The King’s Tainted Mate
Chapter 78

The winds of fate where blowing yet again and I had thought they would be less harsh with their dealings this time around. I was wrong...

"Why did no one wake me earlier?" I glared at the bright light from the high noon sun as though it were in anyway at fault. I couldn't believe that I'd slept this much.

"Well, after last night we figured you'd need extra rest and decided to let you sleep in until such a time that you would wake of your own volition." Norae offered her answer with that emotionless face of a warrior, but I blushed still, thinking of last night and what else the guards may have been forced to endure as they stood guard outside of the king's chambers.

And speaking of the king... "His highness?" I tried to sound as casual as possible when I inquired of my mate whose absence when I awakened had been a bit of a prickle to my heart. Only my mind reminding me that I'd overslept and should have not expected him to lay around in bed, cuddling while the kingdom awaited on him, kept me from succumbing to the many thoughts of what his absence after our glorious first time together could mean. Our first time...I felt my cheeks heat up as I suspected they would be doing for a long time to come each time I thought back to the moment that everything had shattered into oblivion, leaving only desires fulfilled.

"Perhaps my lady should bath and eat first-" Before Samara could even finish uttering her thought, the doors to the chambers burst open, letting in a flood of maids led by Carlytte and Astryn. The noble maiden beamed as she floated gracefully to my side while the maid wore a very pleased smile that I did not need guessing as to what its source could be. I wondered how much of the palace knew of mine and my mate's escapades last night. The thought left me blushing even more.

"Sister." I melted into Carlytte's embrace, loving the genuineness of it and the sense of family that her address inspired. Unlike with Kerina, I did not mind her calling me 'sister' at all. Apart from my own parents, she was the first in my newfound family that I knew was genuinely happy about my return and I couldn't wait until we had the chance to really get to know each other and build on the sisterly bond. "Are you alright? How's my niece, or is it a nephew? Is everything alright? You left the banquet so suddenly last night and-"

"I am fine, Carlytte, I promise." I patted the back of the young maiden and only when I felt her relax did I realize that she'd been seriously concerned of my well being.

"Oh thank the gods." She pulled back and seemed to assess my frame as if wishing to prove my claims for herself. "With everything going on-"

"Everything going on?" I arched a brow and Carlytte slapped a hand over her mouth, realization shining in her eyes.

"I simply meant that in your state and given what you've had to endure in the recent past, being expected to play host to all those guests must have taken its toll." Her observation was correct but somehow I felt that it had nothing to do with the 'everything going on' she'd alluded to.

"My lady, your bath is ready." Astryn did not wait for my reply before she gently tugged me to my feet and started helping me out of my sleeping garment. I couldn't help thinking this was my maid's way of distracting me from thinking more about Carlytte's words. "I took the liberty of placing some fruits next to the bath for your enjoyment and to get the replenishing of your strength started before you can have some actual food." She mumbled as she draped a bath robe on my now naked frame.

"Thank you." I offered my maid a smile before curiously scanning the rest of the bed chambers. A nagging feeling I could not shake had settled on me after Carlytte's words. And my own observations of my surroundings would not put the feeling to rest as they made me realize that I was missing something. Or that something was wrong.

I noted with alarm that apart from Carlytte and Astryn, every other figure that had stepped into the chambers, even though dressed as maids where no maids at all. Their warrior like figures and stiff nods as I passed them enroute to the bath betrayed their cover. "Why do I need so many guards?"

"M-My lady?" Panicked expressions painted both Carlytte and Astryn's faces at my question, inspiring dread in my heart when they made no attempt to even deny what I'd observed. And now that I thought about it, Samara had not answered my question regarding my mate either. Had something happened while I slept? An attack maybe that had taken him from my side and forced him to place such heavy protection to watch over me in his absence.

"It was his highness' choice." Norae stepped up, volunteering the information with that emotionless face that gave nothing else away, leaving me feeling a little frustrated. "He preferred his trusted warriors to serve you, unlike the usual palace maids who can easily be infiltrated while the castle is filled with so many guests."

"So Xatis is alright then?" I asked after the kingdom, when what I really wished to ask after was my mate.

"Yes, my lady."

"But you and this precious niece or nephew won't be if you keep putting eating off." Carlytte dragged me to the bath against my protests. And after warning me not to think anymore of the politics of the kingdom, she helped me in and once I settled, handed me a cup of tea.

I should not have enjoyed the hot beverage on such a hot afternoon, but whatever was in it tasted like heaven and coupled with the magic of Astryn's hands on my overworked body, I found my bath time quite relaxing. So much that heeding to Carlytte's warning was the easiest thing to do as peace settled in my soul.

My bath time ended with brunch that I had apparently managed to eat while I bathed. Thanks to Carlytte who insisted that it was not fair to keep the child I carried waiting after a mean growl from my stomach had filled the room, speaking of my own hunger. "What is this?" I felt the peace I'd gained drain away at the sight of an exquisite gown that was laid out on the large bed for me. It wasn't its beauty that earned such a reaction from me, however, but its colour. The deep shade of purple made me aware that the winds of fate were blowing yet again and this time around, heavier than before.

