Chapter 9: Strike A Deal

Adolph watched her silently. Laurel appreciated the lack of pressure, but his tone and the confidence he wore so boldly grated her nerves. It was like looking at Basil's arrogant face without his smugness. She almost hated him, but it fizzled out as their bond pulsed warm and soothing.
“Think on it,” he said after a moment, inclining his head and withdrawing his hand.
Alice howled in protest and Laurel barely managed to hold herself in place when Adolph turned to leave. She didn’t watch him, but she listened to every step he took further and further away from her.
When she could no longer pick out his footsteps, she went inside and collapsed into a chair, exhausted and anxious. She had planned to live with Jack after the war and enjoy her new life thinking one day she might meet her mate. With his death and meeting Adolph, she didn’t know what to do.
Going back to the Imperial City meant going back to dealing with the nobles, Basil, and Delia…
But it also meant she may have a chance to find out who it was and seek justice. The thought lit a fire in her, but she turned from it.
What was to stop them from murdering her again? She didn’t know exactly why, but her connection to the Raymond family had to be the only reason. She wasn’t sure if she could handle watching her back every waking moment, let alone seeing Basil every day.
She had just started to heal from her life as Laura…
*We should go.*
Laurel scoffed, “You just want to be with your mate.”
*Our*, Alice corrected. *And what’s wrong with that? We were planning to leave the Imperial City to find our mate before we died. Hadn’t we always wanted to leave the Imperial City if given the chance?*
Laurel sighed. Alice was right, but going back was too much. Plenty of people all over the kingdom never met their mates or lived apart for various reasons. She didn’t need to go back.
*Tell the truth. You’re afraid.* Laurel wanted to protest but Alice carried on. *Which is ridiculous! You’re Laurel Miller now, not Laura Hamiltion. You really want to reject your mate and spend the rest of your life alone?*
Laurel threw up her hands, “Of course not! I… I just…”
She huffed. Alice didn’t understand. She didn’t have to live in the Imperial City among the nobles the same way Laura had. She didn’t know anything about what it meant to scratch and crawl trying to meet the expectations of the nobles and plummet in an instant.
Besides, Adolph was too perfect. Too noble. Too… *extraordinary* for her. Mate or not, he would find fault with her when he realized that she was truly just a low-born country girl.
*You can’t reject our mate*, Alice said as if her word was final.
Why did it always have to be the Raymond family? She let out a cry of helplessness at the thought.
*Basil doesn’t deserve you. He can have that silly wench and we can be happy with our mate.*
“Who just so happens to be Basil’s father, or have you forgotten that? My mate is my father-in-law? I can’t accept that!”
She wished there was something in her that supported those words, but there wasn’t and it frustrated her more. What was the goddess thinking?
*You’re a terrible liar. Even to yourself.* Alice’s voice turned softer.* Let us be happy, Laurel. Please? Don’t you think we’ve earned at least a chance to be happy?*
Her jaw trembled and her eyes burned with grief. She wanted to be happy. Adolph was Basil’s father, but beyond some physical features, she saw nothing of Adolph in Basil. Mature, gentle, and kind: he was everything she’d ever imagined in a mate.
She ate dinner in silence, letting her mind turn over the situation. Alice didn’t comment, seemingly content to let her think it out. She went to sleep hoping her mind would be clearer in the morning.
*Basil’s voice pulled her from the darkness, loud and furious, “You were not born to be the luna! I have allowed you to fill the role until now. How dare you tell me what to do!”
Laurel choked. She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to ever think of that night again. She had to wake up. She had to wake up!
Delia wrapped her arms around Basil’s arm, speaking softly with a contemptuous smirk on her face. Laurel pushed at the nightmare, trying to escape, but her body was frozen in place just as it had been then.
**I’m not there anymore. I’m not there. I’m not Laura anymore. I’m Laurel. I’m Laurel!**
Basil turned back to her, sneering at her. Everything she had done, every moment of strife and struggle over the past three years had been for the kingdom, for Basil. She wasn’t wrong. She’d done everything she could.
"I-I just--"
"You are nothing.”
“Your Highness, our Luna--” Sarah’s scream resonated as she was snatched into the darkness, “Your Majesty, please!”
Delia and Basil vanished and the cliff appeared stretching down into an abyss.
**No!**
Cold hands shoved her forward.*
“No!” Laurel screamed, opening her eyes. She fought the sheets that had twisted around her in her sleep and tumbled off the bed with a painful thump.
*It was just a nightmare. We’re in Sapphire Lake*, Alice said, though even her voice seemed a little shaky.
She lifted her head, panting and looking out the window as dawn began to stretch gently across the sky, lightening it and bringing the new day. She couldn’t escape her memories as Laura any more than she could escape Alice. Laura would never be put to rest until she knew who killed her. It was the only way to free herself and actually live as Laurel.
She had to go back. Her heart clenched with terror and Alice rumbled.
*Trust our mate. *
If only it was that easy.

******
By the time the sun had risen over Sapphire Lake and the village had begun to start their day, Laurel had packed her bags with her few belongings: a few dresses and the letters from her father. She left her house with her bag and walked to Amanda’s house only to find the old woman waiting on the porch for her.
Upon seeing her, Amanda smiled kindly and took her hands, “I’m so sorry about your father, dear.”
Laurel nodded stiffly, “Th-Thank you… I… I’m leaving.”
“I heard what happened in Silver Blade,” Amanda pinched her cheek. “You’ll make a lovely bride. Be safe on the roads and… be happy. It’s all your father wanted for you.”
She sniffled and embraced the older woman, squeezing her close as if to remember this warm maternal feeling for the path ahead. No one in the Imperial City would speak to her with kindness in the days ahead.
“I will. Thank you for everything.”
Amanda gave her a small satchel of food and waved her off. She saw no one as she walked away from her house. Then, the scent of roses and cedarwood drifted on the wind and she stopped, shocked as Adolph approached her from down the road. He was wearing different traveling clothes, striding towards her. His gaze met hers as she stopped and felt her heartbeat speeding up.
Adolph came to a stop in front of her and inclined his head politely, “Good Morning, Laurel. Did you sleep well?”
“Well enough.”
She clenched her hands on the strap of her bag as Adolph’s gaze drifted over her, assessing he spoke again.
“You are dressed for a journey… I can only guess you have an answer to my proposal now.”
“You are the king,” Laurel stated. “You have enough power to do whatever you please…”
She lifted her chin, “Why ask my opinion?”
Adolph’s eyes narrowed as if he was trying to puzzle something out before softening into a warm boyish smile that made her a little breathless.
“You are my mate. Though there is nothing I want more than to mark you as mine and take you to bed, I mean to have a life with you, Laurel. I want you to want me just as much as I want you.”
*We want him a lot. Stop being coy*! Alice urged. *Let’s go.*
“You are… a very good king.” She said, tartly. “Great even.”
“Oh?” He smirked. “I’m a great husband, too.”
Laurel’s face warmed and she winced. She had nearly forgotten how much talk there had been about Adolph and his late wife’s great love.
“I… will follow your procession back to the Imperial City.” Laurel averted her gaze. “I have… business of a sort there. In no way does this mean I plan to become luna, and I have a condition.”
“You can have whatever you wish within my power.”
*Do we have to?* Alice whined. *He’s perfect!*
“I want your word as King Adolph Raymond that you will not force me to do anything I do not wish to do,” she looked up at him. “If you cannot give me that, I will find my own--”
“You have my word as a king, as a man, and as your mate,” Laurel gasped and looked into his eyes: honest, earnest, and clear. “Every choice shall be yours to make.”