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  Kres nodded. “Same here.” Vohne’s grip tightened on his waist, letting him know his voice was less than sincere.

  The duke looked amused at Kres’ combative tone. “I’m glad to see you’ve reunited again. We all worried you wouldn’t come back.”

  “So I hear. Now the question is why it took so long?” Vohne replied.

  Hellbur frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t you think it a little strange that it took me over a hundred years to return? Not to mention I didn’t appear for a major conflict.”

  The duke straightened his tie as he looked back and forth between Vohne and Kres. “I thought you wanted a break or something. After hundreds of years of rule, you deserved some time off.”

  “And you thought I’d take it in the middle of a crisis? That I’d let the Thresl mates be purged and not rush home?”

  Hellbur paled. “You’re right, but in the middle of a war against our mates, it was difficult to think clearly.”

  “I hear some people want to take his place,” Kres grumbled. He didn’t like the way the duke looked at his mate.

  “There has been some talk.” The duke cast an apologetic look at Vohne. “You were gone a long time, Your Highness, but my house is eager to renew our vows to your service.”

  Vohne gave a nod. “There will be a renewal ceremony tomorrow. It will be interesting to see who shows up.”

  The duke gave an uncomfortable smile. “There are some who want to go their own way, claiming the monarchy is outdated. Some peoples’ memories have faded over time.”

  This time it was Kres sending calming thoughts to his mate when he felt Vohne start to growl.

  “Maybe it’s time to remind people why they need a king,” Vohne said in a cold voice.

  * * * *

  Kres spent the rest of the day pretending he was happy to meet people. He wished he had enhanced senses or superpowers or anything to help him sniff out the back-stabbing betrayers. To help catch the court members who’d tried to harm his mate and would try again.

  As big as he talked, he could feel Vohne’s pain at his people’s betrayal. Even though he gave a good front as a calm and confident ruler, Kres could feel the insecurity and hurt Vohne hid just beneath the surface as they walked through the palace greeting people.

  Vohne gripped Kres’ arm as if reading his unease. Considering their link, maybe Vohne did experience Kres’ emotions. He gave his lover a smile.

  “Greetings, King and King-Mate.” A beautiful woman with shining black hair and sparkling blue eyes curtsied to them. Kres sized her up, wondering if the knife belted around her waist was ornamental or functional. He moved slightly in front of his lover until Vohne tightened his hold and pulled him back.

  The woman’s mouth quirked into a smile. “I’d heard you were protective, but I hadn’t heard the king couldn’t take care of himself.”

  Kres bared his teeth in a facsimile of a smile. “Want me to show you what I can do with your knife?”

  She laughed, but he noticed she did add a little space between the king and herself. “I am Niafe, daughter of Lady Nelb. I’ve come to warn you, Your Highness, my mother means you ill will.”

  “And you just happened to come by to warn us because you’re such a devoted subject?” Kres asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

  “Easy, mate,” Vohne murmured in his ear. “No reason to kill the messenger.”

  “She’s not the messenger. A messenger would be someone carrying a message from one person to another. She’s the source,” Kres corrected his mate.

  “I have a message from my mother,” Niafe offered with a shy smile.

  Vohne gave Kres a smug look.

  Kres scuffed his boot on the ground then afterwards felt guilty. Some worker would probably stay up all night obsessing about that smudge on the surface of his shiny boots. Maybe he’d hide them when he got back to the room.

  “Focus, Kres,” Vohne admonished. “What’s your mother’s message, my lady?”

  “I’m supposed to stab your mate.” She announced the words like she should be given a medal for not following her mother’s directive.

  Vohne shoved Kres behind him. “And why didn’t you?”

  Niafe laughed. “Two reasons. First, I’ve read the old texts and I don’t follow her beliefs. And second, your mate’s knife looks bigger than mine.”

  Chapter Eight

  They pulled Niafe into an empty room to minimise the number of people who could listen in. The guards blocked the door after a moment of argument. Neither of them trusted Niafe alone with the king and his mate, but Vohne insisted.