"A gift from the queen mother. She insists that you put it on."

"Sarabeth insists?" Not Liira? I stared at Samara who stood besides the bed. I realized she had been the one to deliver the gown.

"Yes, my lady."

"I can't." I declared, even when I knew that refusing such a gift was impossible. Because it was no gift in the literal sense, but a symbol of an end of an era and the beginning of another. I'd learnt that much from Liira. Apart from the many deeds to be done, a former queen of Xatis was expected to gift the new queen a gown meant to be worn on her first official engagement. Of course I did not even know whether this was it, but I couldn't help feeling unusually right to think it was. "You have not been crowned anything yet." I comforted myself, but all that went out of the window when Samara's words confirmed my fears.

"My lady is expected in the council chambers." The guard's words were expected to sway my decision and accept the gift, but hearing of my presence being waited on in the council chambers only made me sick to my stomach and had me drawing further from the bed and the gown.

"I think it matches your eyes. Don't you think so, Astryn?" Carlytte jumped in with her usual charm, clearly seeking to ease my discomfort. It was not enough.

"I think it suits my lady perfectly, unlike-" My maid's eyes widened with realisation, before slapping a hand over her mouth. "I-I think you and this gown are perfectly suited." Astryn sighed. "And whether my lady wears it today, tomorrow or a thousand years from now, this is a future that is certain for you." An apologetic smile was cast my way, but I knew my maid was anything but apologetic over her words. Because they were true. I knew it and so did everyone else who surrounded me in the king's chambers. "His highness, where is he?" Because I was desperate for his comfort, my inquiry was more of a demand than a question.

"I'm afraid he can't be here."

"Right," I nodded at Norae. "Then perhaps I will meet him at the council chambers." At my resolve, a strange look passed between my two personal guards, but before I could catch onto what it meant, they both nodded. And that served to be the cue for Carlytte and Astryn to spring into action, getting me dressed at a speed that had me suspecting they expected me to change my mind at any moment.

As much beauty as the gown wrapped me in, it also draped me in a heaviness that only increased in weight the closer I was led to the council chambers. And the sight of Sarabeth pacing outside the doors leading to the chambers only served to add to the weight of my burden.

"Thank the gods you are finally here." The former queen exhaled as she rushed to meet up with my small entourage. "And you look absolutely beautiful." She beamed, but I couldn't help notice the worry lines on her beautiful face.

"Thank you. Although, I am not sure why I've been summoned or why my lady insisted I be dressed in the queen's colour." Because not knowing for a moment longer felt like the anxiety in my bones would begin cracking things, I held on tightly to Sarabeth while I hoped for an answer.

"Well, then, I suppose we should go right in." My hope was deferred as the former queen took my hand and led us the remaining steps towards the council chambers.

"This is not usual of my son so forgive me, but I have to ask." Sarabeth suddenly stopped in front of the chambers, forcing me to a stop too. "Did you and the king get into some sort of a fight?"

"My lady?" The question caught me off guard.

"Rakon here says the king didn't seem quite himself when he stepped out of your chambers last night."

"Last night? He'd left the chambers last night?" I'd spent the entire night alone? The knowledge of that brought a familiar sting to my heart. What was it? Regret? Disapointment? Did the experience not live up to his expectations that he'd had the need to run? "Shyla?"

"Hmm?" My gaze darted between the former queen and the head of the king's guard. Expectation was written on Sarabeth's face while Rakon eyed me with a strange look. One I would have never expected from the guard who'd accepted me from the moment we met. It was as if he suspected me of having done something. It was that thought that made me turn to Sarabeth and made a confession I wouldn't have made in front of an audience. No matter how small.

"I was going to take you up on your offer for tea this morning." When she frowned at my unusual answer, I bit my lips nervously, wondering how to speak of the thought that had been the last thing on my mind as I slipped into dreamland last night. "I wished to speak to you about mine and the king's mating ceremony." Because banishing Myrna had still kept her in our lives, the mating ceremony was the only way I could think of ensuring that the only bond to continue existing would be mine and my mate's. At least that is what I hoped for.

"Oh..." The former queen's eyes brightened, but only for a moment.

"Why, was I too forward?" I felt my cheeks heat up. "Liira did mention that the king's mother was meant to oversee the ceremony and-"

"Liira was right in saying so and you are in no way too forward over it." Hands tightened over mine as the former queen's voice shook with emotion, rekindling the uneasy feeling I'd felt back in the king's chambers. "Perhaps, it's time we went in."

"Did something happen? Did Elian say something?" Was that why he'd abandoned me last night, why I had been brought before the council? Had he accused me of something? My own thoughts made no sense. Neither did my presence here nor the queen's gown I had been gifted. And Sarabeth was yet to give me a reasonable explanation as to why I had been summoned.

