The Queen's Consorts (27 page)

“History shows several queens have had sons. Not just your grandmother,” Macro reminded her. “Many Rayians have the royal green in their eyes.”

“I’m supposed to be queen!”

“Laysa,” Macro started out slowly.

“Call me Your Majesty! She’s as good as dead; the throne is rightfully mine!” Laysa turned to the corner. “Get the others. Tell them they’re awake.”

Macro narrowed his eyes at Larim, whom he hadn’t noticed before now, because somehow he’d made himself invisible sitting in the wingback chair in the corner. He couldn’t even wrap his mouth around the words to voice how revolting he found this young, handsome man his brother had loved deeply from the first moment he found him, without family, holding a position over a small group of kitchen servants. He was Rayian, but he’d had no affluence until Garid had fallen for him and taken him to the very tops of their social hierarchy.

“He was your lifemate.” Haven voiced the words for Macro. “You’ve been with him since you were nineteen. You better hope I die this day, Larim, because I will kill you as retribution for Macro’s pain.”

Larim stood from the chair, his blond hair reflecting in the sunshine. The streaks of black just made it more magnificent. He looked at them with light eyes similar to Calder’s, but there was no passion in them.
Just cold indifference.

He turned away, ignoring them as he walked to the doors. Macro stiffened and craned his neck when they opened, seeing some of the soldiers who had captured them at the brothel file in.

“Haler is awake, Your Majesty.”

Macro gagged again when he heard the title, unable to help the rush of disgust at the idea of Laysa actually winning, of their people hailing her as queen. It was such a huge injustice he could hardly fathom it, even knowing he’d lost most of his family to a cause that was getting bleaker by the minute.

“Why do I care?” Laysa asked sharply.

“The soldier we found by the south gate? He’s awake. He’ll likely have information for you.”

Laysa waved a hand. “One of you
question
him. But first, string up the defective one.”

There were ten soldiers, and every single one of them looked around the room in confusion. Even Laysa’s minions were beyond comprehending the atrocity she was about to commit.

“The female,” Laysa said when they all exchanged looks.
“Right there!”

Macro looked from Laysa to the soldiers as they all hesitated. Katon, who was older than the rest, shook his head in horror. “She’s a sister. It’s a crime against the gods to harm her.”

“You do as I say.
Unless you’d rather die with the rest of them.”

He swallowed hard. His gaze darted to Macro and Haven before he walked over to Kayla. Then he crouched down, his sword scraping against the marble floor as he reached out and gently touched her shoulder.

“Sister.”

Kayla didn’t stir, which usually would concern Macro, but now he was hoping she’d stay unconscious. Katon shook her again, this time hard, and Kayla moaned and rolled onto her back, showing off full breasts and pink nipples that peaked out through the curly strands of her vibrant hair.

“Why are you sad?” she mumbled, sounding half-asleep. Even still, she reached out for Katon’s hand, holding it tightly in hers as a frown etched across her forehead. “Your soul feels weary.”

Katon lifted horrified eyes to Laysa. “She’s truly a defective?”

“So what?”
Laysa shrugged.

“If you do this,” Macro started, his eyes narrowed menacingly at Katon, who had once shared a bunk with him and Haven when they were young ones, “you will burn for it. You fear death? Don’t. Fear the wrath of the gods once you pass over.”

“She is a gift from the gods. They sent her here to nurture and help the people of Auroria flourish,” Haven went on when Macro suddenly found himself frozen in fear. “If you allow Laysa to mutilate her body, it is like slapping them in the face.”

“That is a rumor made up by ancestors with too much time on their hands. The gods do not send pure hearts here on a goodwill mission. They are simply dense and defective Rayians. An embarrassment we have to hide in the mountains and slums. Tie her up against the wall.”

“
There’s only Tourillan gold cuffs
. She’ll break free.”

“Yes, but as we said before, Kayla is defective.” Laysa laughed. “She won’t break free because she knows if she does, I’ll simply take my wrath out on one of her two lap dogs chained to the floor.”

