Dark Throne, The (37 page)

“
And I for you, Fade
.”
She closed her eyes and the lids turned white under the pressure
she exerted upon them. “I’d kill for you. You’re mine and I’m
yours. It’s simple math. One plus one doesn’t equal two in our
case, it equals one.”

“
And by Mother Mearth’s powers, through which she channels a
portion to this humble Elder, I verify this
match
. Join their hearts
together, meld them even closer than they are now. Sew their souls
so that not an inch separates them. This mate bond is a gift from
the Mother herself, seal this union with the powers possessed only
by you.”

Fade and Heather froze as the Elder
spoke
. They waited, paused in
silence waiting for something to hit them, something that would
unite them even more, but nothing happened.

“
Those weren’t the usual vows
. You did it wrong.” Fade accused, glaring at the Elder
with a frown that had Heather tapping him on the
shoulder.

“
Don’t be rude, Fade
.”

The Elder merely chuckled
. “Elders have more than one vow they can use to tie a
couple together. The most common are the ones you know. But in your
case, you spoke your own and I merely affirmed it. The Mother
cannot meld a heart or sew a soul together if they’re already
united. You are wed in the eyes of the land and in the eyes of our
Mother. Congratulations, your majesties.”

Epilogue

Heather was more tired than she liked to
admit
. Being Queen was a more
difficult job than she’d ever imagined and in her case, she had two
kingdoms. Two places to rule and that needed her.

She thanked God – she still hadn’t grown accustomed to
thanking the Mother, something time would change, Fade assured her
– for Fade’s wings
. It meant
they could travel between royal keeps within a day, something that
was vital for keeping both countries running smoothly.

Jender wasn’t the issue
. Haden was. After years of mismanagement by Fade’s father,
the country was in shambles. He’d reorganized the council,
reassigned and promoted as well as demoted certain members of the
army and was in the process of restarting the economy, in an
attempt to create more jobs for the Elfen that were out of
work.

It was peculiar how many similarities there were to
Earth
. Unemployment and credit
crunches even occurred here, on a parallel universe.

Mearth was, with every day that passed, becoming her
home
. In the sense that she
was forgetting Earth and its customs. Some phrases stuck in her
head and no matter how she tried, she still cursed with English
swear words and popped up with new phrases that had everyone in her
vicinity frowning with confusion.

A
part of her enjoyed befuddling the pompous people of her
courts
, it wiggled the stick
in their asses and kept them on their toes. Her curses were all the
rage in both Haden and Jender. Something Fade couldn’t officially
approve of, but which always made him laugh. In fact, he himself
had taken on a lot of her curses. Many was the time he grunted out,
‘Fuck,’ after he spilt his seed within her body. It was hardly the
most romantic of phrases, but their joinings were no laughing
matter. She herself muttered it at the crucial point.

They spent t
heir time
between both kingdoms, but she preferred Jender. Not because she
blamed the kingdom, but because her father was there. And it pained
her to admit that he was not long for this life. Something that was
evident to the entire world.

Without her mother, he’d deflated
. Abdicating the throne in favor of Fade had left him
with more time to mourn, but there had been no point in attempting
to change his mind. He’d refused, point blank, to take on the
duties of King. The only thing or person, who brought him any
relief from his laden thoughts, was Heather. She spent a lot of
time with him. They didn’t necessarily talk, just sat together
while she read one of the many reports she had to read every day
and he stared into space. Her presence soothed him though, the
pinched tightness about his mouth always eased some when she was
there. And she was glad for it. Her father was a good man and his
grief spoke of his love for his wife.

Heather knew that he’d thought he’d be the one to die
first
, thanks to his older
years. That that wasn’t the case had hit him hard. He didn’t know
how to cope and was floundering.

The whole country mourned Setta’s loss and Henrik and the
nation weren’t alone
. While
there had been nothing but friction between the pair of them, there
were days, when Heather would burst into tears, because she missed
her mother and her caustic presence so much.

It was three months to the day since Setta’s funeral and
Heather knew that without Fade, she would have been
inconsolable
. Heather was
experiencing a, “You don’t know what you had, until you lost it,”
phase. And the idea of losing her mother swiftly amalgamated itself
to her fear of losing Fade.

She hated the weakness, the inherent frailty of her
nature
. Hated how she clung to
him, demanding to be with him, wherever he went. Even if it was
viewing the palace guard or sitting at some boring meeting to
discuss the economy.

Her only consolation was that he was just as
bad
.

Her ladies-in-waiting were all aflutter, when he attended
her sittings with the seamstresses and when she visited local
healing clinics, which were like hospitals but smaller and more
reliant upon herbs and plants for t
heir medicines, Fade was there too.

It made more work for the pair of them, hence her
exhaustion, but she refused to budge on this
matter
. And Fade was the
same.

In truth, the pair of them had a visual reminder of loss in
Heather’s father
. He was
fading away by the day and she had to come to terms with the fact
that she would lose both parents very shortly.

At the thought, sadness welled in her heart and she had to
force herself to smile as a child from one of Haden’s villages
presented her with a posy
. The
little girl curtsied and Heather reached out to pat her cheek and
accept the small bunch of flowers.

