Tale of the Heart Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #4)

Chapter 37

C HAPTER 37

NADIR

“ W hat do you mean you saw our mother?” Tristan asks, his face pale with shock.

Lor twists her hands in her lap as she looks up at her brother. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, where she sits next to me on the bed.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers as tears build in her eyes. “I—”

Willow stands up from her chair and strides over to sit on Lor’s other side, taking her hand.

“What happened?” Her expression is so kind and understanding that my chest tightens.

Lor then recounts what she saw with the Crown.

I listen with swelling alarm. This is getting more and more complicated by the moment.

I found my mate through the most unlikely set of circumstances, and all I want is to disappear with her somewhere we can be alone to explore one another, where I can protect her. Everyone is trying to kill her or cage her, but they’ll have to go through me first.

“So we have to go after Father,” Amya says, and I can see what she’s thinking. We always knew that it would come to this one way or another. Us against him. I remember every moment Amya and I confided in one another. One parent was absent, and the other was a monster. Even though I was a grown Fae by the time she was born, there are so many bleak moments we shared. It’s taken me many years to admit it to myself, but there were so many times when he willfully made me feel like nothing more than a scared child.

“There’s something else we need to do first,” Lor answers, and I register the worried look on her face.

“Such as?” my sister asks.

She looks at me. “My mother said I’d have to bond to have enough power to destroy the ark.”

I nod and blow out a sigh.

Do you think what Cloris told us is true? I ask.

You know it is.

“So you and Nadir will bond,” Mael declares. “Why do both of you look like you’re going to your funerals? Don’t tell me we’re still playing this ‘Ooh, we don’t want each other’ game. You’re fucking mates.”

“Give us a little credit,” Lor snaps, and the irritation in her voice makes me smile. “Of course we’re not doing that anymore. ”

Lor turns to look at me. Are you ready for this? she asks in my thoughts.

I give her a half smile. I’ve never been more ready for anything, Lor.

We have to tell them.

We both turn to look at the others, and I guess it’s time for us to come clean about this other hitch in our plans. Lor explains the complications with a mate bond between two Primaries and what happened with her grandparents.

“So if you two bond, you’ll blow up half of Ouranos?” Willow asks, crestfallen at the prospect. “But you love each other.”

“It’s not all bad news,” Lor says. “Apparently, it can be done with the right precautions.”

“What precautions?” Amya asks.

“That is the bad news,” I say. “We’ll need to ask Cloris Payne.”

“Well, fuck all of us,” Mael says, echoing what we’re all thinking.

“That crazy witch is still there,” Amya says. When I raise an eyebrow, she adds, “I thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on her, so I’ve had someone watching her.”

“Good,” I say. “That was good thinking. Thank you.”

“You’re planning to see her again?” Willow asks. “What if she’s dangerous?”

“I don’t think so,” Lor says, chewing on her bottom lip. “I almost killed her once, and something tells me that if she were capable of overpowering us, she would have done so last time.”

“I don’t know,” Tristan says. “That seems risky.”

She holds up her hands. “What other choice do we have?”

Tristan’s jaw hardens. We don’t see eye to eye on much, but his sister’s safety is one area we agree on.

“So we’ll go see her,” Lor says to me, “and then figure out what we need to do before we go after your father.” She waits for my confirmation, and I reluctantly nod.

“And we also need to reach out to the other realms and convince them to destroy their arks,” I say, amplifying the tension in the room. I’m not sure if they’ll listen to us, but we have to make them see this is important for all of them. Maybe the only positive working for us is that there isn’t an Aurora ark to destroy and we won’t have to rely on Father for that.

Lor blows out a breath and runs a hand down her face.

“Alluvion will not help me after what I did.”

I tip my head and consider. “Cyan isn’t a fool. It’s possible he can be reasoned with. And we aren’t asking any of this for us. Not really.”

Lor snorts out a dry laugh. “Not if you saw what I did to his palace.” She drops her face into her hands and groans.

“I think we have to try,” I say. “And while we’re at it, perhaps one or two can be swayed into helping us beyond destroying the arks. We don’t know what my father is planning, but I’m worried that it will be more than we can handle if we try to go in alone.”

“Cedar promised us his allegiance,” Tristan says, and I dip my chin because he’s right about that. Tristan. Another Primary. I can see the longing in his expression. The desire to get to know the king he’s intended to replace someday. I hope we can give him that chance .

“What about the queens of Tor and Celestria?” Amya asks.

Lor shakes her head. “I don’t know. They knew I was lying too . . .”

“What about Aphelion?” Amya adds. “Do you think Tyr can . . .”

She trails off, and I fill in the words she doesn’t voice.

“But we don’t know if he can even use his magic anymore?” I ask, and she nods. “All good points. We’ll discuss it with Tyr and then ask the others to meet with us. The heir of Heart has risen from the ashes despite every odd, and we can convince them to at least hear us out.”

Lor gives me a worried look, and I squeeze her shoulder.

“Where do we meet them?” Tristan asks.

“Somewhere kind of neutral?” Amya asks.

“No,” Lor says. “They need to see it for themselves.”

“See what?”

“That the magic of Heart has returned. Whatever happens with both Rion and Zerra affects them, too. No matter their personal feelings for me or our grandmother, they must help us or risk losing so much more.”

The corner of my mouth lifts up in a small smile. She’s breathtaking when she’s like this. All fierce determination and bravado. My queen who acted like a queen even when she was a far cry from one.

She looks at me. “Can you get a message to Etienne? Is there anywhere in Heart suitable for receiving the kings and queens of Ouranos?”

“I will right away,” I say. “I’m sure there’s something we can work with. ”

“Okay,” Lor says with a firm tip of her jaw. “We ask them to meet us in one week. I don’t think we can afford much more time than that.”

“Agreed,” I say.

“We’ll see Cloris and find out what precautions are needed to complete the bond.”

“And hope that whatever she says is the truth?” Mael adds.

“Right,” I answer. “And isn’t impossible to execute.”

I see the uneasiness that flashes across Lor’s expression, and I lean over to press a kiss against her temple. We’re going to figure this out one way or another.

Don’t worry, Lor , I say through our bond. We’ll fix all of this.

She gives me a tight smile.

“So we have a plan,” she says, clearly trying to put on a brave face.

I just hope any of it works.