Kayla didn’t fight the soldiers when they helped her up. Despite the situation, the other soldiers were gentle with her, holding her elbows when she wavered and blinked heavy-lidded eyes. Then she turned and looked toward the sunlight shining in through the windows, and a smile tugged at her lips.

She turned back to Haven, who was closest to her. “We’ve won.”

Haven shook his head, looking heartbroken to disappoint her with the truth. “No, Kay, we haven’t.”

“But they’ve finally bonded,” she said as if it made everything very simple. “She’s strong now.”

“We don’t know where they are.” Macro turned to Laysa. “We’re as surprised as you are to see the sun. Can’t you tell we don’t know?”

“I don’t believe you,” Laysa said simply. “You’re captain of the guard.
You must know
.”

“I don’t!”

“If we did
know,
they would have killed us rather than leave a weak link,” Haven assured her.

Laysa huffed in disbelief.
“Liars.”

“I swear on the name of my mother, Haven speaks the truth. They’d kill us without thought before they’d leave their queen vulnerable,” Macro asserted, getting some of his strength back as the fury at what Laysa had taken hit him. “We have trained with them nearly every day since they learned to walk. I know how they think because I helped
Darin
train them. The queen must be protected at all costs. A few lives will never be equal to the millions that will be harmed if the sun isn’t returned.”

“Then why do I have an injured soldier in the other room?” she asked with another laugh. “You forget. One of her consorts is defective like our lovely Kayla here. They’re useless in battle.”

“Break my bonds,” Haven told Kayla in a low growl. “Do it.
Right now.”

“If you do that, I will make sure they suffer for days before they die,” Laysa assured her. “Look around. Naked and weaponless, they’re hopelessly outnumbered.”

Kayla turned around, glancing from the soldiers to Larim back in the corner and then to Laysa standing beside the cross with a rabid hunger glowing in her eyes that was something akin to sexual lust.

“Do it,” Macro urged. “Let us try and save you. Give us that honor, please, Kay. If you have ever loved us, you will do this.”

Kayla’s shoulders slumped as she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“See. Defectives are useless in battle,” Laysa announced triumphantly.

“You don’t know us, Laysa,” Kayla said as she allowed the soldiers to chain her to the crossed posts with her back facing out to where Macro and Haven were chained to the floor. Then, almost as if she couldn’t stop herself, Kayla added, “And it doesn’t matter, because you’ve already lost.”

Laysa attacked her without warning as she grabbed a flogger off the table and lashed out at Kayla’s bare back. She screamed in reaction, clutching at the wood where her hands were cuffed, her knuckles white. The flogger glinted red and gold under the sunlight as vicious nails tore at Kayla’s beautiful skin.

Macro’s throat was raw, making him realized he’d screamed with her. Haven had too, his lifemate’s agony still rung in his ears. Macro choked as he looked at her back, torn open, causing streams of blood to run down her legs. Only hours earlier Macro had pressed hot, fevered kisses against it in uninhibited worship as he watched her move over his lifemate, taking Haven deep into her body, and the entire time he’d felt as if his heart might burst with how much he loved both of them.

This couldn’t be happening.

“Laysa, listen to us.” Haven was panting next to him, his voice manic and wild, but before Haven could finish, Laysa lashed out again, and he screamed with Kayla a second time. “We don’t know where they are!”

“I swear we don’t!” Tears ran down Macro’s face as he did something he thought he would never do. He begged. “Please don’t do this to her. Hurt me instead if you need it so much. Please, Laysa, you are not supposed to do this to her body. This is a crime against nature, and it’s all for nothing. We don’t know anything!”

“You’re lying.”

Kayla screamed again when Laysa lashed at her as if completely careless of their begging.

When Laysa pulled the flogger away, destroying more of Kayla’s beautiful back in a gruesome display of blood and torn flesh, Haven shouted, “Break the bonds, Kay! Do it! Break them and the soldiers won’t stop you. I can see it on their faces. You could run away!”

All he got in response was another lash from Laysa and another scream from Kayla. Her hands tightened on the wood, her body was shaking, but she didn’t break the bonds.

When Laysa hit her again, Macro and Haven screamed together. “BREAK THE BONDS!”

