Of Fangs And Fury

Chapter Ten

Delara

Falling open-armed across my bed, I let out a moan. “It’s so good to be home.”

Catarina hasn’t stopped mewing since I opened the bedroom door and is now rubbing up against my face. I reach to pet her, “Hello to you too, kitty cat.”

I hear Cade chuckling then I see his hand reach for her fur, “You think she’s going to be okay moving rooms?”

“Her purrs seem to suggest so.”

“And you really want to do all that now? Why not wait a day?”

I flip over and look at him, “If I push it off till tomorrow, I’ll push it off even further. Just like with unpacking.”

He smirks, “Just that eager to share a room with me huh?”

Thinking about the last few nights, I nod quickly. “Yes.”

He lowers himself and kisses me. “Let’s make it happen then, bellissima.”

As he heads to the door, I quickly get on my knees, “Wait!” He turns around and I hold my hands out, “Come ‘ere.”

Maybe if I start suggesting romantic things, he’ll become more comfortable and do it too. On the edge of the bed, I lean my body into his, draping my arms around his neck. “How about after we’re all done moving, we have a romantic cena and a nice, long soak in the tub.”

His hands move up and down my torso, his brow c*****g, “Oh yeah?”

I nod slowly, keeping eye contact. “We can light some of my lavender candles, maybe grab that enchanted music box from the library….?”

“I can request Linus make your favorite and then some chocolate-covered strawberries.”

There he is. I kiss him. “Sounds perfect.”

Several long and complicated hours later, I’m finally putting the last of my clothes in my new wardrobe. Cade’s room is in the East wing and even with help from most of the servitores, it took more trips than I anticipated. Then, once everything was in the room, it became a puzzle of where to put what. I have to say though, our new suite is gorgeous.

An enormous, magnificently carved four-poster bed sits center against the far wall. The headboard with beautifully complicated designs fit for a King. When I’d been replacing my pillows with softer ones and admiring the craftsmanship, Cade informed me the bed had been his parents. “But after my father passed away, my mother redecorated her room.”

I was extremely pleased to see that Cade already had light bedding, in a beautiful shade of pastel blue. White furs cover the foot of the bed, and when I add my vase of lavender to the side table it compliments it well. There isn’t any sort of struggle of his and hers, everything simply melding together as one.

Along the outside wall is three tall and wide windows, with soft grey curtains and bookcases in between. We pulled one of the bookcases to the opposite wall and brought in a second armchair. That way, we can both read by the window or talk or whatever. Wrapping his arms across my stomach, he kisses my neck. “It’s starting to feel like our place in the wood, isn’t it? Something that’s just ours.”

I twist the reach to guide his bangs aside. “A safe haven,” I agree, “a place I’ll want to spend all my time.”

His palm is wide against my lower back, his eyes become hooded. “Why don’t we spend some time on the bed?” he asks in a low, gravelly tone.

My cheeks flush and I start to giggle, “I think that’s a splendid idea.”

After a long kiss, he picks me up and walks us over. But just as he lays me down, there’s a hard knock on the bedroom door. “Mm. It might be about cena, I’ll tell them we’re busy.”

Looking upside down, I watch him open the door. As soon as my brain recognizes it’s not a servitore and in fact Her Majesty, I scamper to sit up, tugging my skirt down across my legs.

“Caderyn, dear, do you have a moment? There’s something rather… delicate I must speak with you about.”

I pray she doesn’t notice him having to adjust his stance. “We’re a bit busy at the moment, moving her in… can we talk later?” But there’s something in her expression that a son recognizes of his mother, and he motions her in. “What’s going on?”

She looks at me and carefully adjusts the thin silver bracelet on her wrist. “May we speak in private, Caderyn?”

He crosses his arms across his chest, “Whatever you need to say to me, you can say in front of Lara.”

She sighs, “All right, if you insist…. While you two were celebrating Midsommar, your brother left. In the position of Sovereign’s Minister, Tahir left to Viaggio around our territories, then to continue on to each of The Seven Pure Families.”

There’s a long silence and Cade looks as confused as I feel. He then turns to me, expressionless, “Delara, will you please excuse us?”

Caderyn

I suppose parts of my upbringing were the same as any other first heir. The best of Scholars came to tutor me. I was slowly taught politics from my father’s Adviser and etiquette from my mother’s Signora. When faced with theoretical adversity, I passed every situation with a brave heart, quiet mind, and cool temper.

One late evening, I’d fallen asleep while studying. Father came into the library and woke me up gently. When I thought he might get mad, like Mother tended to do (thinking I was slacking off), I shouldn’t have been surprised when he was kind instead.

