Fated

Chapter 9

“You look very unhappy, Asher, let’s go to my room to conduct business, hmm?” Minerva turned on her heel expecting him to follow her, and if he hadn’t met Alashia, he would have. However, now that he found his beloved, he would not be tainting that relationship.

“I don’t think so, darling. I think our business from here on out will be conducted in offices, not bedrooms.” The satisfaction of seeing her steps falter was so immense, that he felt himself smile.

“You found her then?” Her whispered words sounded so defeated.

“You lied to me.”

“Yes, I did.” She nodded towards her office and he followed.

“Why?”

When he entered her office, all the sounds from the den disappeared. The room was opulent, decorated in a light shade of blue with rich golden woodwork frames hand etched by witches long before his human birth. The carpet was a full thick white, so clean that you wouldn’t know it had been installed when he first started seeing her in the 1800s. The large desk was neat, with a simple laptop on it and a stained glass light with figures floating around in it. The souls Minerva had trapped, waiting to be used to keep her young.

He took a moment to see the bookshelves again, a gift he had made for her as a part of their longstanding history. The books he had acquired for her, magical texts that helped her gain even more power while he was alive, securing her position as the Queen of the Witches in his youthful vampiric days, and thus gaining him the title of Queen Seeker.

Asher had found Minerva in hiding, avoiding the duties she owed to her people. They were running out of allies when they had begged the vampires for help. The king had assigned him the task, knowing he had a penchant for finding things others could not, and also believing he would get himself killed. Instead, he had successfully found her and placed her in her rightful position. Now the witches prospered under her rule.

“Well, Minerva?” Asher looked at her again, seeing her eyes filled with tears she would never shed.

“To protect you from the king.” taking a deep breath, Minerva looked at her former lover. “The King of the Vampires has been finding and murdering the Queen to remove her soul from the reincarnation pool. She only has a few more lives left before she cannot be reborn. Her true Beloved has always been you. That is why the king sends you on these missions. To kill the true King and Queen.”

Asher sat down in one of the soft chairs across from Minerva. She watched his eyes constantly flashing from blue to red, the only sign he showed from all of his inner turmoil.

“So my Beloved is truly the Queen? That is why she is soul-bonded to her human husband?” the questions left his lips, but Minerva knew not to answer them. His eyes were still flashing and she knew better than to interrupt his inner musings.

After almost fifteen minutes had passed, he looked up at her. “Have you been protecting her all these years?”

Minerva’s eyes softened, and her hand brushed his cheek. “Of course, Asher. I’ve loved you enough to protect her. That’s why the king hasn’t found her. I couldn’t protect her and let her close to you, however. Being close to you will lift the protection I’ve placed on her.”

Asher closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He walked to the window and saw Alashia looking up towards him. His heart stopped for a moment until he realized he was in a part of the building decorated with art to her eyes. He saw her and her family laughing and taking pictures. Ricky saw a cat with fighting gloves and was mimicking it for everyone’s enjoyment.

Seeing him staring, Minerva walked over to him and looked at Alashia as well. “That’s her current form?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t be able to stay away from her, will you?” Minerva knew in her heart that Asher had to save his people, and he couldn’t do that without his Queen. But still, she hoped he would stay away.

“Our people need her... I need her, Minerva.” Asher looked at Minerva hoping she understood.

“I know, Asher. Let’s go give what little protection we can.” Minerva took Asher’s hands in hers and they displaced to the corner just out of sight of Alashia and her family.