The Lark Taps Twice

Chapter 29: Revelations

Reluctantly, Miriam assisted Jonatham in removing the iron bar from its brackets on either side of the bedroom door. The solemn tone of the king's voice when he mentioned a discussion still sat poorly in her gut, but she knew whatever dulled his good humor wouldn't go away in the next several hours. With the soulmate frenzy satisfied, there was no point in waiting any longer; she would never be more fortified to withstand the hurricane of negative energy she sensed awaited them.

As the door swung inward, Jonatham pulled her snug against his side before stepping forward, his momentum becoming her own. She relaxed into the sensation of surrendering to his guidance, sinking her anxiety into the security of her deep trust in his intentions. As they exited the room, the karlet fluttered to her shoulder from the lintel overhead. Its slight weight further settled her nerves, and by the time they'd traversed the length of the hallway, she found a ghost of a smile haunting her lips.

She clung to that feeling as they entered the common room and faced Jim and the king, both wearing unreadable expressions as they rose from their seats. They'd created an intimate arrangement with two overstuffed armchairs facing a leather loveseat, all grouped so closely together that when occupied, the collective knees of the seated would be closer together than the covers of a Robert Jordan novel. The waiting men rested in the armchairs, so Jonatham drew her down to sit in the loveseat, keeping his arm wrapped lightly around her waist.

"Before we get to the heavy topics, I must first congratulate you, son," the elder royal said, shattering the uneasy tension with his forced joviality. "A successful mating is an occasion for celebration at any time, and under current circumstances, it is particularly joyous. I wish you both a long and prolific bond from this day forth. In fact, it will be my great honor to declare this an annual feast day to be observed by the entire kingdom for generations to come!"

Miriam blushed and ducked her head before responding, "Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty, but –"

Her words were muffled into incomprehensible mumbling by the king's sudden hearty embrace. So tightly did the man squeeze her, it was momentarily impossible to inhale. Jonatham's grunt into her hair told her he struggled in the same way, despite his greater size and strength. She panted a few times when the king released them. Jonatham's heaving breaths sent her flyaway hairs dancing.

He recovered his voice first. "Father, you honor us deeply with your proclamation. However, I recommend we table any discussion of a kingdom-wide festival for when the state of the land is more settled. Jim mentioned you have news?"

Without hesitation, King Requiro dropped the subject of making their mating day a mandatory party, and Miriam sighed with relief and relaxed into Jonatham's shoulder. Surely that was the worst possible news.

It wasn't.

After a brief summary of what happened while they were in the grip of the mating frenzy — nothing — and Jim's assessment of the damage to the fortress — significant, but not unrepairable — the king arrived at his next piece of bad news.

"I sent out messengers to track down those behind the spell that got us all in this mess, once their guilt was confirmed by a palace spell reader. They are the same individuals who hired the dragon assassins, according to the creatures' sworn confession. They all have fled via other portals like the one we used to travel between this place and Earth, leaving empty closets and confused family members in their wake. They left few personal items behind, save what was too bulky to carry in arms. All hid identical scrolls in their abandoned living quarters that revealed their hiding places to the messengers when they entered."

Jonatham's father reached into the breast of his waistcoat and withdrew a coil of thick paper about four inches in width. Jonatham took the scroll by one edge, and Miriam skimmed her fingers over its several inches of length, grasping the end to keep the parchment unfurled horizontally. The symbols looked like a child's first attempt at copying sentences, but from her mate's intense study of the scrawl, he understood the language fluently.