Page 38 of Alien Orc's Prize

“What are you talking about?” I rubbed my fingers over my gritty eyes. “Ah. I get it. You are making fun of me as I attempted to make fun of you by ordering a human bride. Well, you need not bother. I am being tortured enough.”

“I am not making fun of you. I do not lie, Gal.”

I lowered my hands from my eyes and regarded her. The sunlight came in, clear and bright against her stark expression. There was no trace of amusement or malice there.

“Everyone knows that true mates are just a myth,” I blustered.

“They most certainly are not!” she countered instantly, her voice rising. “I was your father’s true mate.” Her expression went misted with nostalgia, like rain against a window. “I couldn’t hide anything from your father. He’d always smell it on me.”

“You… What are you talking about?” I repeated. I sounded like an utter dunce.

I probably was one.

“Gal,” my mother said, drawing herself up to her full height, which was nearly as impressive as mine, “that human woman is your true mate. It is not a myth, but it is a rare and precious happening indeed. To squander such a thing is a blasphemy I cannot even begin to fathom.” Her eyes crackled, like the night sky before a storm ripped it open with lightning. “You will do whatever it takes to fix this.”

For a moment, I was not a man, but a small, stupid boy hurting in front of his mother.

“How?” I asked, knowing full-well how pathetic I sounded.

“You are your father’s son,” she said, not unkindly no matter how I may have deserved it. She touched my cheek and smiled wistfully. “No matter the wounds between us, he always found a way to heal them. And so will you.”

CHAPTER 20

LUNA

Iwent two full days without seeing Galbrath. And if I had been inclined to soften my stance and talk to him about everything, his glaring absence hardened my resolve right back up. I’d expected him to be practically breaking down the door the morning after the whole Althrop mess. But I’d slept in with nary a noise to disturb me, and when I’d finally poked my head out late in the morning, no one had been there.

Strangely enough, everyone else seemed just as absent as Galbrath. It was as if the whole castle – Neena and Noona and the staff included – were now avoiding me for some reason.

The only person I saw much over those two days was Galbrath’s mother. Queen Ohelia carried herself with the confidence of a monarch, but she wasn’t arrogant. I liked her, same way I’d instantly liked Neena and Noona. She listened more than she spoke, and I often caught her staring at me with a satisfied sort of smirk on her face, almost as if she were enjoying the fact I was ever-so-slightly putting her son through the ringer for being such a butthead.

She didn’t tell me where Galbrath was, and I was too proud to ask.

But on the morning of the third day without him, my pride was splintering into something a lot more like hurt. Was this Galbrath’s way of rejecting me? Or was my mood stinking up the palace so badly he couldn’t stand to be here?

Whatever it was, by that third day, I was done. I got up, got dressed, and wrenched open the bed chamber door, intent on finally finding my husband.

But I found someone else entirely.

Someone with eyes the exact same colour as mine and hair that was two shades lighter.

“Lyric?!”

My sister grinned broadly at me as I stared in amazement.

“In all my glory!” She said it teasingly, but I could see the tears gathering in her eyes.

“Oh my God. What are you doing here?” I choked out.

I tried to throw my arms around her, but she backed up and called out a loud warning. “Ah! Watch the dress!”

I’d been so distracted by her unexpected appearance that I hadn’t even noticed she was holding something. If it was a dress, it was impossible to tell. It was encased in a protective bag.

“Come in. I still can’t believe you’re here. What the hell is happening?” I asked in teary disbelief as I held the door open for her to enter.

“Nice digs!” she said, looking around and nodding in approval. “If I knew you’d end up in such a swanky castle, I never would have complained about you joining this program so much.”

“You just about talked my ear off about what a big mistake I was making!” I reminded her. “And now… Now you’re here? What are you doing here?”