Chapter 25

Sasha stretched and yawned. She reached across the bed, searching for Aiden. When his side of the bed was cold, she sat up.
“Aiden?,” she called out.
“Sasha!”
His voice sent excitement rushing through her body and she rolled over, before her brain registered the iciness in his tone. Her heart started pounding anxiously. She scanned his face that was carefully devoid of emotion.
“Aiden, what’s wrong?”
“So, it’s true!,” he snapped.
She drew back, shocked at the way he was speaking to her.
“What’s true?,” she whimpered.
He held his fist face up. His fingers slowly uncurled from around a tiny object in his palm. A dried up white contact was in the center of his hand. Her body went cold as she eyed it. She got on her hands and knees to crawl over to him.
“I can explain.”
He stood up and moved back a step. “You can explain that you are a liar?”
“Aiden, it’s not like that. Please, let me explain.”
She reached for him and he moved back more, making her tumble out of the bed. He threw the ruined contact at her, before turning on his heel. He stopped with his hand on the door.
“I want you to move into the adjoining room, before I get back tonight.”
“AIDEN! PLEASE, LET ME EXPLAIN,” she cried. She jumped to her feet to chase after him. “AIDEN! PLEASE!”
A hand grasped her elbow to bring her to a stop, before letting her go. She spun on the person and she relaxed a little when she saw Gregory.
“Gregory, you have to help me. I-”
He looked away from her. “Tribute 53, the king has requested you to move bedrooms before he gets back tonight. You should do that as soon as possible.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Gregory, please, I love him. You can’t let him do this,” she begged.
He sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Does Kalani know that you were lying?”
“No,” she lied, not willing to destroy her sister’s relationship just because she had fucked hers up.
“I am really sorry, but he is my king and you will never be my queen.”
His words crashed over her, making her sink to her knees, sobbing. Gregory turned around, giving her nothing but his back. She put her fist in her mouth in an attempt to stifle her sobs. After a while, her sobs stopped and she just lowered her head as her tears continued to fall silently. Why was the Goddess so cruel to have done this? She was going to tell him tonight. She was going to lay everything bare for him to know. She was going to tell him about the plot on his life. She was going to tell him that she loved him. She was going to tell him she wanted to be his queen. She was going to ask him for his forgiveness and now she would never get that opportunity. He was gone and he didn’t want to see her. She had to get out of here. She had to leave. She heard Kalani humming as she grew closer and she cursed in her head. She couldn’t let her see her like this. She would hate Gregory and she didn’t want that for her little sister. She deserved the world and she knew Gregory would give it to her. Sasha shakily got to her feet, using the wall to steady herself. Kalani came around the corner and her face broke into a huge smile.
“There you are. I was looking for you every- Aja? What’s wrong?”
Gregory stopped her from approaching Sasha. “Tribute 53 has been given orders by the king that she needs to comply with.”
Her eyes slid past her mate to meet Sasha’s. Her eyes widened briefly.
“Aja, your-”
She ran her finger swiftly over her eye that was still hazy, removing the contact.
“I woke up with my sight,” she whispered.
She tried to move past Gregory again, who held firm. Kalani pulled back from him and shoved on his chest.
“MOVE! HOW DARE YOU KEEP ME FROM MY SISTER?!”
“Tribute 53-”
Kalani slapped him. Her hand reared back for another one and Sasha straightened up.
“Lani! This isn’t his fault. It’s mine. Please, don’t lose your mate like I lost mine.”
Sasha turned and started to walk away.
“TRIBUTE 53! HALT! THE KING SAID TO-”
Sasha glanced at him. “Leave me alone, Gregory. Do not follow me. I want to be alone. That means you, too, Lani.”
“But, Aja-”
“Tandem.”
Kalani’s face fell when she used their secret word to let her know that this was nonnegotiable. She wanted to be alone and Kalani respected her enough to allow it. Her sister stormed away from Gregory, retreating back the way she came. Gregory stood rooted to his spot, struggling to move towards her. She sent a small thankful prayer up to the Goddess for this new power she had unlocked.
“It’s about time you gave me something useful,” she muttered angrily. “You should have kept these stupid dreams, too.”
She walked out of the castle and began to follow the winding dirt road. She walked for hours, taking in the kingdom that she longed to be queen of. Actually, she didn’t care about being queen to an entire kingdom, but if it meant being his, she would have accepted the role with open arms. She rounded a curve in the path, before she saw a gate up ahead, guarded by a few of the king’s men. She groaned and looked around. She needed to get through it, but how? She spotted flowers nearby and picked a bundle. She raised them to her face to inhale their scent as she pretended to not pay attention to where she was going. A man stepped out of the shadows of the gate.
“You, there, breeder! Halt!” She froze, eyeing him curiously. “State your business here!”
Her eyes slid past him to the field behind the gate.
“Oh, those are so pretty.”
“State your name, breeder.”
“Kalani Soma,” she said as she feigned to be mesmerized by the flowers in the field.
He backed up and circled a finger above his head. “Allow me to apologize, Miss Soma. The king has granted you permission to go wherever you like. Would you like someone to accompany you?”
She smiled at him. “No. I just want to go pick some of those flowers.”
He let her pass through the now open gate.
“When you are done, just let us know and we will let you back in.”
Sasha skipped across the yard to pick some of the multicolored flowers as she moved her way through the field. She was almost at the end of the field when she spread her arms and let herself fall backwards into the flowers. She lay there for a moment before starting to inch her way towards the trees three yards in front of her. Once fully hidden by the trees, she got back to her feet. She began jogging to her left, parallel to the road. She jogged about 4 miles before cutting back through to the road. She slowed to a walk.
Where was she going to go? What was she going to do? She couldn’t go back to Terra Mysterium. There was nothing there for her anymore. He hated her and Kalani didn’t need her anymore. She had her mate and she knew eventually the mate bond would win her over. It had almost tricked Sasha into giving into Aid- the king fully. She was glad she didn’t. If she had mated with him fully and allowed him to.. What did they call it? Mark? What a stupid age old term meant to lessen what it really was, a way to brand their property. She didn’t want to be anybody’s property. She didn’t want to be forced into a lifelong servitude. Anything was better than that, right? It had to be. She had to hold onto that thought. It was the only thing keeping her from breaking into a million pieces.
She stopped in front of a road sign. Tursum. 63 miles ahead. She traced each letter, sighing. Maybe she would go there. What could be the harm in going back? What would they really do to her? Kill her? Torture her? Starve her? She deserved all of that and way more for not completing her assignment. She wasn’t entirely sure which was worse, not completing her mission or not ever hearing him say he loved her. This was part of that anything was better than this. She’d welcome feeling something other than this numbness of having him walk away from her had left her with. She wouldn’t even complain, no matter what they did to her. He had said they could go home and so, to home she would go. She took a deep breath and walked around the sign, continuing on her way to what hopefully would be her end.