He’d picked up the book off my lap, closed it, and slid it on the side table. He then brushed my unruly hair off my face and said, “It’s time for bed, my figlio.”

On our way to my room, a conversation was held that I don’t quite remember. I was fourteen, maybe fifteen, and becoming increasingly worried about what it would mean for me to be King. I’d looked to him for advice, I know that much. And in the middle of the hall, he stopped and dropped his hands to my shoulders.

“My figlio, I am so proud of you. You have been working so hard to be the best male you can be. But you want to know the secret?”

“What is it?”

“No matter how impossible things may seem, you take a deep breath and try. As long as you stay calm and try your best, everything else will follow suit.”

When Mother came into my room some dozen years later, expressionless with empty eyes, and told me my father had died, I understood what he meant. When faced with an action that is irreversible, when faced with the impossible task of moving forward, I was level. My hands did not tremble, my voice did not shake, my eyes did not tear, my heart did not break. I was now the male of the household, regardless of readiness, regardless of wanting, and all I could possibly do was try my best.

Sitting in my personal library, listening to Mother explain what exactly happened with Tahir, I’ve found I’m void yet again. He has gone back on his word; he refuses to be King. It’s that simple, it’s irremediable.

Because…, “He said that if you marry Delara, he won’t do it. It took me hours for him to even agree to be the Minister!”

“There’s no other option,” I say more as a statement than a question.

Mother rubs her temple. “There’s not. I know this is not what any of us had been planning for the last thirty-eight years, but there’s nothing else we can do. I cannot stay Queen forever.”

I reach over and touch her knee, “Madre, it’s going to be okay.” Then, all of a sudden, she starts crying. Something I haven’t seen of her in many years, I become instantly concerned. “Madre, shh… it’s okay, it’s going to be okay.”

Her glassy eyes have welds above her lid, and fat tears roll down her cheeks. I wish, for once, she wouldn’t try to keep being so strong. “To be candid, Caderyn, I did not expect you to react this way. I was fully prepared for a fight. I am… extremely relieved that you will do what is right.”

“Father wanted this. Il suo giudizio mi fido.”

Her breath catches and she becomes fixated with smoothing out her dress. “He was a brilliant male,” she whispers. “He never steered us wrong.”

“All we can do is try our best -”

She puts her hand over mine on her knee, looking up into my face, “- and everything else will follow suit.”

Delara

Sitting with Melaena in the kitchen, I slowly pick at cena. It seemed a shame to waste it, especially with how hungry I am. It’s been well over two hours since Her Majesty had arrived at the bedroom door, and I honestly am unsure how much longer they may be.

Between Melaena and Jasper, though, I seem to understand what’s so dire. If Tahir left as Sovereign’s Minister to do this tour (that they do every five years), then that means - by default - Cade must move forward to become King.

“Unless Her Highness gets remarried and has another child,” Melaena shakes her head while breaking bread, “then Prince Caderyn will have to succeed her.”

There’s no other way.

A headache starts spreading behind my eye as my thoughts cease to function. If one singular fact about a royal bloodline is to be true, it’s that they will never turn their back on their duty. If one singular fact about Cade is to be true is that he would never abandon his famiglia or the people of Onyx. And if one singular fact about Cade’s and my relationship is to be true, is that I won’t leave him no matter the circumstance.

I’m a Scholarra. I solve problems for a living. This will just be a new set of problems to solve. As long as my nightmares aren’t forced upon me, there shouldn’t be a problem.

When I see Cade walk into the kitchen, I know this is going to be a one step at a time situation. His stoic face finally breaks when he spots me, “Lara….”

I rush over to him, accidentally slamming myself against his chest to give him a hug. “Cade!”

His fingers run down the length of my hair. His chest lifts against me, “Let’s go talk.”

Maybe because it’s close, maybe because of all the time we’ve spent there before, he leads me down the servitore hall to the greenhouse. I follow him quietly as he takes us up the steps. Our cushions are still in our spot, and I squish a pillow to my stomach.

He is careful as he lowers himself down and he seems utterly exhausted. All the questions I’d been filing away in my mind the last few hours almost burst from my lips. Instead, I place a hand on his knee and force myself to say, “So…” slowly.

The more he looks into my face, the softer his expression becomes. Like a stone statue waking up, I hope I’m helping him feel in a good way. He leans forward and kisses me, then softly runs his fingertips from my temple into my hair, curving behind my ear. “So…” he repeats quietly.

“King… huh?”

His brow furrows, his lips thin, then he gives me a single nod. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s no other choice.”

