It wasn’t exactly what he wanted. Not being able to inflict the punishment himself grated even further, but Draven could accept it. Especially since it was one that Eden herself had chosen.
“Don’t take her down yet,” he commanded the guards.
Feeling the eyes of the room on him, Draven ignored them as he stepped up to Naya. Grasping her wrist, he pulled her arm up near his mouth. The woman struggled, eyes widening with uncertainty.
“I will not give you the opportunity to lie about this,” he growled, then bit into the vein in her arm.
Draven sorted through her memories as the blood flowed from her wrist. Searching through the images, he growled at a memory of her locking Eden up and wished, not for the first time, that he were able to extract his pound of flesh. The look of betrayal on Eden’s face at what her mother had done hardened his heart, while the echoes of her begging and pleading mirrored the ones Draven himself had caused, sending a wave of guilt through him. Forcing himself away from those flashes of thought, he sorted through all the memories of her plots and plans, searching for familiar faces.
When he pulled away, Draven bore a deep frown on his features. Capala had not been among the many faces in her mind. He now knew who she had really been dealing with in Andhera to help spread the madness. Draven had been led purposefully in the wrong direction to stir up chaos and dissension amongst his nobles.
He had killed the wrong man.
Dropping Naya’s hand, Draven waved the guards off. Pressing a hand to his brow, he wondered how he was supposed to atone for this. Esruiit was right; he had thought himself infallible. “Take her away,” he rasped to the guards.
Watching her being led from the room, Draven fought to keep his emotions in check. His head lifted to take in Alessia as she stopped to place a hand on his shoulder.
“Is everything all right, brother?”
Draven’s face hardened as he contained his emotions, and he nodded. “Make sure whatever horror you instill in her mind, you make it a truly terrible one.”
Alessia’s face curved into a dark smirk. “You know me, Draven. I keep all the truly good ones for those who deserve it most.” Her hand lifted from his shoulder to cup his face. “I’ll give her a few twisted images specifically for you.”
She then trailed after the guards, following Naya into the dungeon to dole out her specific brand of warped punishment. Zryan was not far behind.
“You can come and watch if you’d like,” he suggested.
“No need. I trust you two to handle it.”
Zryan nodded. “Why didn’t you drink from her earlier? Why that whole charade?”
“I wanted to make her suffer.” Call it him extracting his pound of flesh.
His brother chuckled, then before he slipped from the room, he looked back at Eden, who was bent over Travion once more, fussing with his wound. “The two of you are going to make peace, correct? Don’t let a foolish disagreement stand between you, Draven. There is no easier time to make it right than right after it’s happened. Time . . . ”does not heal all wounds.”
Not waiting for an answer, Zryan stepped out and continued on the same path as his wife.
Sighing, Draven took a moment to gaze over at Eden and Travion. Could an apology make it better? Solve all the issues facing them? Eden was all of the things Draven didn’t realize he’d needed in his life, until suddenly she’d been there, bringing him love and acceptance. Who could have imagined a sweet fae from Lucem would be the one able to look past the monstrous casing created by thousands of years of rumors and gossip, and see instead the man? He wanted nothing more than to bring her back to Andhera with him, to make her his queen and keep her tucked safely by his side for all the rest of their days.
She had said she loved him, and there was no denying his love for her, no matter how he had tried.
But was love enough to protect them from all that still remained to be dealt with in Andhera? What of the change that would come over her? Draven was still determined to leave Eden untampered with. He wanted her to remain fae, to be able to cross into Lucem when she desired the sunlight on her skin. That would require her spending only six months in Andhera at a time and leaving before it had a chance to settle within her. Could they make such a life work?
And what of his people? What would they think of their king when the truth of his misjudgment was made known?
Unable to control his own convoluted thoughts, he stepped from the room and out into the hall. Moving to lean against the wall, Draven pinched the bridge of his nose. He would need to make reparations to Capala’s family and do something to show to all of his people that he took it very seriously that he had erred in such a way.
Andhera was built on the foundation of a life for a life . . . ”That did not exclude him, king or not.
“Draven?”
He glanced to the side at the sound of Eden’s soft voice. There was concern in her eyes as she looked up at him.
“Is everything all right?”