Still Kayla ignored it, how he didn’t know, because Macro had seen many males cave under less torture. With all those drugs in her system making her skin so sensitive, it had to be absolute agony. Laysa struck again, and a hideous, primal growl of agony burst out of him.

In that one terrible moment Macro knew he had trained the consorts correctly. For the sake of the monarchy, it was a very good thing he didn’t know where Calder and Taryen had hidden their queen.

One of the bad things about the queen’s chamber was it made it almost impossible to keep track of time. Calder had no idea how long they’d slept, but he did know his entire body hurt as he found himself attempting to blink to consciousness. He wasn’t even sure why he was trying when he had Sari cradled against his chest, her long, curly hair spread out over both of them, tickling his sensitive skin because the herb hadn’t worked its way fully out of his system yet.

“Gods, I had forgotten how dangerous a dose this large was.” Taryen groaned from the other side of Sari. “Even with the healing waters we’ll need at least three days to recover.”

For all they knew, it’d been that long. Darin had warned them the first bonding was so draining for him that he and his lifemate had slept with their queen for five days before waking. That had seemed crazy at the time, the idea that sex, even vigorous sex could drain someone body and soul to the point that they fell into a near coma while recovering.

Now Calder understood.

It was more than sex; it was a spiritual union that even now caused a hot flush to spread over the back of his neck as he remembered connecting with Taryen and Sari over and over again, their bodies, sweaty and tight with the building pleasure, moving together in erotic synchronicity. The need had compounded with every new position.
Every touch.
Every kiss.
Every thrust had pushed them closer and closer together until the threads that tied the three of them together were unseverable.

It had been Sari to wilt between them first. She had simply rolled up next to Calder, snuggling into him as Taryen held her from behind, and then what seemed like a lifetime of tension fell out of her shoulders. Once her eyes had closed in deep sleep, she’d pulled them down with her, and Calder and Taryen followed her easily.

Now, for some reason, he was waking up before he was ready. What was most alarming was Taryen stirred as well, despite Calder having been completely quiet as he fought his way back to consciousness. Something about that left him uneasy. All his senses felt more tightly honed, as if he could truly feel the life force of Auroria, and he could sense all the good and bad intentions of those who walked upon it. As bizarre as the flood of information was, it made sense considering he’d just solidified his bond with the great mother of their people.

She was the planet.

The reason it felt as if everything around him suddenly lived and breathed was Sari, whose chest still rose and fell easily in a serene sleep.

If she rested so peacefully, why was
he
so on edge?

But Calder knew why.

He wasn’t a nurturer. That was Sari’s job. She was here to heal Auroria and bring them out of the darkness. To embrace the organic joy of her nature that he knew now existed under the hardened exterior she’d donned to protect herself.

His service to their people was much
more simple
: the gods had gifted him to Sari to sense all the evil in the world so she wouldn’t have to. Unlike Sari, his cynicism ran bone-deep to ensure he was always on guard and ready to protect his queen. She wasn’t even supposed to lay eyes on the darker aspects in existence. Auroria had learned that the hard way. Everyone had suffered because of the actions of the sister council that had forced Sari out into the world alone, but even that hadn’t been enough to ruin her. Despite all she’d endured, she was still compassionate and caring for all those less fortunate than her.

If Sari was the voice of love for their people—and he knew now she was—then Calder was justice.

What made their trifecta different than others before them was Taryen, who existed as the unique scale between them, the balance of hope and optimism in the face of betrayal that fed both their souls. His gifts connected them in a way no other monarchy had experienced, and Calder knew they’d be capable of amazing things if only they could survive long enough to inherit their legacy. It all went hand in hand, and he saw it now more than ever, the perfect synchronicity of their relationship, and for the first time he experienced true faith in the gods for placing the three of them together.

“They’ve found the tunnels,” Taryen whispered, making it obvious why they both stirred at the same time. “I feel them.”

Calder did too.

He could sense their enemies spreading out all over the secret tunnels and flooding in from the Sacred City. He could feel their feet against the grounds. He could detect their fear and desperation. Many didn’t want to be on this mission, but most were too terrified to defy Laysa. Her power was wide reaching. Even a queen had little chance of victory.