Beloved (27 page)

“What was his price?” Arela asked, her innocent eyes wide with curiosity.

“Shh, let him finish,” Mara said, stroking her daughters hair.

Octavion glanced around the room, meeting everyone’s questioning eyes, except Lydia’s. She was strangely quiet, staring down at her hands, so he continued. “He asked for my allegiance.”

Luka jumped to his feet. “You gave up your crown?”

The room exploded with questions about how he could do such a thing and how horrible King Ramla was for asking such a great price, but Lydia remained silent, her hands shaking in her lap, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Enough!” King Belesgar ordered. “The decision has been made and the price will be paid in full. My son has given his word and will not go back on it.”

The room fell silent without another word.

Father
. Octavion motioned toward Lydia.
Could you ask everyone to leave
?

King Belesgar looked at his daughter’s slumped form and his regal stance sagged. “Please leave us.”

Not one waited to stand or walk out the door. Instead they vanished, leaving an eerie haze drifting around the room. Octavion fell to his knees in front of his sister and took her hands. “I am so sorry. I should have told you.”

She blinked before looking at him and tears flooded her cheeks. “You’re my best friend. What will I do without you . . . here?” Her breath caught on the last word, her lip quivering as more tears fell freely.

Octavion drew her into his arms and hugged her against his chest. She crumpled into his lap with gut wrenching sobs that pierced his heart. He’d been selfish in thinking he and Kira were the only ones that would be affected, that his family could move on without him and be all right with his decision. He knew Kira would hate him forever, but seeing his sister in so much pain and his father standing there a broken man with no power to change his only son’s fate, Octavion realized how wrong he’d been. He’d hurt everyone he loved and the repercussion of what he’d done would cause them grief for many years.

“Will you ever forgive me?” he whispered into her ear.

She took a few more quivering breaths before looking up at him. She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dress. “Can you come back, or visit? There has to be some way for us to change his mind. Father could give him land or maybe—”

He put a finger to her lips. “I have already tried. There is nothing we can do.”

Their father had taken Mara’s place on the sofa—close enough to take Lydia’s hand. “I have also tried everything, child. Be grateful your friend is alive so Octavion’s sacrifice was not in vain.” He patted her hand. “I will be in my chambers if you need me.” He stood and was gone, but not finished.
I would like to speak to you in private, Octavion.
Take your time
.

Yes, Father
.

Lydia untangled herself from Octavion’s arms. “I’m not sure she will agree with you. When she finds out we talked her into coming back and you’re not going to be here, she’s going to be furious. She’ll regret not choosing to stay in Lairdor. I wouldn’t blame her if she took off and tried to find their camp again.”

“That is my biggest fear. I need to tell her the truth and convince her to stay here where she will be safe. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her and I was not here to protect her.”

Lydia flipped her braid behind her back. “You can’t tell her.”

“Lydia, I have to. I do not know how much time I have before they come for me. She’ll want—”

“No. Think about it. If she knows, your last days together will be filled with heartache and her trying to figure out a way to keep you here. You need to give her good memories to get her through you leaving.” She looked down at her hands and toyed with a ribbon attached to her dress. “You need good memories of her too.”

Those had been his exact thoughts only days ago, but after holding Kira in his arms, he didn’t know how he could lie to her about something so life-altering. Octavion stood and walked to the window. The sun would set soon and he’d have to hunt one more time before seeing her—one more time before losing her forever. “What if they come for me and will not allow me to say goodbye?” He turned to see Lydia’s face, to look into her eyes. “She has to hear this from me.”

Lydia stood and closed the distance between them. “Remember this?” She took his hands, but instead of holding them, she gripped both his wrists and showed him how to grip hers. “Remember when I did this with Kira?”

“You mean how you shared your memories with her?”

“Yeah. Tell me everything you want to say to Kira. Speak to me as if you were speaking to her. Then if you don’t have time to tell her, I can share that memory.”

He pulled away. “That will not work. She told me you shared everything but sound. She would not hear my voice or know my words and that’s important to me.”

“Maybe you’re right, but at least she’d see the sorrow and regret in your eyes.”

He thought about that for a moment. “True. I will give it some thought.”

Lydia wrapped her arms around him. “I hope you know I’m going to be a little clingy.”

He pulled her closer. “I am all right with that.”

By the next morning, the people of Lairdor had begun packing. Since they had few belongings, the process was simple—gather their things and stack them in the center of the clearing with all the others. The commoners were given the task of gathering, while the Darkords destroyed the pods and any other evidence they’d ever been there. Blayde and Nigel circled the perimeter, setting off traps and gathering them so they could be used at their new home. The Royals were divided into pairs and sent to different locations to scout for a new place to call home.

Though everyone had a specific job and worked together in groups, Kira found herself doing things alone. She collected what few things she had accumulated and sat them on the edge of the clearing away from the others, then set to destroying her own pod. She paused to count for the last time the notches she’d scratched in the supporting branch. She ran her fingers across the thirty-six markings. So little time, yet she’d grown to love this place and considered the people of Lairdor her family.

