky male with pale freckled skin, carrying what looked like a throne. It wasn’t a massive chair, but it was gold with curved armrests and a high-back with the same details. He set it down next to the ostentatious replica ice statue taking up way too much room, in a room that was already too large. Everything about this place set me on edge.

Deciding I clearly wasn’t going anywhere, I plopped down in one of the chaise lounges. Might as well be comfortable if I was going to be forced to watch this male lord over everyone in his presence. I tried to remind myself this was just a sick torture my subconscious had conjured up, for Fates only knew what reason. It wasn’t real. And I tried to push that thought even harder into my head when my stunning ice queen followed a few more females into the room.

She looked different again. Her hair was longer than before, and her eyes held more fire than the last version of her I’d made up. She was still wearing a sheer gold gown like she had before, only this one had thin gold straps that dropped down into long billowing sleeves again, leaving her shoulders bare. Gold bangles decorated her wrists, and she wore a thin gold chain around the crown of her head. Almost as if it was a tiara, but not quite. Her hair was in soft curls down around her shoulders, her hands clasped in front of her as she walked into the room with the same three females as before. Her knuckles were white as she clenched her hands together tightly, and I just wanted to walk over and take her hand in mine, so she’d breathe freely again.

This made-up version of my female was making my chest hurt in a way it hadn’t since my sister had been alive.

The room slowly filled out and the male I wasn’t looking forward to seeing came in last, his stride was fast and sure as he walked through the kneeling people around the room and took a seat on his throne.

He took a moment to look around the room, no one meeting his gaze as they all stared at the golden floor. I genuinely felt as if my subconscious and I needed to have a talk about the dreams it was pushing on to me. Maybe I’d just stop sleeping as much—I could go a few days without rest just fine.

He cleared his throat suddenly, and I noticed Silvana jump in her skin a bit. I knew she was on edge; I just wasn’t sure why.

“Silvie, darling. Please come here,” he said, his voice lacking any sort of emotion.

She slowly rose to her feet, her hands still clasped in front of her, gazing toward the ground. My stunning female made her way up to the throne where he was seated and stopped just shy of being able to reach out and touch him.

“Turn and face the crowd, my little dove, and then kneel.” She followed his direction. “I have an announcement to make. Seeing as my current… selection has failed to produce me an heir, I’ll be moving on to more options. Those of you interested in serving your court in such a way, please rise.”

My stomach sank as I watched every female in the room rise to their feet, including Silvana’s sister. Although Cora didn’t look nearly as pleased as the females surrounding her. She too had that dead look in her eyes that Silvana once had. My queen didn’t move a muscle as all the females around her made small noises of excitement.

He looked pleased as he nodded his head, a condescending smile gracing his face. “Silvie?”

“Yes, Master,” she whispered, still not moving.

“You are dismissed back to my chambers, dear. I’ll see you later,” he said plainly.

She nodded her head and rose from the floor, walking back to the hallway I’d been down before. I jumped to my feet and started following her out of the room. She entered his chambers, shutting the door behind her. Walking across the room, she knelt on a pillow beside one of the far windows. The dead look back in her eyes as she stared out over the mountains, a small tear fell down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away.

We both stayed like that for what felt like ages.

Her staring out the window; me watching her. Listening to the moans and grunts down the hall. She never broke posture, though. Never said anything, and not a single tear more fell from her eyes.