His reflex was to tell her everything was fine, that there was nothing for her to be concerned about. But Eden didn’t need to be coddled. She had proven herself more than strong enough to handle whatever the world sent her way. So instead, Draven allowed himself to reach for her hand so that he could pull her into him. Wrapping his arms around her, he simply held her for a moment, finding relief in the knowledge that she was safe. The darkness had not taken her, nor had her insane mother.
“Lord Capala was not involved in the forming of hives in Midniva,” he rasped softly into her hair. “Your mother set him up in order to set me up, so that I would execute the wrong man and feed into the unrest.”
Eden made a muffled noise of distress, and he could feel the upset brimming in her at further knowledge of her mother’s crimes.
She lifted her head, green eyes studying his. “What does this mean for you?”
Draven sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know yet. I have to make amends somehow. We have laws even I am not immune to.”
“Draven . . . ”
“I took the life of an innocent vampire and his son, Eden. I must atone for that in some manner. I cannot hold my people to an expectation that I am not also bound by.”
She nodded, though the frown remained. “You don’t have to face this alone.”
Draven lifted his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing lightly over her satin skin. “Did you mean it?” he asked. “When you said that Andhera was where you wished to be? Because I spoke the truth when I said I would never force you to remain at my side . . . ”especially now that the Damaris family home will be in your control. You can live whatever life you choose now in Lucem.”
His need to have her return with him to Andhera was so great that he was certain she could feel it zinging through her own blood. He didn’t have the answers for how any of this would work, but he was done telling Eden what she should do. She would decide where she wanted to be.
“Draven,” she grumbled with frustration. “Have you not listened to anything I’ve said? Can you not feel it within you?”
He could, even though it was hard to allow himself to trust in it. Instead of responding right away, Draven dipped his head to kiss her, tasting the love there on her lips. Feeling the way her body melded obediently into his own, as if there was no other place she would rather be than pressed against him.
“I am sorry I forced you away. I wanted nothing but to protect you from the dangers that were growing, and in that need to do so, I failed to listen to your wishes. I never wanted to be another person in your life who silenced you and shut you away.” Draven closed his eyes in remembrance. He had understood why she was upset, as well as the words she had spoken to him in anger.
It was Eden who initiated the next kiss, pulling a soft moan from Draven’s lips as he felt the emotions swelling up in him. This time, she was honey and yearning. He felt the deep need to reconnect and bury whatever hurt lay between them.
“I know, Draven. I do.”
Their lips connected once more, and Draven’s arms wrapped tightly around her, lifting her off her feet as he ignored the protests of his own body and allowed himself to drift off into the peace Eden brought to him.
“Do you know that the first time I saw you in that garden, I thought your smile was like the very sun itself, and I longed for nothing more than to bottle it up so that I might feel its rays in the darkness of my hall?” he whispered, fingers threading through her hair and forehead pressed to hers. “Eden, if I have made you think for one moment that I do not love you, I apologize.”
Her breath hitched a little at his words, and her eyes remained unblinking upon his own.
“I want nothing more than for you to return with me, for you take up your place by my side and bring your light eternally into my days.”
Eden smiled softly up at him, teeth biting at her bottom lip a little before it fully broke out into a broader grin. “Draven, are you saying that you wish for me to be your queen?” There was a teasing but hopeful sheen to her eyes.
“Yes,” he responded in all seriousness. “We can figure out a way to keep Andhera from transforming you, whatever it takes to keep you yourself. But I do not want to live the rest of my days in that darkness without you by my side.” He was done resisting it. If it was what Eden wanted, then together, they could make a union between them work. “You have already proven yourself Andhera’s queen.”
Eden’s laughter was a burst of happiness to his own heart, and as her arms slid around his neck and she responded by kissing him once more, Draven knew that he did not deserve such a beautiful fae as her in his life. But he would do whatever was necessary to make certain she never had reason to regret her decision to stand at his side.
“There is still so much to be done.” Eden sighed from the security of his arms as she drew back just a fraction to rest her head on his shoulder.
It was true. Before they could even consider a proper union between them, much had to be done, and each realm needed time to heal in its own way after this ordeal.
Draven nodded, dipping his head to press a kiss to the end of her nose. “There is. But we will do it together.”
