Spurned Queen

Chapter 57: Parents

Lexi

I woke up to my mate carefully extracting himself from me. I frowned. Ugh. It couldn't have been more than an hour since we had fallen asleep.

"Thanks," I heard him mutter.

I peeked open one eye and spotted him facing out the window with what must have been a phone in his hand.

"Well hello to you too," he said sarcastically. "No, it's about an hour before dawn here. I was just asleep a minute ago." He nodded dismissively even though the gesture couldn't pass though the phone. "Uh-huh. Is everything okay? Did something happen?" His jaw ticked as he listened. "Mother, you just roused me from some delightful sleep and that is the first thing you could think of to ask?" he whispered angrily. My one open eye grew round; he was speaking to the queen. I calmed my heartbeat so he wouldn't notice.

"Look, Mother, with all due respect, I have things to do. I'm busy... Yes, but I'm still busy. I have matters to arrange every waking moment of my day. You just woke me up earlier than I intended... Of course you'd say that..." Aevran suddenly seemed much angrier than before. He glared at my figure, not realizing that I was awake. He looked like he wanted to break the phone. For a second, he looked conflicted, before his mother said something that made him angry all over again. "Actually, yes... Yep, you heard me... I'm staring at her right now... Sorry, I can't. She's asleep... No, Mother, I will not. She stayed up till just an hour ago with the rest of us leaders, plotting this war... No. She will meet you when she wants to and not before." I saw him close his eyes, face pinched in pain. He repeatedly banged his head softly against the window frame.

"Okay. Of course. If she agrees... No, I will not make her see you if she doesn't want to... I know that... Yes, certainly... Alright, goodbye Mother... Of course."

He hung up and stared at the phone. It was one of those fat ones that can pick up signals from anywhere. He shook his head and tossed it away.

He turned and came face to face with me.

He groaned. "Sorry I woke you," he said, gathering me up in his arms. I reveled in his scent as he sat and pulled me up against him again.

"Problems with your mother?" I uttered.

"We just don't see eye to eye," he replied. "What about your parents?"

"My mother is a Head Witch among the wielders. My father was killed in a battle with an enemy pack," I said as bluntly as I could.

"Oh."

"What about your dad?" I asked.

"Dead. Nobody really knows what happened, but we think a mermaid killed him."

I raised my eyebrows. "You'd think a vampire king could resist a mermaid," I commented.

"He could. I don't think the mermaid seduced him. He was just found near the shore with bite marks that looked like those of a mermaid and a knife in his heart."

"That's nasty."

"It is. But my mother was on that island with him and she was pretty quiet about it, so we figured we would just let the matter be and allow her to forget. She asked for it, as a sort of healing mechanism. So, no one at the palace has mentioned the previous king in decades out of respect for her wishes."

I thought about that for a while. "Did they love each other?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess. They were mates, after all. Mother always seemed okay. After my dad died, not so much. I think she still suffers from his absence after all this time. That's why she wanted me to marry as soon as possible, so that she could pass on the title of queen. I get the feeling that she wants to disappear as well." His arms tightened around me.