The Stains of the Crown

Chapter Thirty Eight

Trigger warnings: nightmares, vague discussions of murder.

Three months go by before the nightmares come back. For a few weeks, each night is plagued with Mazus. Sometimes Damia appears, almost always Vix's victim. Each night, Finley takes Aiden to calm him down. Jovi works to calm me down. Eventually, they begin to come less frequently.

Four months after that, Dane and Hilo move into a cottage in the village. I'd managed to mend things with Hilo a little, though she still had plenty to say most of the time. But Dane was getting to be a mother, and I was figuring out how to do the same. Oddly, that was easier without them around all the time.

Vix continues to send Sybil letters. They're always the same, no details, a lot of apologies, and of little comfort to anyone. Eventually I ask Sybil to stop telling me, since it hurts more than it helps. But her and I begin to talk more, which makes Delilah happy. I eventually move past my anger at Vita and Sevas, which makes everyone happy.

It's a few days after Aiden's first birthday when a guard tells me that Vix is at the gate. Jovi and Finley share a look between themselves, silently deciding to watch from the front steps of the castle. I walk towards the gate alone. I tell one of the guards to let her in. Vix takes slow steps. She moves differently now. Slower, more thoughtful, like she's carrying some invisible weight.

"We should talk," she says, looking past me towards my other mates.

"We can talk just fine right here." It's quiet for a minute.

"I'm sorry," she says, meeting my eyes for only a second. I say nothing, watching her shift her weight from foot to foot. "I guess you'd like an explanation." I scoff.

"You killed someone and disappeared for over a year. I think the least you owe me is an explanation." She nods, taking a deep breath.

"Well, that night, Sevas asked me to question Damia. I'd been one of their guards before we met, so I'd gotten interrogation training. She said she wanted me to do it because I had a personal investment in everyone's wellbeing. So I was asking Damia why she came back, what her plan was, things like that. Then at some point in the conversation, she got this fucked up grin. She started talking about how the people she worked for were gonna take you. She started saying awful things about what she'd like to do to you, saying she hoped she killed the baby, but what sent me over the edge is that she was telling me that what Mazus had done was nothing compared to her boss's plan. I was trying to get her to tell me who she worked for, but she wouldn't give him up."

"So then why'd you leave?" I ask, trying to reign in my anger.

"At first, it was because I couldn't face what I did, or the way you'd looked at me when you saw. I know that's not fair. But my dad spoke to me a few weeks after. He told me that you're still my mate and that I still needed to protect you. So I told Sevas to tell Jovi to keep extra guards at the gate, and then I went to work trying to find the person Damia was working for. It wasn't until a week ago that I finally found him."

"What did you do?" She sighs, not able to raise her eyes past my feet.

"You know what I did, Echo. I wasn't going to give any of them a chance to hurt you the way Mazus did."

"Is that supposed to comfort me? Make me forgive you for leaving? You didn't even say goodbye! You missed the birth of my son! You just disappeared!" She sighs again.

"I know. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can say to make it right, but I'm not leaving again. I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

"Maybe you should," I say softly. She gives me a pained look.