Part 26 (1/2)
rapidly. ”You were still quite young.””Oh, Aldorsk,” Jared whispered with a melancholy sigh, ”I never thought to hear you speak lies to me.Not you. Not ever.”
For long seconds they simply regarded each other in silence; Aldorsk knew now that Jared haddiscovered the truth, but he clearly wasn't sure just how much of the facts Jared had ferreted out.”You erased my memories of Kelsey Wells-did you not?”Aldorsk dropped his head, but made no answer.”Did you not, Councilor?” Jared allowed his fury to gain life. ”Answer me!”
”Yes, my king,” came Aldorsk's hoa.r.s.e, quiet reply, his eyes still downcast.”I could expel you from this council for treason.” The elders had violated him-and Kelsey-by this act,which was all the more shameful because Jared had never allowed his heart to guide him in life, hadfaithfully served the Refarian people. Except in this one thing: his love for Kelsey. It was the man beforehim-the man he'd trusted more than any other-who had taken that love from him.
”I had to protect you. It was my role to watch over you.””You were not my protector-you were my councilor.”
Aldorsk dared to lift his head, and Jared glimpsed something in his eyes, but only for a moment, before he quietly said, ”Sabrina was gone and you had no other protector- it had to be me.”
”So this was not the council's doing?” Jared asked.
”I acted alone.”
Jared sat up in his chair. ”I loved Kelsey. If you wanted to protect me, then you should not have stolen her from me! All these years, all this time...” Jared sputtered for a moment, dropping his head into his hands. A terrible wave of grief crashed over him, and for a brief moment he recalled sitting with her long ago by the lake, when they'd been on the brink of his awakening.
”You have found her?” Aldorsk asked, his voice solemn.
Jared dropped his hands away from his face. ”Yes, I have found her. I might never have done so, if it
were up to you. How could you think that was protection? What sort of protection steals love? Takes my heart, where it's beating in my chest, and yanks it out of me... ?”
”You were young, so very young. Your awakening was a delicate time, what with the need for an heir-”
Jared slammed his fist down onto the armrest of the data portal. ”A need that remains unmet to this very
day!”
”Looking back, I have come to consider that my decision was not in your long-term best interests. I have had cause to reflect upon that.”
”State your meaning.” Jared ground his back teeth together, the swell of anger almost more than he could
bear.
”I believe you never married Thea because your heart recognized that another waited for you. Even if you did not remember, you knew it intuitively.”
”Marrying Thea has never felt right,” he said softly.
Aldorsk nodded gravely. ”The memory tie between the both of you was more powerful than even I
realized. I apologize, my king, and beg your forgiveness. I was wrong-but I did it because I cared for you.”
”You cared only for the succession!”
”No,” Aldorsk answered quietly, ”I cared for you. I have no sons, as you well know, and have always regarded you as such.”
Jared slumped back in the chair, suddenly exhausted by the volatile discussion. ”Then you will champion our marriage before the council,” he said with a sigh. ”It is the least that can be done.”
Aldorsk shook his head, confused. ”You plan to-”
”We are lifemated. Already. I need someone to speak for us in chambers today, to support our union.”
”There will be extreme opposition.”
Jared speared him with a glance. ”And fervent support from my chief councilor.”
”You can expect nothing less from me.”
”Good,” Jared said, still angry, but finding somehow that the fuel behind his fury had dissipated already. After all, nothing could bring back those lost years with Kelsey, and nothing-except perhaps time- could heal those missing memories.
Right now, he had but one remaining concern: to rally the elders to his side so they would sanction his union with Kelsey.
Jared paced nervously outside the meeting chamber, attempting to put on a brave face for Kelsey while they waited for the elders to call him back to chambers. She was obviously trying to do the same for him, yet every time she tried to smile at him, her mouth instead pulled into a tight line of worry.
”Stop it,” he urged under his breath, reaching for her hand and giving it a light squeeze.
”What's taking so long?” She glanced at the closed chamber door. ”You said they would do whatever you wanted. You're the king, right?”
”Urn, yes, Kelsey,” he agreed with a smile, ”I am the king.” His soft laughter died on his lips, though, when he saw tears swimming in her eyes.
”What if they won't let us? I mean, can they not let you? Can they somehow refuse to marry us or something? Or make it really h.e.l.lish and horrible so that we'll wish we never wanted to get married? They might do that, right?”
With a quick glance about them, he drew her into his arms. ”Kelsey, this is a formality. It is wartime; I am in exile. What do traditions even matter anymore? Beyond” that, the council may voice its objections, and I will hear them, but it is my choice. Mine. They follow me, not vice versa. Our elders, while sometimes aggravating, are good people.”
”They tried to separate us,” she reminded him softly. ”And they might have gotten away with it.” She reached out and slowly stroked her fingertips along the warm skin of his wrist, reminding him of his royal emblem-their one pure memory they had both reclaimed.
”Elder Aldorsk acted alone-it was not the council's doing.”
”Still I can't forgive him for stealing you from me for all those years.”
”I haven't forgiven him either, but today I have only one concern: my marriage to you, and he has promised to argue on our behalf before the council. For that support, I am grateful.”
”So we have one supporter? Only one?”
”He is the most powerful of my councilors,” he rea.s.sured her, ”and despite the evidence, he is a very good man. He has always served me very faithfully.”
”But then why did they want to meet in private?” she asked, her pale eyes ringed with panic.
”Because royal marriages are always quite complicated- not just on my planet, but here on yours as well, from what I've seen of your history. My council isn't happy; we should prepare ourselves for that. But they know as well as I do that Thea might yet marry and produce the heir that I have not.” He hesitated, staring at his booted feet. ”Well, that we might...”