The Lion Soul by Amy Sumida
Chapter Forty-Two
The next few days became a blur of blood and sex—my blood and their sex. The Queen chose her favorites and changed them, then ordered them to fuck in front of me. Beautiful men, handsome me, delicate men, muscular men; she picked a wide variety to cover any type I may like. But she didn't know that only one man could harden me now. Only one man made my skin shiver and my breath tremble. Only one man held my heart.
Mate, the word whispered through my mind just as one of the latest transformed Farungals came inside his partner.
I shuddered, hating that I'd come to that realization at such a disgusting moment. But I had been employing a meditation technique during the sex shows. I stared at them without seeing, my attention turned inward and my eyes unfocused. So although I heard and knew what was happening around me, it felt distant, as if it were occurring in another room. But the knowledge of who Kaelen was to me was right there, blooming in my brain as if it had been planted years ago and just needed some tragedy to fertilize it. Shit makes flowers grow.
Kaelen was my mate. The words straightened my spine and hardened my resolve. There would be no moving on for him. If Kaelen and I were separated forever, we would mourn each other forever, and I couldn't live knowing that he was suffering. I had to get free of the Farungal.
The Queen sighed as she stepped up beside me. “You are so stubborn, Rieyu. Just tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you.”
“I want to go home,” I said, and the words were nearly as significant as my last silent declaration. Home meant Kaelen. When I said I wanted to go home, I meant that I wanted to return to my mate.
The Queen rolled her eyes and motioned to the General. “Take him to his room and have him fed. He needs some time to recover. Maybe I've taken too much blood, and he doesn't have enough to harden his cock.”
General Shelvak chuckled and stepped around the panting men, his wings folded tightly behind his back. He unshackled me and grabbed me by an upper arm. They left one shackle around my ankle constantly—the one that attached to my chain at night—so he didn't have to worry about reattaching it. He just dragged me out of the room and upstairs, through the freezing corridors and past groups of anxious Farungals who watched both of us enviously. When we reached my room, the General fastened the chain to my shackle, then stood there, staring at me.
“We aren't much different from the Fae,” Shelvak finally said. “Some of us screwed up a long time ago, and yes, all of us can be cruel. But we can also be kind.” He looked me up and down. “Generous. Even affectionate. You could find happiness here if you let yourself.” He grabbed my jaw suddenly, in sharp contrast to his words. “Or you could find something not so happy.” He leaned into my face. “Do you understand me? The Queen wants your compliance. I suggest you submit.” Then he shoved me away and strode out of the room.
“Sure, that completely changed my mind. How blind I've been,” I muttered as I went to stand at the window.
I had gone there out of habit. Staring out that window was one of the few things to do in my prison. I had a view of the courtyard and had spent many hours watching the Farungals train, but I was high enough that I could also see the open fields in front of the castle. Beyond those bright meadows that seemed so out of place there, a thick forest spread, and somewhere far beyond the forest was the Bellor Sea. I usually stared toward the sea, fantasizing that someone was coming to save me—a fantasy that's hard for me to admit as a warrior. But today, I didn't have to fantasize.
I had been standing there awhile, staring at the trees, almost in a meditative state, when movement refocused me. My jaw fell open as I saw them come marching toward the castle—faeries and humans dressed for war. So many of them that they couldn't all fit in the meadows out front and had to spread around the sides. There were Sidhe and Unsidhe of all races; Trolls and Red Caps towering over their fellow faeries. But what shocked me the most was the humans. Because among their number was a large group of Nazakians.
“Dear Goddess,” I whispered in amazement as a tear trickled down my cheek. “It's my clan.”
