Lerna realized that her man had sensory disorder. He found his mate after so long and he was struggling with his emotions just like her. She felt as if another bomb was about to explode in her heart at his situation. "You need to stay away from me for a few days?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"I can help you with your emotions, Rigel, if you let me help you," she breathed.
"You can't!" he replied, looking away from her.
"What do you mean?" she asked, bewildered.
"I want to go home and rectify the situation. I want to convince them that you belong to me, that it is impossible to break my mate bond with you. This is not how I had perceived living with my mate!"
"You wish to go to Orion Kingdom on your own?" A frown formed on her forehead.
"Yes. I want to see what is going on over there, Lerna. I am afraid--" he pursed his lips and walked to the window. He leaned against the ledge and closed his eyes. Why were things so difficult for him?
"Afraid of what?" she prodded him.
"I am afraid of my sister and her intentions. Last time when she was here, she barely talked to me and I was wondering what was going on with her. When I talked to my younger sister, she said that Ella is about to get married. Father was looking for a groom for her. They are in talks with the prince of Aquila."
"So?" she shrugged. "Isn't that a nice thing?"
"It is nice, only that I doubt her intentions. Why do I feel that taking your excuse she is going to convince father to remove me as his heir."
Lerna's lips parted as she gasped. Once again, she was filled with guilt. When Rigel saw her face, he rushed to her. "I told you it is not about you. It is about me. You don't have to feel guilty about it. Please Lerna." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Don't feel guilty."
"Then let me come with you," she said in a low voice as she placed her hands on his arms.
He shook his head. "That would be too dangerous."
"I can take care of myself, Rigel!" she argued.
"But you are safer here, love. Trust me, it's only a few days and I will be back for you. Let me just go and correct things back at Orion!"
Lerna was not convinced and her heart drowned in anxiety. What was she going to do without him?
That night Rigel and Lerna went to Eltanin's bedchamber and they talked about Felis. Eltanin was pretty open about his relationship with Felis. Leaving out a few details, he told everything else to Rigel.
"Calaman's horns!" Rigel exclaimed. "That bastard knew that you were his brother and yet he did all this to you?"
Eltanin shrugged. He picked up a grape and goat cheese cube from the tray of food and ate it. He gulped his wine down and said, "That one is twisted!" He glanced at Lerna who was listening to all this with complete attention.
"Felis never shared these details with me," she said. "I only knew one thing, which was to mate with twelve Alphas and produce more Nyxers and an heir for the Hydra Kingdom." A shudder passed through her when she remembered how Felis forced her to mate with the Alphas.
"Don't worry," Eltanin's eyes softened as his heart squeezed. "You are safe here."
Lerna's lips lifted in a smile. Then she yawned and stretched her limbs. "I am tired. It has been a long day..."
"You must sleep," Eltanin replied. "We can talk about it tomorrow."
Lerna nodded lightly. "I have a small request, Eltanin," she said in a low voice.
"Which is?"
"Can I continue with my education here? I was forced to leave it last year?" she said. "I also want to be trained in sword fight. Is that possible?"
"What? No!" Rigel said, not happy that she was ready to put herself into so much danger. "No sword-fight. You are too delicate!"
She blew her hair from her face and looked at him angrily. "I didn't ask you," she growled.
"But--"
She got up cutting him off. "I will take your leave now," she said and then walked out of their bedchamber. She let Rigel stay there because she was again angry with him. She wanted to go to Orion with him, and he was reluctant about it. Finally she gave up. She didn't have the energy to pursue the topic.
Rigel came right after her. The next she knew was that he scooped her up in his arms. She pushed against his chest and protested. "Put me down!"
He didn't say a word and continued to walk with her in his arms. He strode to his room and put her on the bed. "Why are you doing this, Lerna? You will hurt yourself and I will worry myself to death in Orion," he said as he crawled above her and caged her in between his hands and thighs.
"Then take me with you," she replied. "Why do you feel I am weak? I can take care of myself."
"You know I can't. I won't be able to bear the hatred of my parents and the people of my kingdom for you. Just give me a few days and I will just rectify the situation." He removed her hair from her forehead and kissed it. "Please, love. Trust me. I do feel something is going on in the kingdom."
Lerna let out a frustrated sigh. She looked away from him. He curled his fingers beneath her chin and forced her to look back at him. He lowered her lips on hers and lightly brushed them. Tingles rushed down to her toes. Against her lips he said, "I want to see both you and me happy in the future. If I don't go now, it will be too late."
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