Morning turned to evening and Matthew's power surge remained. His eyes refused to turn back to the blood red. By sunset Myrina's blush had become a permanent colour on her face. They were both well sated. Matthew commanded a bath to be prepared for them. While the servants prepared the bath Matthew continued to whisper sweet nothings to Myrina's ears.
"Will I be sharing your quarters permanently, master?" Myrina asked innocently.
Matthew smirked. He nodded. He couldn't imagine his bed without this sweet girl. Her hands roamed freely above his chest and a flash of light flared in his eyes. Myrina was startled and moved back.
"Your eyes!" she exclaimed.
"What about my eyes? Are they back to red?" Matthew asked, curious by her shock.
When Matthew looked into Myrina's eyes they were glowing a bright white. Myrina wordlessly pointed to a polished silver mirror near the window. Matthew walked up to the mirror and took in the light in his eyes. An audible gasp left him. He looked back at Myrina and realization hit him hard. Matthew focused on his hands and an orb of light took shape inside it. Then just as the light appeared it was easily extinguished.
Matthew rushed to his bed and showered kisses on his destined mate. Another round of lovemaking ensued. He knew human slaves were in the adjoining chamber. He could hear their heartbeats as they knew another human slave was being ravished by their crown prince. He commanded them to leave. The bath was yet not set up but his urges took precedence.
"What?" Myrina asked, once they left.
"Do you remember how I told you that I am the royal crown prince?" he asked.
Myrina nodded.
"It means that one day I am going to become the King," he explained.
Myrina smiled. Of course she could make that connection, she wasn't stupid.
"That day, you are going to become the queen and we are going to reconcile our two races once and for all," Matthew promised.
A frown appeared on Myrina's forehead. "I don't understand. I am your slave." she reminded him.
"No, Myrina. You are my destined mate, the only creature in this universe, capable of bearing me an heir. If you die I immediately turn to dust. You are my greatest hope and my greatest weakness. The light that you see is my element. Every royal is assigned an element at birth but the mating curse keeps it locked away till a royal drinks from his destined mate. It manifests only when the mating is complete, as it is now. You are as much a royal now as I am. You are a part of me." he explained.
Myrina's breath hitched in her throat. "But what about your betrothed. What will you tell your people about my origin?" Myrina questioned.
"My people will be satisfied in knowing that you are my destined mate. As far as Zoya is concerned, she is a great friend. When she realizes what you are to me she will insist that I not marry her. Bond between destined mates are too strong for anyone else to compete with." Saying such he took out a ring and gave it to Myrina. She protested saying that it wouldn't fit but it shrunk to her finger. "It is a family magic. This ring will only fit one who belongs to the Bellini household and now you are a part of it." he announced.
The covens had not given up on their plans to decimate the royal forces. They had found a child, one of Sia's human daughters, who was to be sacrificed on the night of the eclipse. When the morning came the tremors were first felt on the war front where royals collapsed one by one. What the mating curse had taken away was elemental control and procreation. What this new spell did was take away the strength and speed of the royals, rendering them almost human. The only thing that now differentiated a royal from a human was their diet and lifespan.
Thomas felt the effect first. Being the king he was the prime target of the spell. He welcomed the curse and embraced the weakness. He wondered how Sylvia, his queen would react to this state of powerlessness. Sylvia had always craved for power. To even survive in this war he needed his best soldier but Jesse was already too old to fight. Also Matthew would never let Jesse go alone to war. So that had to be the second best warrior he knew which also happened to be his son. King Thomas ordered his son and his guards to present themselves at the battlefield. It would take a fortnight for the message to reach the palace though. The curse reached the palace first.
"Jesse, I need a favour," Matthew asked.
"You are the crown prince. You have the power to grant favours." Jesse pointed out. He was growing impatient with the royal who continued to display adolescent behavior despite being four times as old as him.
"I need the slave matron to sanction Myrina's stay in my quarters." he insisted.
"Declare her as your concubine or start a harem with her at the helm. Do you consider that too much an honour for her?" Jesse questioned. Such delinquent behaviour would be nothing new for a royal.
"I can't degrade her so." Matthew explained.
"Then why not put her up with the other slaves." Jesse questioned.
"Slaves aren't safe in the slave quarters." Matthew reminded. More often then not slaves are required to substitute for other blood slaves in the situations where they are sick and many royals had no inhibitions about sucking a human dry.
"That is the life of a slave. When my father disowned me I had to realize the life a human like me gets in the capitol. When you give her up she would have to face it too. Myrina is not going to remain young and beautiful always. You will discard her and she needs to learn survival skills. So why not now?" Jesse questioned.
Matthew was taken aback by the angst that he had just displayed. "If Myrina dies, I die. My life is tied to her. She is my weakness, my mate." Matthew whispered to him, emphasizing each word. Jesse's eyes widened at the revelation.
"I thought that she was human." Jesse commented. It was unheard of- a royal having a human mate.
"She is mostly human," Matthew revealed.
"Only a small part of her is a witch but she hates them and she was never initiated into a coven. She ran away from it. Myrina and Mary are the same." Matthew continued at the dumbstruck expression on Jesse's face. He was taking a great risk by revealing so much to Jesse. But he needed a confidante too.
" I will protect her with my life," Jesse promised, answering his unvoiced doubts.
"I am counting on that."