  Unable to override the orders of their king, the soldiers reluctantly waited outside.

  “You’re very brave to meet me alone,” Niafe said.

  Vohne shrugged. “As you stated, my mate has a very large knife. You make the wrong move, and he’ll gut you.”

  Niafe paled, giving Kres a nervous look. Vohne felt a momentary pang of guilt for making it appear as though his mate was seconds from snapping, but the look Kres gave Niafe had him holding back a laugh. His lover was extremely protective.

  “Don’t worry. As long as you don’t make any sudden movements, you’re safe enough,” Kres assured her.

  “Why don’t we sit down?” Vohne motioned towards the table and chairs. They’d wandered into one of the meeting rooms the scholars generally used for studies. From the cobwebs decorating the ceiling, he had a feeling it had been a while since anyone had concentrated on learning. Vohne made a mental note to get the scholars back on track. A society that didn’t focus on learning would falter. He wondered how much knowledge had been lost in the purge. Shaking his head, he focused on the task at hand. There would be time later to concentrate on the future of Thresl civilisation.

  Once Vohne and Kres were settled with Niafe sitting across from them, closer to Vohne than Kres, she began her story.

  “Ever since I was little, my mother has been telling me about how she should be the one ruling the kingdom. I used to dream of growing up and becoming queen.” Niafe said wistfully.

  Kres growled in a manner worthy of a Thresl.

  Vohne hid his smile.

  She held up a hand in a defensive gesture. “I don’t dream of that anymore. I did until I grew old enough to understand my mother is insane. She did something. I don’t know what, but she did something to stop the two of you from meeting and triggering the change. There’s a man she goes to, a magic user. I think he cast a spell to prevent your last bonding. After all, if you never met your mate, you couldn’t change into the king.”

  “Where is he now?” Vohne asked. He didn’t need her to explain to him how he changed. He knew the rules. Vohne had transformed more than any other Thresl in history.

  “He died many years ago, which is why I think you were able to come back. His spell blocking your destiny wore off,” Niafe explained.

  “We need to talk to your mother and find out what he did in case he did the same thing to other Thresls,” Kres said, his face set in hard lines.

  Vohne didn’t like it either, but he didn’t want to rush into anything. “We need to think smart. If we rush Lady Nelb, she’ll do something even more drastic.”

  “She already has.” Niafe’s voice was rushed as if she wanted to get all the words out like ripping off the bandage. “Mother has recruited some soldiers. She plans to take over the castle in three days.”

  “Why in three days?” Kres asked.

  Niafe turned her brilliant eyes to Kres. “Because that’s when your marriage ceremony is planned.”

  Vohne flinched at the glare from his mate’s eyes.

  “And when were you going to share that happy news?” Kres asked.

  Vohne wouldn’t have been surprised if icicles formed in the air from the chill in his mate’s voice. “Could you give us a moment?” he asked Niafe.

  She gave him an innocent smile. “I’ll be right out in the hall, bugging your guards.”

  “It won�
�t take long.” Especially if Kres impaled him with his dagger like his eyes were promising he’d do.

  Vohne waited to talk until she’d left the room. Once the door shut behind her, he slid to one knee before his lover, his life, his mate. Taking Kres’ left hand between his own, he looked up at the one person he adored above all others and always would. “It’s tradition for the king to re-marry his mate after each reincarnation. You have been my husband for hundreds of years. Each time you die, I die with you, and when we meet up again, we renew our vows. It’s assumed by all that you would be willing to marry me again.” He hoped his eyes reflected the deep feelings he had in his heart for this one man. “Were they wrong?”

  Kres’ handsome face changed from annoyed to confused. “How many times have we gotten married?”

  Vohne smiled. His lover hadn’t said no. There was still hope. He really didn’t want to go in front of his people and tell them that his mate refused his hand in marriage. It would undermine his legitimacy and cause issues later on, but there was no way he was going to bring that up to his mate. He wouldn’t pressure him. He’d already taken away all of Kres’ other choices in life. He wouldn’t take this choice away too. “More times than I care to count,” he confessed, mostly because each time they reincarnated, it was because they’d died before.

