“Look at our little owl.”
I jumped when I heard Daath’s deep bass ring through my ears and sat up, realizing I’d drifted off to sleep.
“Hello.” I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
“Don’t worry, dear one.” Syrion sat next to me, moving my hair behind my ear and kissing the side of my head. He took a deep breath, and I felt him pause. I bit the inside of my lip.
“Listen, I need to tell you both-”
“You fucked Kalian,” Daath said coolly. I felt my stomach drop and looked up at him, prepared to see him sad or angry, as he’d been when they confronted me about Kalian the first time. Instead, he looked… fine? As a matter of fact, he began laughing.
“I don’t understand,” I frowned.
The man pushed his jet black hair back and shook his head. “What? It’s obvious.”
“I just didn’t expect you to laugh…”
“Oh, come now,” he said with a smirk, lifting my chin with his finger. “It’s only funny because you look so serious.”
“So you’re not upset?” I cocked my head.
“You already explained this to us,” Syrion shrugged, “and you were right.” He kissed my head again. “Your bond with us is what matters.”
Daath sat on my other side and leaned against the bedpost. “We figured this would happen eventually, anyway. We haven’t been together in a while. You’ve been getting stronger, more powerful, and with that comes the hunger and the need to release pent up energy. And if we aren’t there to do that for you, it’s best that you get that out however you need.”
I visibly relaxed as they spoke. I knew they were right, just as I knew I had been right before. This was still an unfamiliar situation for me that I just wasn’t comfortable with yet.
“Were you worried, little owl?” Daath asked, rubbing my arm.
I sighed and nodded. “I was.”
“But you made quite a good point last we spoke about this,” Syrion tilted his head. “You were right.”
“I know,” I laughed. “But it’s just unfamiliar territory to me. I never want to do anything to jeopardize my relationship with you two.”
“We trust that you won’t.” The white-haired angelic looking man smiled at me. I couldn’t help but blush a bit just from his smile.
“How do you feel about him?” Daath asked. “Honestly.”
I looked down and pondered this for a moment. I wasn’t quite sure. I’d found myself physically attracted to him for a while, but being with him… it felt deeper than mere sexual fulfillment. It was nowhere close to rivaling what I had with Daath and Syrion, but it didn’t seem meaningless…
“Honestly,” Syrion echoed the word, “it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that our relationship is as strong to you as it is to us.”
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “You both mean the world to me. Nothing will change that.”
Daath took my other hand, and I looked at him. “Then, nothing else really matters.”
I smiled, feeling both relief and just plain adoration for the two men on either side of me. “I love you.” I turned to repeat the phrase to Syrion. “I love you both so much.”
“We love you,” Syrion leaned his head against my forehead.
Daath kissed my shoulder. “We love you too.”
18
Kalian
I ascended the steps to the Moonstone Castle with a strange shift in my mood. This place had felt aggressive to me since I moved in, and I felt angry for it, but that aggression seemed almost completely gone now. I considered that there was a chance I had imagined it all because of my own frustration with Myrcedes, as well as the possibility that I had been a dick to her just because I found her attractive. I’d like to think that was all that it was, though to be honest, I suppose I never really trusted her.
When we’d first met, I’d brushed her off as some whore for the Kings. She quickly made it obvious that she was far too intelligent and powerful for that as she insisted on braving the Jewel Palace, a place where she was top of Minerva’s hit list, just to save them. I had respect for that. I had spent thousands of years serving Minerva, however. As drastic and wrong as I knew she was, I never wanted to see her hurt. I made sure when we devised the plan that she would come out safely. She was maniacal, but she was my Queen. I couldn’t deny that I had affection for her, a desire to protect her, and I felt guilty breaking that in the first place.
Then Myrcedes killed her. I’d gone to so much trouble to make sure my own crime was as harmless as possible, that Minerva would come out completely unscathed, but upon hearing how Minerva had killed Myrcedes’ family and hidden her true destiny from her, the purple-haired woman reduced my Queen to ash like she was nothing more than a scrap of paper. I didn’t necessarily think Myrcedes’ actions were unwarranted, but still. It had been difficult for me to trust her, especially as I tried to rationalize the fact that I found her so compelling.
I didn’t want to say that everything felt different now because I got to sleep with her, but rather the change came from letting down the wall I’d been careful to keep up for the past month or so.
“Well, someone looks like they just got laid.”
I stopped dead
