Page 59 of Avaritia
Clinging to Sebastian like he was my lifeline would hopefully keep the senior Council members at bay, at least for a little while. They’d use him as their gofer, assuming that I’d trust him implicitly. And Sebastian, I could manage.
I tipped my head back against the pillow, smiling faintly at the memory of thinking that I could manage Theon. He was unmanageable, ungovernable, and stubborn to a fault.
And I loved him—and all of those traits he came with. Did he have a shit ton to learn about being a good mate? Yes. Though, I did too. And we definitely needed to sort out his jealousy issues when it came to Damen, though I suspected seeing me hurt would have cured him of at least some of his idiocy on that front.
The rest would come with time. I was all in on Theon, Duke of Lindow. We were going to make each other very fucking happy for the rest of our days, and no one was going to get in the way of that.
Chapter 20
Damen unlocked the door to my room, striding straight in without bothering to hang around in front of the bars first, his expression grim. He closed the door behind him, crossing the room to sit next to me on the bed, mirroring my posture with his back against the wall, one foot up on the edge of the mattress, and an arm resting on his knee.
Had Allerick not warned me of the possibility of this happening, Damen’s solemn silence would have been alarming. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him this serious in his life.
“Am I to go on trial then?” I asked, tipping my chin up, finding the last desperate remains of my pride.
“It’s the Council of Shades,” Damen replied, somewhat despairingly. “Allerick has been arguing in your favor, but they want to see you punished.”
There was a brief hint of that age-old resentment I felt for Allerick flaring to life before I brushed it aside. It was instinctive at this point to blame him for my ills, but it was a reflex rather than a conviction. None of this was Allerick’s doing. It was my actions that had led to Verity coming to harm, and the punishment that I myself had derived which would be my unmaking.
I climbed off the bed slowly, stretching my spine and rolling my shoulders back. “I had hoped they would hold off on a trial until Verity’s return.”
Damen made a quiet noise of distress. “The Councilors don’t believe she will return.”
“Based on what?” I asked sharply, refusing to entertain the idea that Verity would be trapped there forever. “Has Astrid changed her mind? She was confident that she would see Verity safely returned as soon as she left the healing facility.”
“Well, no.” Damen winced. “Astrid is as determined as ever. They think Verity will refuse to return.”
“On what grounds?” I growled, shadows I didn’t have the power to produce straining to break free, to lash out at something. Anything.
“You,” Damen replied apologetically. “They’re quite convinced that Verity’s return to the human realm was probably a welcome getaway for her. A convenient opportunity to be rid of an unsuitable mate who’d taken her against her will.”
“Verity was happy,” I snarled, though my defensiveness was undeniable. I’d demanded a Hunter of my own, after all. Verity insisted she’d volunteered willingly, but she cared deeply for the other ex-Hunters who lived at Elverston House. Perhaps she had come willingly, but only so they didn’t feel like they had to instead.
Perhaps she hadn’t been happy after all, and I’d only seen what I wanted to see?
“Stop doubting yourself,” Damen ordered, climbing off the bed and pulling himself up to his full height, still half a horn-length shorter than me. “I saw the two of you together the day… the day everything happened, remember? I’ve argued with the Councilors repeatedly, insisted that I saw the two of you happy. That Verity was happy. Your staff have also given their testimonials, but the Council dismissed those on the basis of bias.”
“What was their excuse for dismissing yours?” I asked derisively.
“They were already not best pleased with me,” Damen admitted. “Understand that while Allerick has been a strong proponent of allowing the ex-Hunters to find their place here—and ideally, a mate here—in their own time, not everyone agrees with his approach. The Council feel that all of the ex-Hunters should have been mated off immediately upon arrival, to ensure they would stay and produce energy for the stores. As the second in line, they have been very vocal about the fact that I should have been the second to be mated. My failure to secure a relationship has been… a cause of contention.”
Unhappily, I realized that my thoughts had followed along the same lines. I’d thought that I would make a better ruler than Allerick because I would make things happen. Now, I could see that the compassion that tempered his decisions was a strength, not a weakness.
Perhaps, in a different world, we could have worked together. Our strengths may have complemented one another. It was too late now, though. Too late for the bitter and long-overdue realization that the obstacle to my own happiness had been me all along.
“Well, then, I suppose we’ve kept them waiting long enough,” I sighed, clambering tiredly to my feet.
Damen jumped up with far more energy than me, standing between myself and the door, glaring at me. By the time Damen was old enough to be considered a challenger, it was clear that Allerick would surpass me. I’d never been raised alongside him as a brother, and spent even less time with him than I’d spent with a young Allerick. Sometimes, I forgot entirely that Damen was as much my brother as Allerick was.
He looked the very picture of an annoyed younger sibling now.
“You better not be giving up,” Damen warned. “Verity is your mate. She needs you.”
“Verity is always my priority,” I assured him. “For as long as I live.”
“Well, you’re mated, so it’s not like they can do anything anyway,” Damen said with a dismissive flick of his hand. “The two of you are together, whether they like it or not. Verity will return, and the Councilors will learn to live with it.”
Damen was young and idealistic, still—something I hadn’t realized before now. Allerick clearly hadn’t involved him in the less savory elements of ruling the shadow realm. He certainly hadn’t told him about the punishment I was facing, perhaps to spare him from the unpleasantness of it all.