Rolled over? More like were threatened, hunted, and killed into submission. I bite down on my tongue.
“Etena,” Daegan coolly warns her.
She rolls her eyes towards me. “Entwined mates are two people who are linked together when they’re born, by the deities, and a mated pair is extremely powerful. You boost each other’s gifts. The deities choose the people, and they are linked for certain reasons known to the gods alone. It could be for true love, or it could be a deep friendship or to be enemies destined to end each other’s lives. Mates aren’t always good picks, but their magic will always complement each other’s. Most choose to be lovers, but not always. Males always know—they can sense their entwined, smell her scent. For us—there are no clues, nothing but pure instinct.”
I frown. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“Well, he’s mine. We are entwined, and we were in a romantic relationship. But when I went into the Decidere, I was badly injured, and I lost my memories. All my memories of him are gone,” she explains, and I feel like I’ve just stepped into a battlefield. “He’s one of Ziven’s people, his right-hand man. The deities picked wrong, and I don’t know why I ever would have gone with someone from the Moon Dynasty. I’m praying there is a second option out there for me like—”
Daegan sticks his fork into a tomato as he quickly interrupts her. “The deities have been wrong before, and they are now.”
It feels kind of wrong for Daegan to say that the deities were wrong. No one questions the deities—where I come from at least. But then I’ve never heard of entwined mates or dynasties at all. We are clueless of our history, and I can’t help but wonder what the fae outside would make of all this. Two people entwined together by deities, and together they are more powerful. I feel like that is important enough that people would care, would want to know more. The vampyres are more powerful than us, and if they regularly feed from a powerborn fae, they can use their powers, even against other fae. Maybe it’s best they don’t know we can become more powerful.
The rest of breakfast is filled with talking about the weather outside, how the goats have started breeding for the spring season, and other uninteresting chatter. I take it all in as I eat, enjoying the normalness. Daegan sits back as Etena takes his plate and walks off. “How about a tour before I take you to the library and lose you in the books?”
I can’t help the smile I give him when I think of spending the entire day surrounded by books. He offers me his hand after standing. “You’ve only seen a small part of the mansion, and I would love to be the one to show you more.”
I go to pick up my plate, but he stops me. “It’s okay, someone will—”
“I can clean my own plate. I’m thankful for the free food, but I don’t want anyone to have to clean up after me.” I pick up the plate and find Etena and other fae queuing to clean their plates in massive sinks at the back of the room. Etena looks at me in surprise as I stop a few people behind her and wait. It only takes a few minutes before I get to the sink, clean my plate, knife, and fork, and leave it to dry on the racks.
Daegan is speaking to someone when I walk back to him, and the man walks away when I’m close. He doesn’t say anything, but I swear he is disappointed for a second before he takes my hand and links our fingers. He takes me down the familiar entrance to his apartments and out into the middle of the mansion, in front of the dragon statue. “I won’t bother taking you around all the living quarters. They’re basically running up and around the library on this side. Ziven’s apartments are the level below here, before the Decidere entrance on the ground floor.” We walk up the dragon stairs, past people who are talking in groups, and several of their heads turn our way. Many just simply bow to Daegan, but most stare openly at me.
“How long before they all stop staring?” I whisper when we’re more alone on the staircase, past the floor with the library, and I can’t help but to look over at it.
“Unless someone else comes in here after you, I think it might be a while.” He playfully squeezes my hand. “And spending time with me will just make them stare more.”
I sigh. “Well, in that case, we can’t be friends.”
He laughs with me, and it takes me by surprise how comfortable it is to be his friend. I’ve known him all of a few days, and he makes me feel safe, which isn’t something I’ve felt since I became friends with Kyrell. I blink back tears at the thought of Kyrell, wondering what he would think of Daegan, and we stop in front of massive black metal gates. He opens a gate for me, leading me inside. “This is where we keep the animals we nurture for food.” I don’t need him to tell me this place is full of livestock, because I can smell them. There are pens of them that stretch on and on, and there are thousands, if not more, of different animals kept in here. Chickens, goats, cows, sheep, and horses in paddocks that lie all the way back for what seems like miles. Beams of sun come in from a strange light system of mirrors so it shines sunlight directly onto the fields of grass that line the sides of the pathway. “We use our magic to grow the grass meadows for the animals.”
“What are your powers, exactly?” I question.
“Sunlight fuels our natural abilities when aligned to my dynasty. My power is pure light. I can control it and use it however I wish. Others have strength, speed, healing, telepathy, and I could go on and on,” he explains. “We need sunlight from outside to power us.”