The royal pair was well thought of by t
heir mutual kingdoms. That the pair was always
together, regardless of the occasion, caused mutterings about their
devotion, but mostly, everyone was pleased by the dual
representation of the royalty. Together they presented a strong
façade and it was strong all the way to the very depths.

There were no secrets between them
.

Heather grimaced, because there was one now and she had to
share it with Fade, before she burst from containing
it
. She’d just needed a little
time to process it. To come to terms with yet another change to her
life.

It had nothing to do with Calder or her murder of
him
, contrary to what Fade had
believed, she felt no remorse over that. As each day passed and she
saw her father’s state worsen so that his large frame was shrunken
and frail, she felt ever more justified and was glad for what she’d
done.

Heather knew she’d do it again
.

In a heartbeat
.

The Elder who had wed Fade and herself had explained in
more detail about the ravages the venom wreaked upon a body, he’d
done this at Heather’s bequest
. Her only wish was that she’d caused him more pain but the
Elder had assured her that there was no more agonizing way to die.
When she’d expressed pleasure at that, Fade had declared her a
Warrior Queen, for her bloodthirsty nature and her role as seeker
had spread throughout the kingdoms. Rather than be repulsed by her
actions, her people revered her. Cheered her on and thought of her
as a just woman.

And that was before news had come out of every
single
misdemeanor Calder had
committed in the past.

Foolish or not, Calder had kept detailed tallies of the
crimes he’d perpetrated over the years
. Fade attributed that to arrogance, and while Heather
concurred to a point, she disagreed mostly. She thought he kept
tallies as records of the most effective methods of death.
Efficaciousness had been of some importance to the
healer.

Fade’s mother and father had fallen to Calder’s
potions
, and the council had
explained that Calder thought himself to be the rightful king.
Something they’d fought, especially Merrick, who was of an ancient
lineage and a close friend to her mate. She and Fade had discussed
this and had decided that Calder had taken her with a view to
marrying her and becoming the king of one nation. If he couldn’t
rule Haden, then Jender would do.

The nerve of the man
.

Hatred still coursed through her veins, when she thought of
him, but the healers had warned her to cease emoting so
strongly
. The baby she carried
was likely to carry on her own traits, something they’d discovered
as being a green thumb. She who had murdered many a basil plant in
her time could now grow carpets of flowers if she so
chose.

Weird
.

The healer had warned her that any negative emotions would
affect the baby’s growth, as such
, she knew she’d have to move on and stop thinking about
Calder and for the time being, stop concentrating on losing her
mother. It was hardly time to move on but for the baby’s sake,
she’d have to tone it down.

How she’d managed to keep the healer’s appointment a
secret, she didn’t know
. Fade
worried if she had so much as a cold and as sickening as it was,
she was just as bad. They’d both turned into loved-up nymphs. Hell,
if she’d had to watch them, she’d have vomited herself. But Christ,
living with it, living with her mate, was the most incredible
experience she’d ever known.

It was why she’d pretended to nap and fled to one of the
healers, when she’d started to feel nauseous on a
morning
. Hell, they certainly
did enough of what was required for her to get pregnant and she’d
only gone for confirmation. Something she now had.

Apparently, the baby, which would
appear after a gestational period of an incredible thirteen months,
had started life prior to its parents’ marriage.

Whoops.

Grinning at the thought, she turned to Fade who was being
presented with a carved flute by a small boy dressed up in a smart
tunic with short trousers in an eye-popping shade of
chartreuse
. She didn’t think
she’d ever grow accustomed to the fashions here. Everywhere she
looked, a tit or an ass cheek was on view and always surrounded by
the most obscure colors. Apart from that, weird ears, strange hued
hair and funny colored skin and all, she was slowly but surely
getting used to life here. And in many ways, it was better than her
old life. Sure, there was no TV or internet, no soaps, or games or
even cars or trains. But in the ways that mattered, it was her
haven. Mostly because this man was here.

As he thanked the boy, Heather reached for his hand and
squeezed it
. She didn’t care
that the crowd saw it, their joined hands were a representation of
their bond and the union between Haden and Jender. Plus their
people were used to these small displays of affection, they sure as
hell witnessed them often enough. The joining of the two kingdoms
had been sealed today by the revealing of a statue commemorating
Setta’s life.

Life wasn’t and never would be easy
. Being Queen wasn’t all about looking good and
opening garden parties, at least, it wasn’t on Mearth. Every day,
she and Fade made life-altering decisions, the gravity of which
never failed to amaze her. But with Fade at her side, the technical
writer was capable of anything.

She leant over and kissed Fade’s cheek and heard the sucked
in breath from the crowd
. When
Fade grinned and bussed her right back, she settled back into her
throne and knew that whatever life threw at them, as long as they
were together, they’d handle it.

She’d never been stronger
. Never felt worthier or more empowered.

And that was down to the man she loved
.

She felt no shame for that
. Made no apologies. She wasn’t a feminist, but she was a
twenty-first century women, or at least, she’d been reared that
way. She should have felt guilty for wanting her man so badly, but
hell, it was a mutual thing.

If she loved him, he loved her
.

If he empowered her, she empowered him
.

That was the way it was and how it would always
be
.

And as un
-feministic
as it was,
she didn’t care. That was the way they both wanted it. If the
feminists didn’t like it, then she had one word for
them.

Tough
.