“I would not change my life for anything. I had amazing friends, and while my life has been anything but simple, it has shaped me in to what I am today.”
“You’re not mad at us, then?” Lasair asked cautiously with a guarded look on his ageless face.
“I’m not mad at you. I understand now why you did it. At the same time, I’m not the only one who you should apologize to. Your actions didn’t only hurt me. I had previously claimed a familiar in the Dark Prince, and when Faolán killed my parents, I stole him from this world with my pain. It was unfair to him and his family as well,” I said before taking a breath.
“You are your mother’s daughter. This entire time you have been talking, you have been more worried of what happened to those around you,” he said, meeting and holding his wife’s eyes.
We talked into the night, and, while it felt good to have closure, I missed Ryder and Adam. When I started fighting sleep, my mother smiled. “Come, child, tomorrow is a big event for the entire kingdom, and I’m sure you could use some sleep.”
“If you’re planning on putting me in the nursery, I think you’re going to need a bigger crib,” I replied.
“Of course not. I gave away a beautiful baby over twenty years ago. The beautiful woman that has returned now is much too big to fit inside the tiny crib that your father made just for you.”
My mother didn’t have fangs, but I’d noticed that all of her children, along with my father, did. So much for hoping they went away. I was shown to a room that was beautiful, even though it was done in white. White silk covered the bed, and windows. I looked out the window, and smiled at the sheer cliff side that was the view from below the window. They didn’t plan on letting me go until I was presented to the Horde King.
“You need some sleep, daughter. Tomorrow, we will talk more of our plans,” she said and stood there hesitantly.
I smiled at her. This woman had been through hell, and, even though it had been a choice, I couldn’t blame her for it. I probably would have made the same stupid choices if I thought it helped those I’d loved. I stepped closer, not sure of what I had intended to do, but, in the end, I wrapped my arms around her and listened as she started to cry against my shoulder. Her arms tightened around me as she buried her face in my neck and cried. It was awkward for me, but I knew she needed this; I’d seen it in her eyes.
We were still standing like that when my father came around the door and stopped dead in his tracks. He swallowed and smiled sadly. “Madisyn,” he whispered, but I shook my head.
“She’s fine,” I replied, tightening my own arms around her. For some reason, I didn’t want her to stop hugging me. I swallowed back my own tears as my siblings sifted into the room, as if brought by their mother’s tears. I wondered what it would be like to have this many people who cared about me in my life.
My sister watched with her own tears streaking down her face while my brothers looked on uncomfortably as any male would with a crying female on hand. When Madisyn pulled away, she smiled. “Thank you. I’d thought to never hold you against me again.”
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Tears were choking down any words that tried to come up as my throat grew tight with emotion. She smiled and brought her hand up to touch my cheek. “If you need to cry, daughter, I will hold you.”
“Crying will change nothing. In the end, they can only be used against you. You’d do well to remember it tomorrow, for if he sees a kink in our armor, he will use it.”
“You sure she doesn’t have balls?” Liam said, stepping closer to me.
“Liam!” My mother cried.
“Oh, I got big balls. I beat every male in my class just to prove how big they were,” I said, smirking at him.
“We need sleep, and to prepare our defenses for when the Horde King comes tomorrow,” my father said with pride shining in his eyes.
Chapter Forty Two
I was dreaming. I knew it, because I felt weightless and the day’s events no longer seemed as overwhelming as they really were. I was dressed in a soft, pastel-pink baby doll nightgown that showed way too much to be considered appropriate. I closed my eyes and inhaled the intoxicating scent of Ryder. I made a sound that was half need, half hunger deep in my throat, before I turned from the bed to look at the door.
He stood there in a midnight colored cloak. His face was hidden by the shadows, until he pushed the hood off, and revealed his face. “It’s about time, Pet. I was beginning to think you’d never sleep.”
“I knew you would come for me,” I said, slipping off of the bed and standing up. I was ready to go, but then the weightless feeling came back. “You’re not here; this is a dream,” I whispered and lifted my eyes to his as my smile fell.
“I need to know where you are and how badly you are hurt,” he said, stepping closer to me.
“I’m with my parents, and I wasn’t hurt too bad. It was easily healed.”