Chapter 33
The welcoming party came back in record time with Lawrence leading the way. He saw me on the battlements as he approached but he didn't show any sign of noticing me. I couldn't blame him. The Argon king was one suspicious man that happened to like to have things a certain way, such as servants courting servants and not nobles. That was only one of the many issues he had with his nobility. Luckily, they were able to keep it under wraps because everyone knows to stay quiet. As for Lawrence's nobles, I didn't trust them with a stick but that could be the years of biased Argon talk.
Tynan walked up to me as he had done when they left and he tapped me on the shoulder.
"I know what Rayne is," he said leaning against the stone barrier and looked over at me. His hazel eyes drilled holes into my skull until I glanced over at him with a sense of dread.
"Do I want to know?" I asked turning back to the castle and he shrugged.
"Do you want to know that Rayne is a mixture of all four races? She's a Selenium, dragon, merperson, and human all in one. Linessa shouldn't have even lived through her pregnancy. Something was sustaining her," he informed me and I felt my mouth gap open at him.
"You're saying that she's a Quartet? Do you know how rare those are?" I shook my head refusing to believe what he was telling me.
"Do I know? Of course I do! I was trying to get a Quartet here for years but they only come by chance. Any woman that is able to have born one Quartet can borne five or six and then the bloodlines get muddled all over again. It's astonishing that Linessa was able to do that and then it's here in my grasp...I'm just stunned by it," he announced looking at the sky and sighed.
"A Quartet...damn. All these things are connected to you, you know. You're the only common link between all of this. You're probably more important than we'll ever know," he mused looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I ignored his last comment and made my way to the Great Hall. Inside the Argons were talking to the Arctics with a formality so cold that I could put water in the room and have ice in under a second. Not a good thing when you're trying to get a treaty signed.
Tynan trailed behind me at a safe distance until we reached the party. I immediately went into my old habits and bowed low to the nobility until King Kier waved me up.
"I was told by my son that you were freed Naomi," he addressed me losing some of the forced politeness in his voice and I bowed to Aiden.
"His highness deemed it appropriate and I am proud to say that I am indeed free," I answered calmly and he put his hand on my shoulder lightly. Almost immediately my warning bells went off and I stared at him full in the face. His eyes and face were the wrong color, not to mention his pallor was different. Why had Aiden even thought that he had been his father?
"If I may ask, just who are you?" I questioned and his eyes sharpened. He removed his hand sharply as if offended but didn't say anything. His silence was enough answer for me to put my hand on his forehead and bore my tattoos into his brain. I had never liked doing that and it had always bothered me to a horrible extent but it was necessary. King Kier was inside the body but he was pushed to the back. All I had to do was draw out whatever was keeping him inside himself. Wrapping my consciousness around the intruder's, I dragged it out and forced it into a physical form. The ghost of a man stood before me for the briefest moment before it disappeared. King Kier was blinking in his surroundings until he saw me and his son.
"I'm in Arctic aren't I?" he asked Aiden and the man took his father's arm carefully.
"Yes, your majesty. Let's get you some rest before anything bad happens alright?" he coaxed and practically dragged the older man after him as they went up the stairs.
"How did you know?" King Vaughn said curiously and I bowed to him easily.
"His color. His majesty had never looked like that at any point in time," I replied calmly straightening up and he nodded thoughtfully. Queen Kaylin was considering me with lowered lids and I stood still under their inspection.
"If you ever have need of a new employer, please don't hesitate to come to us," she purred and was whisked away by her husband.
Lawrence didn't appear to notice anything because the moment I stepped in the room his hands tightened into fists and he looked up at me with pleading in his eyes.
"This is hard," he breathed shallowly as if not wanting to take too much of me with him and I nodded.
"Why are you holding back?" I smiled walking over to him and touched his cheek. It wasn't the brightest idea of my life because the moment I touched him, he grabbed me and practically raped my lips. With a half sigh, half groan, he pulled himself away and leaned heavily against the wall behind him. A hand wiped his face and he looked over it at me. His blue eyes drank me in and I crossed my arms waiting for him to make his move.
"I can't get you pregnant. If I did, I'd have to abandon my nobility," he told me and I shrugged.
"Then don't get me with child. I know a couple of hedge witches," I replied and he laughed. His laughter was like a huge explosion that just burst out of him all at one moment and I saw him shake his head at my supposed joke.
"Witches huh? Next, you'll be telling me about how Tynan tried to seduce you," he whispered in my ear and I blew on his neck in our own little language.
"He has. He wanted me to be his queen so that we could rule the world together," I told him and he glared at me.
"Did it work?" he asked.
"Are you Tynan?" I retorted and a smile broke out on his face.
"No but I know I can do a couple of things better than that dragon king can," he murmured touching my mark through my clothes.
"Really, now?" I grinned and he grabbed my hand.
We ran up the stairs with all the haste of new lovers and he was about to push me into my room when we heard something that completely ruined the mood.
"What was that?" I pushed Law off me and got up to go to Linessa's room. I found quite a scene. King Kier was staring at the couple in bed with a shocked and completely uncomprehending expression.
"Aiden, what is that?" he asked quietly pointing to Rayne.
"It's my child," he replied stubbornly and the king shook his head. Rage filled his face as he glared at him and finally stubbornness appeared.
"Get rid of it. I don't care how but get rid of the damn thing or I will."
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