When she finished, she took several water jugs to the creek with Mahli. While the cub plopped down on a section of grass and rubbed her face against a tree, Kira dropped the dozen or so containers at her feet. She sat on the rocky ledge and leaned over the water, catching her reflection in the calm pool.

She barely recognized herself. Her hair was still fairly long, just past her shoulders, but it was black as night thanks to Nigel’s constant supply of black goo-filled roots. Her eyes were the same emerald green, but the innocent spark that used to shine there had been replaced by a harshness she wasn’t sure she liked. Even her skin was darker, in spite of the lack of sun she’d been exposed to over the past few weeks.

She cupped her hands and dipped them into the water, splashing her face and running her fingers through her hair to slick it back out of her face. Gazing into the pool, all she saw was darkness, from her black hair and clothes to the ebony pines reaching up to the gray clouds promising a storm. It made her wonder if being surrounded by all that darkness had changed her somehow and if Octavion would notice.

She shook her head, refusing to let her doubts interfere with her decision to return to him. The instant she’d discovered they were blood bound and the reasons behind him not pushing the subject of marriage, she vowed to never question his love again. After that, everything had fallen into place. She loved him—of that she was sure. The only reason she’d been able to leave him before was the hope that he may someday be able to forget about her and find another. Now she knew that wasn’t an option, there was no way she’d leave him to a lifetime of loneliness and sorrow. She’d seen what that had done to Nigel and no one should have to go through that, not even a Darkord.

She stood and slipped the blue stone out of her pocket, letting it rest in the palm of her hand. She’d put this off long enough. It was time for her to go home. It had taken her all this time to figure out that home had nothing to do with location, but the people she loved and let into her life. As much as she loved her new friends—her family—being with Octavion was what she wanted more than anything. She missed him and longed to share her life with him.

Her fingers curled around the stone that mimicked Octavion’s deep blue eyes.
Hey.

Good Morning, my love.

Her heart sped up a bit, making the butterflies in her stomach flutter around. She loved hearing his voice in her head, something she was looking forward to getting used to.
It looks like I need a ride home. Do you think you can arrange something?

She could feel his joy as his spirit surrounded her, gently caressing her skin like a warm breath of air. He appeared an instant later, his fingertips taking up where his spirit had left off as they ran down the length of her arm and lifted her hand to his lips. He bowed slightly, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. Mahli hissed.

“Will I do?” He smiled, turning her insides to mush.

“Only if it’s forever.”

His smile faded slightly and a flicker of sorrow crept into his eyes. Nothing anyone else would notice, but she did. “In a world like ours, sometimes forever is all we have.” Then his smile returned, but she could see he was struggling with matching it to his feelings.

She pulled her hand away and took a step back. “What’s wrong?”

“I had forgotten how perceptive you are. I cannot keep anything from you.” He moved closer, cupping her cheek in his palm. “Not that I want to.”

She pushed his hand away. “Then tell me.”

“All right, but I need you to promise me something first.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m listening.”

“Swear you will never run again. No matter what happens or who may be in danger, you stay and let the ones you love help protect you.”

Kira felt like she’d been kicked in the gut. She knew the meaning behind his words. “Tyrius didn’t sign the treaty, did he?” His arms reached for her, but she pushed him away and collapsed onto the rock ledge that bordered the creek, dropping the blue stone in the process. It tumbled into the water and sank to the bottom. “This changes things.”

Octavion fell to his knees beside her, plucked the stone from the water and put it back in her hand, folding her fingers around it. “Do not do this, Kira.”

Tears burned her eyes but she refused to let them fall. “I left because . . . I just couldn’t put everyone I love in danger and now—”

“Stop.”

She turned away, but he forced her to look at him by taking her face in his hands. Threads of gold crept into his eyes. “Enough. I will not allow you to play the martyr in all this. It is not your fault Tyrius is a monster.”

“I don’t want anyone to die because of me.”

He growled, dropping his hands in a huff. “This has nothing to do with you. This is about Shandira and her greed. It is about a prince making bad choices and a father who cannot deal with his loss. You did nothing wrong. You saved Cade’s life. In this world that means his family is bound to protect you in return. You saved Lydia’s life more than once, so we will fight for you, even if that means giving our lives in return.”

He wiped a tear away from her cheek with his thumb. “You need to understand that it does not matter where you are or who you are with. Tyrius will still come after the ones you love to get to you. The only way we can beat him is to unite and fight him together.”

He pulled her into his arms, his heart hammering so hard, she could hear it even before she pressed her face against him.

“I love you, Kira. Let us fight for you.”

“
With
me.” She leaned back so he could see her eyes. “I will not stand by and watch others die and not be at their side. I know how to fight now and I have . . .
skills
. I can protect myself.”

He studied her eyes for a long moment before a smirk crossed his face. “May I see these skills?”

Kira sighed. He wasn’t taking her seriously. “I’ll show you, but there’s no discussing it. I will fight to protect myself, my friends and my family. It’s that simple.”