I frown and reach up to his face. “But are you sure?”

He nuzzles his cheek against my palm. “Yes.”

This brings me a minor amount of relief. At least he isn’t feeling forced. Sitting back, I ask, “Did Tahir explain why?”

His eyes squint with hesitance. “Well… apparently, he said that if I am to marry you, he refused to be King.”

Retracting, I squish the pillow against my torso. “Oh.”

“Which, as of right now, that is my intent.”

“My intent too,” to be honest.

He smiles and his tense shoulders lowering. “I love you, Lara.”

I bite my bottom lip, but then I can’t help but beam. A breathy giggle escapes my lips then I reach over to kiss him. Awkwardly on top of him, I murmur, “I love you, too.”

After a long, well-deserved kiss, he pulls back and suggests, “Why don’t we put a pin in all this for tomorrow. We can go back to our room and start-up where we left off.”

I nod eagerly, “Sounds perfect.”

The pin we’d so carefully put in the events of last night finally popped out of place after luncheon with Her Majesty. As Cade was changing into his exercise pants, I started twisting my hair into a bun. “I’m sorry, but Calhoun was right, your brother is the biggest arsehole. I cannot f*****g believe him!”

“Mhmm.”

My hair ribbon was on the wrong wrist, so now I have to start over. “I cannot believe he would be so immature about this.”

Cade rolls his eyes. “Well, with Mother doting on him all the time, he believes he can have whatever he wants.”

“This isn’t like getting new clothes or books or certain meals for cena – I’m a f*****g person.”

“And that’s what I told him.”

With a huff, I sit down next to him on the edge of the bed. “I just can’t believe that he would do this. We spent hours talking about how much he wanted to be King and how ready for it he was. He’s been feeling that way for years!

“I only arrived a few months ago… I just don’t understand….”

His palm comes to my lower back then he kisses my temple. “He’s petty… what can I say? It’s done now. There’s no use holding on to this kind of anger, it’ll one end up hurting you.”

He’s right… I know he’s right. But, “I just feel responsible. I feel like it’s my fault.”

“Oh, Lara,” he wraps his arms around me, and I lean against his chest. “This is all on Tahir, not you. Apparently, he told mother ‘if he gets her, why not have it all’. It’s not about you, not really. It’s just an over-dramatic, irrational, childish response.

“He’s upset and wants to hurt us.”

I bring my hand up to his arm, rubbing it softly. “Well… then he failed.” I pull back and look into Cade’s eyes. “We’ll figure this out. I’m not going anywhere.”

There’s a special look in Cade’s eye that makes me ask, “What?”

There’s a twitch of his face, his brows coming together slightly. “I know I don’t talk about my father much, but…. Well, he used to always say he couldn’t wait for me to find a mate because he always wanted a figlia.” He slides a hand to my knee and squeezes, I can see his eyes get ever so glassy as he blinks rapidly, “I just think he would have loved you.”

I bring a hand to his cheek, feeling choked up myself. Now knowing how close they were, I cannot imagine how much he misses him. “I’m sure I would have loved him too.”

After a long, delicate kiss and another hug, Cade goes back to pulling on his socks. Habitually, I start rubbing his back. When my fingertips meet scale, I suddenly ask, “Should we be worried?”

“About?”

I slide my hand over his shoulder, “About how everyone’s going to react.”

“It’s something Mother and I discussed… there’s not much we can do right now. Mother hopes you’ll keep progressing as you have been, but outside of that…. Well, she’s talking to the Advisor about possible ways to spin it.”

There’s a shift in his voice that reminds me of the Tahir, thoughtful and structured. “A lot of our people have faith in and trust Tahir, so if we press that that’s why it would be smarter for him to work at Minister then we might be okay. If we appear to give him more power and stress the connection he already has with the public, it might not be so bad.

“If we paint me in the light of a figurehead that is following tradition for tradition's sake, they might just let it go. Plus, with our eventual marriage, there’s a hope that introducing a Scholar to the royal famiglia will pique interest and show that things are changing for the better.”

Thinking about the last political refresher course I’d taken, I ask, “Is that something your Family wants to actually do? Where the Minister and their Council have more say over the inner workings of the kingdom and the Queen or King is more of a figurehead? Like with Esme and Relda from Spinel. Or is that just what you’d like the public to think?”

He shrugs, “When my father was alive, it was fifty-fifty. Since then, my mother has had more say. She and I both hope we can go back to it being fifty-fifty, but only time will tell.” He then lifts from the bed and offers a hand.

I take it and stand. “Pop your head in when you’re done, okay?”

He nods, “And then cena will be at six.”