Mated To Rival Kings

CHAPTER THIRTY

Raven's POV

The shock was still rushing through my veins. One moment I was being lectured by an older woman about handling a household, and the next, Darian was almost poisoned. A man was even killed right in front of me. I had seen violence before but the speed of it, the absolute lack of hesitation in Maddox’s hands, left me feeling strange.

As much as my mind replayed the sound of that snap, my heart was focused on Valen.

He looked terrible. After forcing that confession out of the rogue, the color had drained from his face, leaving him looking pale and haunted. He had practically stumbled toward the balcony. I followed him, my heels clicking softly on the stone as I stepped into the cool night air.

The balcony was large, fitted with a padded bench meant for stargazing. Valen had dropped heavily into it, his head in his hands. I sat down beside him, the silence between us heavy with the distant sounds of voices in the far distance.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

He looked up, but his eyes didn't seem to see me. He gave an unconvincing nod, his jaw tight.

"What just happened back there?" I pressed. "You looked like you’d seen a ghost when he mentioned the Hollow Woods."

Valen let out a choppy breath. He looked bad, like terrible memories were playing on a loop behind his eyes. "I might know who sent the rogue," he muttered, his voice barely audible over the wind.

My breath hitched. "What? How? Who would do something like that?"

"My half-brother," he whispered. Then, as if talking to himself, he added, "But the bastard should only be about eighteen. What is he up to? Why now?"

I blinked, completely stunned. "Half-brother? I thought you were an only child, Valen. Everyone says the North King only had one heir."

"I am the only child of my parents," Valen said, a bitter edge creeping into his tone. "But I am not the only child of my father."

My eyes widened. The implications hit me immediately. "Your father... he cheated on his mate?"

Valen looked at me then, his expression dark. "He cheated on his chosen mate with his fated mate."

I felt a pang of realization. Valen’s mother must have been the late North King’s chosen mate—a political match, or perhaps a choice made before he found "the one."

"My father was forced to choose my mother because many years had passed and he hadn't found his fated mate," Valen explained, his voice flat. "The Kingdom needed an heir. They had a fairly cordial relationship that was quiet, respectful. Until one day, when I was thirteen, I heard them arguing. My father had finally found her. He’d found his fated mate."

I stayed silent, my heart aching for the boy he had been.

"I guess the bond with his fated mate was stronger than any duty he felt toward us," Valen continued. "He kept going to that other woman. He would leave the palace for days on end, leaving my mother to rule and me to wonder where the hell he was."

Just then, the glass doors creaked open. Darian walked onto the balcony, his expression uncharacteristically hesitant. He saw the tense mood and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Sorry to interrupt," Darian said, his voice unusually soft. "Should I go?"

I looked at Valen, wondering if he wanted privacy, but he just leaned his head back against the padding and sighed. "Stay. Whatever. I need some f*****g wine."

Darian produced a bottle from behind his back, the dark glass glinting in the moonlight. "I thought you might."

Valen continued without preamble, as if the words had been bottled up for too many years. He took a big swig of the wine Darian poured for him, the liquid staining his lips.

"It got worse when she got pregnant," Valen said, his eyes fixed on the distant tree line. "She gave birth to a boy. I was fourteen then. My mother... she cried almost every day." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "She loved him. She really loved that man."

I moved closer to him, my heart breaking for his mother.

"I remember my mum talking about how my father got a cottage for the other woman in the Hollow Woods," Valen said. "It continued that way for years. He kept it a secret because the Council couldn't know he’d broken his mating vows as a King. I thought I and my father were close, but over time, he spent more time with the other boy. I felt so f*****g jealous."

He gripped the wine bottle so hard I thought it might shatter.

"My father would have abandoned my mother if she wasn't the Queen. That title is irrevocable unless she commits some grievous offense. She didn't. She just suffered. Until one day, she fell ill. The doctors said it was a fever, but I knew. It was a broken heart. Her spirit was just... gone."

Valen’s jaw clenched, his eyes red-rimmed and fierce. "Her attendants sent messages to my father. They begged him to come back because she was fading. But he refused to return. He stayed in that cottage. Two days later..." His voice cracked, the sound heart-wrenching. "Her heart failed. She died alone while he was with them."

I reached out, wrapping my arm around his large, trembling frame. I just wanted to comfort him. Even Darian wasn't looking judgmental anymore. His amber eyes were filled with quiet sympathy.

"So what happened to your father?" I asked gently. "How did he die?"

Valen’s face shifted, the grief hardening into something cold and nonchalant. "I killed him."

I stiffened, my breath hitching in my throat. I had known Valen was violent, and I knew his rise to the throne had been bloody, but hearing it out loud was different. Yet, looking at him now, seeing the pain of the boy who had watched his mother die of a broken heart, I couldn't feel the horror I expected to feel. It was too late to be disappointed about something he did years ago. I decided not to press him on it.

Valen took another long swig of wine, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Now I don't know why the bastard is doing this, or if it's even him. But the Hollow Woods is where they lived. If someone is using that location as a meeting point, I will find out why."

I nodded, resting my head against his shoulder. "Let's return to our rooms. It’s been a long night."

Valen stood up, and it was like a mask slid back over his face. He regained that measure of arrogant, Kingly air in a matter of seconds, as if the vulnerability of the last ten minutes had never happened. He moved into Darian’s personal space, his eyes hard and challenging.

"I did not just give you a weapon to use against me, did I, Southern King?" Valen asked, his voice low and threatening.

Darian stood his ground, staring back unflinchingly. "No," Darian said firmly. "You did not."

Valen swept out of the balcony immediately, not waiting for either of us. I started to follow, but then he suddenly stormed back in, grabbed my hand, and pulled me along with him. Darian just rolled his eyes and followed behind as we made our way back up the grand staircase.

None of us mentioned food. I wasn't hungry anyway. When we reached the suite, I squeezed Valen’s hand one last time, offering him a small, comforting smile. He didn't smile back, but his grip tightened for a second before he let go.

I retreated to my room and waited for the sounds of the lounge to fade. Once I was sure they were in their own rooms, I went to the bathroom and took a long, steaming shower.

Afterwards, I dressed in a simple, soft cotton nightgown and climbed into bed, sighing as the plush mattress rose to meet me. Despite the chaos of the night, exhaustion pulled at my eyelids.

I dropped off into sleep almost instantly.

But I didn't find rest. Instead, I found myself standing in a forest. It was a place I’d never seen before. The trees were gnarled and leafless, their black branches reaching like skeletal fingers toward a sky that held no stars. It was so cold I could see my own breath.

I looked around, my heart beginning to race. I was dreaming right? This feels so real.

"Is anyone there?" I called out, my voice echoing through the silent, dark woods.