"I wish he were here to say something."

"He is not?" I frowned at the council chamber's doors that were just as heavily guarded as every inch of the route we had used getting here.

"The king has been missing since last night. And as his future queen and mother to his heir, your presence in the council will be of utmost importance while he is still yet to be found."

"Missing?!" A growl tore from my lips, surprising even my own self. The news of my missing mate should have knocked me to the ground or something, but it only served to awaken something else. My tattoo and a beast deep within that wished for nothing but to replace our mate. "What do you mean he's missing?!" Hand clutching tightly to my arm that chose that moment to burn, I ran after Sarabeth as she disappeared into the council chambers. "How can a whole king go missing under the watchful eye of a kingdom's entire guard and in the middle of a feast?!"

"That is exactly what we wish to know. Since the last person to be seen with my son refuses to speak to anyone but you." I stopped in my tracks at the former king of Xatis' address as realisation of where I was hit me. And was that accusation in my future father in law's tone?

"Me?" Eyes took me in after my noisy entrance. Some with genuine curiosity, while others like Elian's father, eyed me with that accusatory gaze. Liira was there too and I could not decipher the look she gave me even if my life depended on it. The matriarch sat next to a man who looked as ancient as life itself and who eyed me as if I was an enigma. The ancient man, I quickly gathered, was no noble and his penetrating gaze was not something I wished to endure.

"Bring in the traitor!" The sound of shackles and painful grunts drew my attention from the ancient man to the chamber's entrance. Curious to discover the person who would only speak to me, I turned fully. "I should have known that an outlaw's word would always be worthless!" The former king spat, but I paid him no mind as his words ignited panic in my heart. And before I knew it, I was rushing back to the entrance, praying that my outlaw was not the one to have betrayed my mate. "Gol?" My own sound was but a whisper when I came face to face with a bloodied face, hands and feet bound by silver.

"I swear, I do not know what in God's name they are talking about." He had not lost the fierceness that made him the man I'd known since the day I woke up in his shack. That comforted me in more ways than one. "Whatever it is they think I know-" His chest heaved as his eyes shut momentarily as though he were searching his mind for answers. "I-I do not know any of it Shyla. I maybe an outlaw, but I'm no traitor!" Bitterness dripped with his words, slipping right into my heart and unearthed my own. I knew what it felt like to proclaim your innocence and not be heard. To be accused of crimes you had no knowledge of.

"Release him."

"B-But my lady-"

"I.said.release.him!" Canines elongated as my wolf snarled at the guard's disobedience.

"O-Of course, as you wish, my lady." The guard looked over my shoulders in apology to whoever had probably given him the orders he'd been following. I did not care for who that was except the familiar clicking of metal as the shackles fell off. "Are you alright?" Not caring for all the blood or the priceless gown I wore, I flung my body at Gol wishing to learn for myself that he was really alright. What I learned however, had nothing to do with my saviour's well being.

"Hello my dear..." At mine and Gol's contact, his mind link ripped through mine with a force that knocked me out of my own reality. Except this would not be a conversation shared as we'd done many times before. No. I had been plunged into what I would only consider to be a sea of memories. His, my mate's and someone else's that had been locked away and meant to be discovered by me. As it turned out, the outlaw did indeed know who had taken my mate and the culprit had taken the liberty of laying out his demands for his safe return.

"Dear child, are you alright?" I awoke to the worried faces of Liira and all the noble lords that had gathered in the council chambers. Gol too. They had a right to be worried, but not about my well being.

"The king of Carene has made demands." I said in a single breath and the knowing faces made me realize that I did not need to explain myself. I was grateful for that because I wouldn't know were to start speaking of what I'd seen and heard. "Such sorcery! Zastan! What in God's name does Zastan want with my son? A war?" The former king of Xatis bellowed, breaking the silence that had fallen over the chambers.

"And how in God's name did he manage that?" Many more wolves voiced their opinions while I, I only marvelled at everyone as they directed their anger at the wrong person.

"Who is this Zastan?" That name had been a part of Gol's memories, but he'd been nothing but a figure in the shadows.

"The king of Carene, of course! That insufferable twerp had been the one to wipe out the royal house of Carene!"

The king? He'd wiped out the royal house of Carene? A new dread settled in my belly as visions of my royal mate lying lifeless assaulted my senses. "No, he is not. This Zastan, is not the king of Carene." I shook my head as I struggled to my feet, wishing to let everyone know of the truth that even my own mind refused to accept. "We have all been deceived. Well, except the king." I should have trusted my mate's insticts, but as usual, I chose family.

"What are you talking about?"

Instead of furnishing the former king of Xatis with an answer, I turned to my father as panic washed over me. "Where is my uncle?"

"Evarius? Why?" A puzzled look graced his face.

"Because his were the demands left in the crevices of Gol's memory. He is infact the king of Carene."