  Kres shifted in his chair but still let Vohne hold onto his hand. “A guy just likes to be asked.”

  Vohne’s head snapped up. His mate’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Would you do me the honour of becoming my husband?”

  A teasing smile tilted the edges of Kres’ mouth. “Depends on what you’re offering. I mean, you have to top the offers from the other guys I have lined up.”

  “Hmmm, that’s tough. You could be the co-ruler of an entire kingdom,” he tempted.

  Kres shook his head. “I’m not really into that kind of power. I’m a low-key kind of guy.”

  “Hmm. Riches. I can buy you anything you desire,” Vohne offered.

  Kres shook his head again. “Money can’t buy happiness.”

  “You’re a tough man to please,” Vohne said, playing with Kres’ fingers as he thought. “How about my undying love and devotion? I can promise I’ll never stray, and if I haven’t stopped loving you by now, it’s never going to happen. Besides, I’ve already killed all the competition and I’m all you’ve got left.”

  Kres laughed. “Well, if you put it that way, I guess I’ll have to take you.”

  Vohne stood up, leaning over his mate. “So you’ll marry me?” He didn’t want any question in Kres’ mind about whether he had agreed to this marriage.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  “Good.” Vohne slid his fingers into Kres’ hair and pressed their lips together. The familiar flavour of his mate set his body on fire. He wanted to throw Kres on the table and cement their bond, but he knew they needed to talk to Niafe about their plans first. After giving Kres one last kiss, he marched over to the door and ripped it open.

  “Come in,” he growled to Niafe.

  She came back in, and Vohne sat down in the chair beside his mate. Inhaling his mate’s calming scent, Vohne gathered his thoughts on how to thwart another uprising.

  “Who do you see as my biggest adversaries?” Vohne asked Niafe.

  Niafe shifted in her seat, folded her fingers together then set them on her lap. “I don’t want you to think badly of me, Your Highness. Going against my family was a difficult decision.”

  “I understand,” Vohne said. A thought occurred to him. “What is your heritage?”

  “Half human, half Thresl. My father was human.”

  “Was?”

  “Yes, he died in The Purge. Mother hasn’t re-mated.”

  The silence was filled with the weight of knowledge.

  “That’s why she’s losing her sanity, isn’t it?”

  Niafe nodded. “It’s been a slow slide, but even some of her supporters have urged me to take her place.” She gave Vohne a guilty look. “I would never betray you, Your Highness. I believe you were chosen by a higher power, and I support you and your husband’s rule.”

  Kres gave a choking cough.

  Vohne kicked him. “Stop it. Whether you want to or not, you’re going to rule with me.”

  “I’m not wearing a crown, and I’m keeping my knife.”

  Damn, the man was cute when he pouted. “Deal.”

  Niafe laughed.

  He really liked this woman. This would all go better if his brother was there to advise him. A kernel of an idea grew in his mind. If Niafe wasn’t mated, maybe she would be a good candidate for Bleine. At least he could introduce them. It would probably be best if he had several potential mates for his brother to choose from. If there was a connection between them, Bleine might not have noticed it while he was bonded with Jallryne. “How well do you know my brother?”

  A blush covered Niafe’s cheeks. “We’ve spoken a few times.”

  “Setting up your brother?” Kres asked.

  “Possibly. Niafe, if you were connected to the throne through my brother, do you think your mother would lose her supporters?”

  “What?” Kres sat up straight. “She’ll have you assassinated and let her daughter take over.”

  “No.” Niafe shook her head. “Not if we sell it to the people that I’m also an advisor. That would buy us time to figure out what to do about my mother. She must be controlled.”

  “Can she be re-mated?” Vohne wondered if Lady Nelb could be saved if they found her another mate.

  “I doubt it.” Niafe frowned. “Who would mate with a madwoman?”

  “Good point,” Vohne agreed.

