Unexpected Eden (18 page)

Chapter 20

Lexi stood before a floor length mirror, naked, skimming her fingers down the symbol on her arm. A winged horse, like some fantasy depiction of the mythical Pegasus, but dark as midnight instead of white. Reared back on his hind legs, the creature looked back over his shoulder, defiant, wings arched high to touch her shoulders. His long mane twisted up and around her arm as though caught in a fierce wind, and the tail ribboned down her forearm to her wrist.

Claimed. Possessed. Even without Eryx here, his mark promised the most devout protection.

A current of unease scampered through her belly. She’d seen it before. Nowhere near this in fine, or this large, but there was no mistaking its similarities to the painting on Graylin’s wall.

Voices stirred beyond the chamber doors and a polite knock sounded.

Lexi’s heart picked up. Her gown lay in a heap on the floor. No way she’d get the two halves back together in a decent span of time. Across the edge of the bed was a black silk robe.

Okay, so leaving her on the first day of their honeymoon with a mark that scared the hell out of her wasn’t the smoothest move, but Eryx’s thoughtfulness counted for something.

She donned it with a quick cinch of the belt, swooped to retrieve her discarded gown, and hustled to the door.

“Surprise!” Galena raised both eyebrows in an are-you-going-to-tell-me-the-details kind of way, hands clasped excitedly at her chest.

Ramsay and Ludan stood to the side with knowing smirks. The drast and leather pants combo didn’t surprise her on Ramsay, but Ludan wearing the same outfit did. At their necks and wrists—cuffs and torcs with the exact image covering her arm.

“Hi.” A lame greeting, but overall pretty impressive considering the possibilities swirling in her head.

“If you’re too tired we can come back.” Galena stepped away from the door.

“No.” Lexi opened the door wider and motioned toward the cement truck-sized fireplace and the sitting area fronting it. “I think company to keep me occupied might not be a bad idea. Anyone know when my husband’s due back? I need to talk to him.”

“Fireann.” Ramsay sat in a crimson and gold wingback.

Galena backhanded Ramsay’s shoulder on her way to sit beside Lexi. “I wouldn’t provoke her if I were you. You’re a dead ringer for the idiot who left her here alone. She might decide to slug you instead.” She focused on Lexi and tilted her head. “Everything okay?”

Lexi nodded. The tail of the winged horse peeked out from her sleeve. Surely the mark was a coincidence.

Galena edged closer, the deep teal of her loose fitting linen pants and tunic a defiant color amidst the mostly red and black room. “Did you have a good night?”

Lexi almost laughed. If Galena was shooting for nonchalant, she’d missed it by about two football fields.

Both men raised one eyebrow at Lexi. Synchronized, silent commands.

Her mouth screwed up, deception bitter on her tongue. The whole mating secret custom didn’t sit well. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she’d worked through it in her own head. “I think I can safely say it’s a night I’ll never forget.”

Galena’s face fell and her shoulders slumped. She shot a venomous glare at her companions. “Killjoys. I’ll find out.”

More with the smirks from the high and mighty men.

Galena tossed her head and gestured at Lexi’s arm. “So, let me see….”

Gathering the sleeve of her robe, Lexi displayed the mark for her small audience. Her heart clenched. “It’s beautiful, don’t you think?”

“It’s magnificent,” Galena whispered, reaching for an outstretched wing.

“It’s huge.” Ramsay surged to his feet for a closer view.

Ludan stayed where he was, arms crossed with an I-know-something-you-don’t-know stare. “Wait until you see Eryx’s.”

Galena and Ramsay stopped their inspection to glance at Ludan.

Oh, hell. She’d probably gone and done something to screw the whole mating thing up. “Is it okay? What is it?”

“Nope, not going to ruin it.” Ludan shook his head, completely unrepentant.

Lexi swallowed, but the lump in her throat wouldn’t budge. Knowing her luck she’d left him with Mickey Mouse ears. “Is there something wrong with it?”

“It’s impressive.” Ludan’s face softened a touch, but his grin stayed in place. “I just don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

She zeroed in on Ramsay. “Don’t most look like this?”

Ramsay resumed his sprawl in the wingback and laughed hard enough to rattle the knickknacks. “Hell, no. Most reach the elbow at most. Yours screams, ‘I mated a bad ass!’”

