Elisia was surprised. Was that the reason he promised Mia that she be his queen because his mate was already dead?
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." She said in a gentle voice.
"It's fine. No one knows about it, just me." He said.
Elisia could feel the pain and loneliness in his voice.
"Why did you hide it from everyone?"
"I was a slave when I met her. She was the first one who didn't treat me like I was nothing. She was my first friend. I knew the moment I saw her that she was my mate. But I was a coward. I didn't tell her."
"But she should feel it too right? If she's really your mate, she would feel the same."
Thane chuckled. "Yeah. Maybe. But I think she was too young back then and didn't feel the mating pull."
"How did she die?" She asked.
He took a deep breath, and then glanced at Elisia.
"She was taken by demons."
Elisia frowned. "What do you mean?"
"My father was sentenced to die because of something he didn't do. He was blamed for my mate's disappearance. They said he sexually assaulted her, killed her and then buried her somewhere in Mirrikh. But that was a lie." He paused, then turned his gaze away from Elisia.
"The day my mate disappeared, father was in the Shadow Forest. He saw her taken by the demons. He tried to follow and stop them, but he was weak and no match for them. Someone knocked him off and he fell unconscious. When he woke up, he was already in prison. Slaves in Mirrikh had no right to ask for justice or mercy. There were no trials, when they said you are guilty, then you are. That's what happened to my father."
"So you didn't see the body? How can you say that she's dead? Did you try to find her? What if she's alive somewhere?" Elisia continued to ask.
Thane didn't answer. At some point, Elisia was right. When they said she was dead, he didn't look for her. He was a slave, yes, and he couldn't do anything in that status. But what about when he became king? Still, he didn't try to find her.
There was no body, no news about her after her disappearance. No one also claimed that she was someone's daughter. He was the only one who mourned for her.
He was young and powerless back then, but how about now? He looked at Elisia and saw hope in her eyes. For some reason, he loved being close to her. He searched for the woman who returned him to life, but he didn't even try to look for his mate. And what's worst, he slept with her, a demon princess.
"Can you try to look for her? We still have time. Maybe dying was not the only way to save you." Elisia said.
He sighed while staring at her beautiful face. If only she was her. Everything would not be so complicated. He thought inwardly.
"Why do you want me to find her? Once she's found, you will lose your position." He said.
Elisia hesitantly smiled. "We both know this is temporary. And that I am a fake. I'm here because of what I did."
"What about the things we did? I mean, the s—"
"The sex? Don't worry about it. It's normal for demons to have sex with someone, right? I'm not the only one who slept with a man. Most of my sisters slept with different men. That's not a big deal to us."
Thane frowned while looking directly into Elisia's eyes. What did she expect from a demon? Lust was no big deal for them. It was one of their sins, and one of the reasons they were thrown out from Caelum.
"So? Will you look for her?" She asked.
His lips curved a little. "Fine. I'll form a search party for her. But like I said, you have three chances. A day before the blood moon, you will try to turn back time, or if you have a way to kill me, then do it."
"What about decapitating you? You know, chopping your head off?" She asked.
"Do you think Desideres will allow that? Her magic will only repel all weapons that could hurt me. That was the reason I used wolfsbane."
Elisia nodded in agreement. "I'll try my best to do what you asked. But promise me you will find your mate. Maybe you didn't have to die."
Elisia felt like something was piercing her heart. It was just her pride as a woman, she thought. She was not hurt because there was a possibility that his mate was still alive.
Her place might someday belong to another woman. She might wake up one day without him next to her. Maybe she would be with Adrian or another man, and Thane and her would go their separate ways. That was their fate.
Her chest tightened because of her pride. Yes, she's a demon, but she took care of herself and didn't sleep with anyone other than Thane. That was the reason, right? She thought inwardly.
Ah! Lies! Again, she was pretending to be okay. She smiled again so he wouldn't notice that there was something on her mind.
"What did she look like? Do you have something that belonged to her?" She asked.
Thane frowned. "Why?"
"I can try tracking her if I have something she owned."
"You can do that?"
She nodded. "Yes. It's one of my powers."
"Yes, I have this." He then took out a ring hanging from his neck and handed it to Elisia.
"Are you sure this is hers?"
"Yes. She gave me that ring before she disappeared."
Elisia took the ring and meticulously checked the details of the carvings in it.
"Do you know what she is?"
"She's a Terran." He quickly answered.
"I–I don't think she's a mortal."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"T–The engraves on this ring belonged to the Dragon Clan. This design, I had seen this before."
"Where?"
Elisia looked at Thane. She wasn't sure if she would tell him. But seeing his anticipation, she took a sigh and then stared into his eyes.
"This is Asra's mark. My bestia."