  “Mating with Bleine might work,” Niafe said. “I’ve always thought we had a spark, but as he was bonded, I didn’t pursue him.”

  Vohne turned to look at his mate, who sat quietly beside him, not commenting on the plan.

  “What are you planning?”

  Kres gave him a sweet smile. “Nothing, dear.”

  “Uh-huh.” Why did his mate’s innocent look not reassure him at all?

  They spent the next hour discussing how to counteract an invasion, with Niafe filling in the details of her mother’s plan.

  “My mother will change everything if she finds out I talked to you. You must be prepared for anything. Keep your most trusted men close around you. You and your mate’s lives are in danger.”

  “I’ve been through this more than once. I know how to quell an uprising. I’ll try to save your mother, but make no mistake, if the only way to end this is to kill her, I won’t hesitate to do what is right for my people. Having them led by an unbalanced, power-hungry Thresl isn’t in anyone’s best interests.” Vohne didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding about his position.

  “Understood,” Niafe said.

  Kres watched the pair interact and wondered what Vohne’s brother was like. If he was anything like Kres’ mate, Niafe would be a good match.

  “Don’t you think, love?” Vohne asked.

  “Huh?” He’d been so busy watching his lover he hadn’t paid attention to what he had said.

  Vohne laughed. “You weren’t listening, were you?”

  Kres shrugged. “I figure you’ll tell me anything I need to know, and since I don’t know any of the people you’re talking about, it doesn’t make any sense to me.” All he really understood was Lady Nelb needed to die. He could take care of that while Vohne dealt with the intricacies of court life. Kres was a soldier. He saw things more black and white than his surprisingly complex-thinking lover. Who could have known when he first met the man-cat that Vohne would turn out to be a reincarnated king and Kres’ soul mate?

  “If you paid attention, you would know who your enemies are,” Vohne scolded.

  “I’m sure he was paying attention,” Niafe interjected. Poor girl thought she could head off a fight.

  Kres decided to try out their link. “You can explain it to me later. Use little words and lots of lube,” he sent telep
athically to his mate with what he hoped was a sultry look.

  Vohne gave Kres the smile he thought of as his. The one that crinkled his nose and brought out the sparkle in his eyes. Vohne leaned over, pressing a hot, hard kiss on Kres’ lips.

  “It’s a date, my treasure,” he said in a low voice.

  Niafe cleared her throat, pulling them back to the present.

  Time passed in a dull flipping of his knife as papers came out to write down plans and discuss possible enemies.

  “I still don’t trust Hellbur,” Kres commented. “Even if Niafe’s mother is behind all this, there’s nothing to say Hellbur isn’t helping her.”

  Vohne broke off his conversation with Niafe to face his mate. “True, but I didn’t get a sense of deception when I spoke to him.”

  Kres disagreed. “There’s something oily about him. I didn’t like how he looked at you.”

  “Hellbur has always had a crush on the king,” Niafe offered.

  “How do you know?” Kres asked.

  “I read it in a courtier’s diary I found in the archives. He apparently wanted to bind your houses years ago, but you turned him down,” Niafe replied.

  “It’s unnatural for two Thresls to match even for a monarchy. I would still need my soul mate, and Kres, even in his mildest incarnation, wouldn’t tolerate sharing me.”

  “True.” Kres didn’t know what his previous forms had been like. Some of his memories were returning—just in flashes and bits, not enough to form more than a brief idea of what he’d been like before. But he could pretty much guarantee that no incarnation of him would have allowed for sharing. “I can promise if Hellbur wants the same thing now, it’s not going to happen.”

  Vohne laughed. “I’m sure he knows that after meeting you. If not, I’ll be happy to inform him.”

  It was late when the meeting finally finished. They ate a light dinner and went to bed. Their lovemaking was slow and sweet, and when it was over, Kres fell asleep in the arms of the man he loved more than life.

  * * * *

  Kres awoke to people banging on the door.

  “Go away!” he shouted. Blinking, it took him a moment to realise he was alone in bed.