“Eryx’s shouts, ‘Don’t fuck with my baineann.’” Ludan slid forward in his sly, prowling manner, eyes still locked on Lexi, and stopped in front of her. “But then, such a mark would be appropriate for a malress wouldn’t it?”

Galena gasped.

Ramsay’s smile flat-lined.

Ludan held out his hand, palm up.

Maybe company had been a bad idea. Not knowing what else to do, Lexi laid her hand in his.

His callused fingers wrapped around hers and he dropped to one knee. He bowed his head and laid a chaste kiss to her knuckles. “As I have pledged my loyalty to our malran, so do I pledge to you, our malress.”

Apprehension swirled around her, chilling her to the core. “Malress?”

Ludan rose, silent.

Her three guests stared at each other, gazes darting back and forth. Damned telepathy. Now they weren’t even bothering to hide when they did it.

Ramsay laughed, a good-natured one that shook the room. He stood and ran his fingers through his sun-streaked hair. “Eryx’s gonna kill us.” He sauntered forward, snatched her hand from her lap, and dropped to one knee. “As I have pledged my loyalty to my brother, our malran, so do I pledge to you, our malress.” He peeked at her and winked. “And my shalla.”

Ramsay stepped back and Galena pushed forward to both knees. She scooped Lexi’s trembling hands into hers. Her Caribbean-colored eyes bore into hers, solemn, peaceful. “You are my shalla and my malress. My skills and my loyalty are yours to call upon.”

Lexi looked from one person to another. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret this question, but what’s a malress?”

“Eryx is our malran, Lexi.” Galena gave her hands a gentle squeeze. Her voice slipped around Lexi, cool and tranquil. “The interpretation for malran in Evad would be king.”

White noise.

“You’re now his mate,” Galena added. “Which makes you the malress, or our queen.”

“I’m not…” Every word she reached for fizzled into nothing. She closed her gaping mouth, licked her dry lips, and tried again. “He said a malran was a leader. I thought he was an ambassador, maybe a senator, or something. I didn’t know—”

“And he didn’t want you to.” Galena squeezed Lexi’s ice-cold fingers. “But not for the reasons you might think, so try not to be too harsh when you judge him. He’s high-handed and overbearing at times, but he’s still a man.”

“Ah, Lena.” Ramsay whined petulantly from the couch. “Don’t go mending bridges for him. Was gonna be fun watchin’ Lexi hand him his ass on a platter.”

So playful. Light-hearted as he always seemed to be. Didn’t he get what a colossal problem this was?

“I don’t know how to do this.” Lexi leaned closer to Galena, nearly pleading. “I’m not that kind of person. I mix drinks and have decent street smarts. What the hell was he thinking?”

“You’re wrong.” Ludan’s words slashed out, and from the look on his face she was about two pouts shy of a lecture to rival his father. “You’re perfect for Eryx and will make a strong queen.”

“But I—”

“For you to doubt yourself is to doubt Eryx and his judgment.” Ludan prowled forward. “Do you honestly think he would take a mate who would fail his people?”

“You’ve gotta get over this doubting thing, Lex,” Ramsay said, totally at ease with the fact his brother—a king—had shacked up with a no one.

Galena settled close to Lexi’s side and draped her arm along her shoulders. “Sounds like you’re the only one doubting you.”

Christ, how was she going to handle this? A new realm. A new race. A new role. Her life had turned into one big Etch-A-Sketch.

The room grew silent and the stares of those around her, no matter how kind, stifled normal breath. She stood and angled for the bathroom. She had to get out. To move and think. Do something.

Ludan blocked her path, head tilted in a silent question.

She huffed and stepped around him. “Don’t worry. I’m not running.” Pushing open the elegant doors, she added over her shoulder, “Just working on that ass-handing thing Ramsay wanted to see.”

* * * *

Eryx strode into the council hall amidst the steady rumble of curious voices. It wasn’t a cozy place. More like a high-domed museum with gold walls and filigreed platinum hieroglyphics from their earliest days.

Long ivory cushions lined the lower level, one in front of the other, with an aisle left open down the middle for the lower statesmen. Those more established in the hierarchy were already perched in the boxes jutting out from the circular ledges above.

