Fulfilling Fate

I stood in the foyer, a stony frown on my face. Lebanon sighed and put a bracing hand on my shoulder. I pushed it off and even Zion inched away from me. We all waited until someone knocked. Zion nodded once to Patrice – who had been mortified when she learned of her twin’s betrayal.

She opened the door and I growled as King Greaves walked in. When he saw me, he hesitated. I resisted the urge to snarl at him. He got on his knee in front of Lebanon. An awkward silence filled the room and I crossed my arms.

“My sincerest apologies, my Father,” King Greaves murmured. “Please forgive me.”

I wanted to bite and tell him that he wasn’t forgiven – that he never would be – but I stopped myself again. I tapped my foot impatiently. I wanted this pathetic vampire out of my house.

“You will be stripped of your station,” Lebanon said in a stern voice. “You should know better, Greaves.”

“Yes, your highness,” he grumbled.

“Your cousin, Randolf, shall take your place until your daughter is old enough to take the throne,” Lebanon continued then walked around Greaves. “You know, if my daughter-in-law had her way, you’d be executed.”

Greaves looked at me and I narrowed my eyes.

“If my son had his way, he’d probably do the same,” Lebanon said and Greaves cleared his throat. “You nearly killed him.”

“I regret my actions,” he said. “Had I known this was all a… misunderstanding, I would not have given the order to kill.”

“You shouldn’t have to begin with!” I shouted but Zion put a hand on my shoulder.

This time I stayed quiet, though, and let him slide his arm around me.

“For now, you’ll go spend a week or two in our kingdom,” Lebanon said and he looked up in surprise. “In our dungeons,” he added and Greaves’ face fell. “Go on.”

The two guards that came with Greaves led him up the stairs to the painting that led to the palace. I took a few deep breaths and Lebanon smiled at me.

“You did well. I’m proud of you.”

“It’s not too late for me to go rip him apart,” I said through clenched teeth and they all looked nervous. “It’s still me, I promise,” I added quickly.

Zion had told me that they didn’t realize my vampire had taken over until it was too late. Both times I looked normal until I had already killed or had murder on my mind. That’s when the change made itself known. By then I was terrifying and was close to not listening to reason. The only person to ever get me out of it was Zion.

“So,” I said, breaking the silence. “What now?”

“Now I go home,” Eavana said, putting her hands on her lower back in discomfort.

I smiled sympathetically. “I’m sorry our bed wasn’t very comfortable.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” she said. “No, it’s all this talk of war and threats that wore on me. I’m ready for some long rest.”

“Can we go?” I asked Zion.

He chuckled. “You do need to see the kingdom,” he agreed. “Though, I think we should wait.”

“Why?”

Kassandra pulled her dress tighter and I gasped. Though they had succeeded in getting pregnant, her dresses had always hidden the bump. Now we could see it and Heather had started making plans. Kassandra could barely walk without tripping over Heather who was making sure everything was right.

“Is it hurting?” Heather asked on cue and Kassandra giggled as Heather fussed with her stomach. “Because if it is, I can make that soup again and-.”

“I was just showing Aviel, Heather,” Kassandra said in a soothing voice and Heather sighed in relief.

“Wait,” Tomas said, doing a double take. “Wait. How did you get pregnant!?” Everyone laughed and he frowned. “I don’t get it. Did someone cast a spell that made every female get pregnant in this house!?”

We all laughed again but I felt a hint of sadness. Zion picked up on it and led me upstairs to my study. It would be our last night sleeping in it and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to be in my own bed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling me in for a hug.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I just need to get over it.”

He kissed me gently. “You can’t just ‘get over’ something like this, Aviel. But you’re not alone.”

I smiled at him. “Are you going to tell Tomas about how Kassandra got pregnant?”

“Nope,” he said. “Now come on. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

We got dressed for bed but I couldn’t sleep right away. I stared up at the ceiling as Zion snored gently beside me. Something felt… strange. I couldn’t tell what it was nor could I tell if it was something bad. I considered talking to Zion about it but he was so relieved everything was over that I didn’t want to worry him again.

The next morning, Lebanon and Eavana were standing outside of the painting in Zion’s office. Eavana was crying as she hugged me so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

“Need… air…” I managed and she laughed.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she sniffled. “I just don’t want to leave!”

Lebanon was laughing. “I know, sweetheart. We’ll see them again soon, though.”

“Let us know when my little sibling is born,” Zion said as Lebanon activated the painting. He tossed one of their bags through. “We’ll come visit.”

“Of course,” Eavana said. “Take care, you two,” she added to Heather and Kassandra.

Tomas had recovered his crown from Zion’s desk and was making sure it was perfect on top of my head. I arched a brow. He was arrogant but I never saw him be so careful about his appearance.

“Meeting someone back home,” he grunted and I started to laugh. “Shut up.”

“Is Tomas falling in love?” I teased.

He stood much too close. “Well, they say you can love more than once.”

“Back off,” Zion snapped, shoving his shoulder.

“Fair enough,” Tomas said. “Until next time,” he said to me, winking.

I just rolled my eyes as he shook Zion’s hand. I was glad to see that things were getting better between the two of them. Though they still had a mutual somewhat hatred for each other, they didn’t look close to murdering each other anymore.

Once everyone was gone, I went back to my office to rearrange it. Zion was off doing whatever it was that he had planned on. He wouldn’t tell me and I was pretty certain he was planning some kind of surprise.

I got out the journal I had started when I first married Zion and opened it to the newest page. I was surprised to see it was near the end. I was also a little disappointed; that meant I’d have to find another one somewhere.

We were allowed to leave the property again, though. Apparently, the men I had killed were the main men who started this all. Lebanon had teased me without end about how I stole his chance to show people that you can’t cause trouble with his family. I was still mortified by what I had done. Zion warned me that I would get the memories back over time but I still hadn’t been prepared for them when they happened. I had nightmares for several nights. Zion was there for me, though, and that made it easier.

Just before dinner, Zion knocked on my door. I smiled but he blindfolded me.

“Hey,” I complained. “I can’t see.”

“That’s the point,” he said and I could almost see him roll his eyes.

“I’m not walking if I can’t see where I’m going,” I said indignantly when he pulled on my arm.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Then let me lead you.”

I sighed and gave in. We walked down the stairs slowly and someone put my cloak on for me. The front door opened and I gasped at the sudden gust of cold air. Zion led me down the front stairs carefully and we walked until we got to the barn. He lifted me onto my horse and I gripped Pitch’s saddle horn tightly. I squeaked as the horses lurched forward and Zion laughed at me.

“Shut up.”

He just laughed again. The night felt peaceful and I yawned.

“Don’t you fall asleep,” he said.

“Well, if you’d tell me where we’re going-.”

“We’re almost there,” he said. “Stay awake now. I worked hard on this.”

I scoffed and continued on in silence.

We stopped and Zion helped me off of Pitch. He led me a few steps in then stopped.

“Here we are,” he said and took my blindfold off with a flourish.

“Aww, Zion,” I crowed and he beamed.

He had set up a small dinner for us by a lake I never knew we had. He helped me into my chair and I opened the cloche. It was all my favorite food and I looked at him, curious.

“After everything that happened,” he said, holding my hand, “I wanted you to know how much you mean to me. I truly do love you, Aviel, and I don’t care what hardships we go through. I will always be here for you.”

I smiled and kissed his fingers.

“I love you, too, Zion,” I said and he held up his goblet of wine.

“To peace,” he said. “At long last.”

I smiled more. “To love.”