The King’s Tainted Mate
Chapter 63

Ever since Liira had taken me under her wings, I'd learnt many royal Xatian customs. I'd spent days on end listening to the old matriarch speak of times past, present and future. What had been, what was and what would forever be for the royal wolf house. This, she'd always said was something I would one day repeat to my own sons and daughters. But no matter how much I'd learnt, whatever was unfolding before me was as strange as the tongue the high priest had used while he chanted.

It was meant to be a rehearsal. Nothing about it was to be ceremonial. Nothing would require the king of Xatis to be over dressed, and yet he had appeared in his ceremonial attire bearing his sceptre. The one thing kings had to possess when declarations or pronouncements or anything of the sort was to be made. When a kings word was to be received as law. I wondered which it was.

The look in my mate's eyes was equally strange. As I stood frozen by Liira's side, my gaze holding his, it was as if the entire realm around us had shifted, leaving him bound to only me. We were mated, with a bond that had refused to break twice before, but whatever it was that made his gaze so deep, strange and mysterious spoke of something more.

"My king, are you certain?" Someone inquired urgently, drawing my mate's attention. Yet not in a demanding way. A man dressed in a long robe appeared at his side, bearing a little wooden box that appeared to be as ancient as himself. For a wolf whose form was meant to stop aging once they reached adulthood, the man seemed to have aged considerably, making me think him to be really really old. Was that even possible? Perhaps I would inquire from Liira once all of this was over. Whatever this was.

I watched as the man inched closer to my mate. Long hair framed his aged face and cascaded all the way past the middle of his back. I wondered how long it had been since it had seen a cutting tool. Probably years, I decided.

"What you seek to do, can never be undone, so I will ask again. Are you certain, my king?" Even as the man asked and bowed towards my mate, I couldn't help wonder about his questions and how odd the whole sight appeared. With how old the man seemed, I would think my mate was to be the one to offer such reverence. And yet it was not so. My mate remained standing tall in his majestic glory, while the man was as a servant in front of him. "What say you, King Elian?"

The king's gaze fell on me once more. "I am." Something flashed in his eyes as he said that. "I would not have summoned you 'bond keeper' if I wasn't.

"The bond keeper?" The simple question slipped out of both mine and Myrna's mouth at the same time, yet the reason for it was by no means the same. Myrna's tone was full of excitement while mine was laced with confusion and curiosity. I had no idea who the bond keeper was. Myrna on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear as though everything in her world had finally aligned according to her stars. The sight of it unsettled me and I couldn't help but turn to Liira.

"Oh child, it is hardly the time for me to lecture you on such matters." Liira sighed, her voice so low I barely heard it. "But if you must know, the bond keeper is just that. The bond keeper." When I frowned still, she gave in and turned fully to me, voice low. "This is similar to how the moon goddess grants us mates and mate bonds. Except for the royal house of Xatis, as much as we acknowledge the moon goddess and the mates she gifts, we go beyond the idea of accepting mates and chosen mates when we do replace or wed them. Because many in times past had reached points in their existence where they claimed they had no choice in who their mate was, a blood pact was made to signify that choice by both kings and queens. It by no means overides the moon goddess mate bond-" "But also serves to declare for a second and final time one's undying love and unwavering devotion to their wedded mate for all eternity." Myrna sighed dreamily.

Was that what he was intending to do? Complete their bond in the face of his people. In my presence? The ground below me shifted at the invading thoughts. It did not even matter that nothing of what he'd done in the days and moments leading up to this had hinted at him making such a decision.

"You are pale child." Liira looked me over, her gaze scrutinizing.

"I am alright." I lied, but perhaps I should have known that I could never get away from Liira with such.

She merely arched a brow and shook her head. "Whatever it is you are thinking, it is not it." I nodded, but only because if she kept looking at me like that I was afraid my own eyes would betray what my heart felt at the moment.

"Very well then." The man I knew now to be the bond keeper drew my attention, saving me from Liira who opted to take my hand in hers still. It was a comfort I did not realize I needed as I watched the ancient man's hands reach into the wooden box and retrieve what I knew was sacred cloth twined by those who wedded.

Myrna's gasp did not leave me guessing as to who that particular one belonged to. Two strands. Scarlet and purple. The king and queen's colours twinning over each other, signifying their marital bond that I despised.

Carefully, the priest held it on both ends and placed it in front of my mate. When his hands reached for it and caressed it along its length, my heart sank and my wolf whimpered. We were losing again.

"Oh my love!" Myrna exclaimed, her voice carrying over the now quiet multitudes in the hall as she raced down the aisle, clutching to her gown. My mate answered her not, neither did he look up from the strands. A part of me relished in that and sparked a flicker of hope. Perhaps Liira was right.

This was Myrna, however. She still remained underterred by his lack of response or what it meant. I envied her in that regard. She was a maiden who knew what she wished for and went after it. I on the hand could only wish and hope.

I watched as she approached. Everything about her speaking of her elation at what was to happen next. It was only when the bond keeper drew a shiny blade that Myrna's steps faltered. "My king? Bond Keeper? What is the meaning of this?" For the first time ever, her voice shook.

But even then my mate remained quiet, his focus on the blade that had been handed to him. When he did finally look up, an undecipherable expression was painted on his face. "I Elian, King of Xatis..." I froze. Even when his gaze was not rested on me, I was thrust back in time. To the moment my life forever changed. "...I strip you Myrn-"

"No!" Myrna's loud plea was the thing to pull me out of the hurt that had been unearthed by my mate's pronouncement.

His pronouncement? Eyes widened when I finally caught on. And despite Myrna's protests he remained calm, the blade in his hand resting on their beautiful chord of colourful strands, ready to server whatever existed between them.

"No. Please! You can't!" Myrna threw herself before my mate. Her graceful composure non existent. "I love you Elian, your majesty. Please do not take that away from me! I...I-"

Desperation. It echoed throughout the throne room. Something I'd never imagined would be heard of Myrna. And yet it was perhaps the first time I thought she was totally genuine. The reality of that stirred something within me. "Your majesty?" My call was quiet, but he heard me regardless. Eyes meeting mine with that fiery golden glow. He meant to protest whatever was going to proceed from my mouth. I could see it in his eyes. When he dared me to side with her.

"I am with child, your child... Please do not take this away from me."

Pregnant? Heads, including mine snapped towards Myrna while gasps erupted from those who'd been quiet. I had expected my mate to be among those taken by her announcement. I was wrong. His approaching figure towards were I stood pointed me to that fact. "Come with me."

"B-But-" My protests barely registered as he led me out of the throne room in one hand while the other still held his sceptre.