He nodded at some he passed, smiled at others. Some he avoided at all costs. His race was at a tricky place in its lifespan, stuck between the antiquated ways of old and the promise of new ideas. One way or another, what he was about to share was sure to knock a whole lot of people off the fence.

“Surprised you want anything to do with us.” The voice scraped at Eryx’s nerves and pulled his footsteps to a stop.

“Angus.” Eryx did a pointed scan the councilman’s stark white robe. “I barely noticed you without your colors.”

Angus flinched, not that Eryx had expected otherwise. The reminder of how Eryx had revoked the man’s rank only months before hadn’t been intended as a subtle jab.

“Colors don’t make the man.” Angus waved at Eryx’s platinum council attire, a symbolic representation to the metal reserved for use by the royal family alone. “If they did, you might be worth something.” He harrumphed and shuffled off in a decrepit huff without another word.

Eryx stormed toward the front of the room. He had more important things to think about than a bitter old man stuck in the dark ages. Things like coming clean with his mate and sharing his—and now her—role within their race. The weight of what he’d withheld sat heavy as a brick in his chest and he wanted it gone. The faster he got this task behind him, the faster he could bare it all.

Odd. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why he’d taken the tight-lipped route.

The room settled to a dull murmur the moment he reached the dais. As he turned, the more junior members of his council settled to their knees, while those in their boxes reclined in their sumptuous chairs.

“Dunstan.”

Head high and clutching his official tome of records, the council page stepped forward.

“Call this special session to order.”

Dunstan gave a solemn nod and faced the room. His voice rang out the customary call to order with a layer of pomp and circumstance that made Eryx ache to pace.

When the formalities were done, Eryx let a punctuated silence fall across the room. “I’ve called you together for an important purpose that will catch many of you by surprise.”

A trill of whispers floated along the council floor.

“I know many of you have been concerned with my time away. My presence today marks the end of my necessary absences and the dawn of a new and exciting time for our race.”

“And you expect to give no explanation of your deeds in the human realm?” Angus screeched from the rear of the room, his place among his peers the lowest of them all. He struggled to a stand. “While your councilmen have been faithful servants of our people, you’ve gallivanted about with those not of our race and left us here to toe the line. And you expect to return to our good graces without any account?”

Eryx tensed and his blood pounded through his fists. He should have killed Angus for his treasonous acts when he’d had the chance.

With long-standing years of practice, Eryx pushed the fire building along his throat deep into his belly. “You act as if I’ve been completely absent, Angus. I believe my responsibilities have been thoroughly filled regardless of my activities elsewhere. In fact, I’m certain only a few months ago we clearly established which of us is malran and which is not.”

The grossly public putdown fired a ripple of whispers along the council floor.

“Unless you’d like to challenge me for the right?” Even from the front of the room, Eryx could see Angus’ angry tremors.

“I do challenge you.” He stood as tall as his stooped form would allow. “I challenge your time in Evad. I challenge your adherence to the tenets of The Great One. Have you or have you not brought a human among us, breaking the most sacred of laws our race is meant to abide?”

Gasps shot out from all angles of the room.

Eryx took one slow breath after another. Focused inwardly on the quiet, solemn place in his soul, and thanked The Great One for the repeated releases Lexi had gifted him with the night before. Otherwise, the sparks of electricity and flame from his temper would have fried more than half of his council already.

“Far from it,” he answered, the words deceptively smooth considering his emotions. “I brought your new malress.” He pulled his over-robe from his shoulders and tossed it to the floor. “I did bring a woman to Eden from the human realm, but she was one of our lost. As you can see by the mark I now bear, the woman in question is not only very Myren, but is also now my baineann and your malress. My call for special session was to advise you of this change in keeping with our traditions and to plan her presentation tomorrow.”

Mumbled comments trickled among those present, then faded to dead silence as each member grasped the significance of his mark.

“Her name is Alexis Shantos. You will receive her at session tomorrow and confirm her rightful place as malress. Together we will begin the new and promising years to come for our race.”

A cautious smattering of applause and rumbling voices rolled across the room.

Eryx exhaled, slow and cautious. He opened his mouth to call the session to an end.

“Malran.” Angus’ voice was stronger than Eryx had heard in years. “I’m interested to know how you managed to confirm she was Myren before you divulged our race.”