Ziven must need moonlight then. Daegan shows me around, introducing me to countless people who are here working, caring for and looking after the animals. He stops and takes me back after a while, explaining that at the back are built-up areas where food is stored, and basically that’s it for this floor. “This way. I think you’ll enjoy this more.”
We go up the dragon to the next floor, which has dozens of stained red glass doors. Daegan holds a door open for me, and I step into an extremely humid room. A huge greenhouse, but like none I’ve ever seen before. The entire room is glass, spread all the way across, looking over the forest. It’s filled with plants, vegetables, fruit trees and so many fields with wheat growing at the back. Sunlight shines down on us, bright and stunning, making Daegan’s hair look like it’s glowing. “It’s beautiful in here.”
“Many of us come in here just to feel what it’s like to be outside. It’s the closest we get. Yes, we’re surrounded by glass, but you can feel the sunlight. You can watch the birds fly across the forest.” He looks out at that forest and at the open sky. “I know you haven’t been trapped in here long, but come here if you feel it weighing down on you. It’s one of the highest paid jobs if you wanted to do something else other than the library.”
“I could try to do both to get some money to pay you back—”
He stops me. “Don’t worry about that. You’re a special case and quite traumatised from what I can tell from your past. It is an honour to care for you, and you owe me nothing. I will look after you.”
I smile once at him, but something lurks in my chest that I’d like to be able to pay my own way. He is looking after me. That’s not a bad thing.
A woman with long blonde hair comes rushing over, stopping and bowing her head low. She’s wearing a long yellow cloak and a matching dress underneath that are a contrast to the white of her hair. “My king, may I speak freely about a very important matter?”
“Healer Sunny, speak,” Daegan answers, and she lifts her head.
“This morning, three fae were found sick. There were clear signs of the Chilgrave sickness. It seems to be spreading again,” she softly begins, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “They’ve been isolated, along with their families, in their rooms with immune healers. I’m sorry, but one has passed.”
Daegan tightens his hand in mine. “Thank you for reporting this quickly, and make sure the news is kept quiet. Find Etena. I will walk my friend to her job, and then I will come straight to the healing quarters. I can pray with you.”
“Thank you, your majesty.” Healer Sunny bows her head and then nods her head to me before running away.
I don’t say anything until we are outside the greenhouse. “I’m sorry your people are sick. Will they be alright?”
He leans into me by the staircase while we wait for a group to pass. “The Chilgrave sickness does not have a good survival rate. It’s dangerous and my cousin died from it not long ago. Many of us have died from it. It’s highly contagious, so we’ll have to watch their families and pray that they survive or that they’re naturally immune. Some people are. Some people have had it once, and they’ve become immune to it, while others just don’t. Was it outside in your world? A rash that spreads across the body, a fever then comes, and then death?”
I shake my head. “No, I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
There’s still a big group on the stairs going down, and Daegan leads me the other way, up to the next floor. I hear grunts first, then the clash of metal right before we come up to the next floor. This floor has the tops of the dragon’s wings on it, a pathway to the other side, and on the other is a training room of sorts with mats, walls of weapons, and sections where some are running, others are in combat, and mostly everyone looks muscular and fit. Hundreds of people are fighting, practicing, or training, and I recognise a lot of them from the Decidere. “Can I train in there? I might need to be stronger—”
“No, no, no,” Daegan answers with a small laugh, leading me across the bridge. “It wouldn’t be safe or fair to you. They have all trained since childhood, and you’d just get hurt. You’re small and don’t seem like a fighter. You won’t need to learn any of that. I’ll be at your side for any fighting.”
I frown, but I don’t say anything when he might be right. I don’t know how to fight, and I’m clumsy. Daegan must be right. We walk in complete silence down steps on the other side that lead to a side door to the library entrance. I spot Catherine in the middle of the room, and she grins brightly when she sees me wave at her, putting down the books in her hands. “Thank you for the tour.”
He lifts our joint hands and kisses my knuckles softly. “It was my pleasure, Story. You can ask me for anything, anytime.” He looks over my shoulder. “I think you made a fast friend there.”
“I think so too,” I answer, unlinking our hands.
He glances at a table full of books to my right. “Have you read any more of that book I gave you?”
I think of the book. “It’s less of a book and more of a diary, but yes. It doesn’t even have a title, and it’s really cryptic.”
“Keep reading,” he suggests, looking into my eyes. “It’s a romance at its heart but a story worth reading even for the unromantic. I never got to the end.”
