Page 140 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

King Daemonikai regarded him for a long moment in silence. Then he inclined his head. “All I ask is that you consider it. That is the reason for my visit. If, in the end, you refuse, I will understand. We will follow the sacred traditions and selectanother bloodline worthy of the Northern Throne.” With that, the Grand King rose. “I have other engagements to attend.”

Herod stood and gave a respectful bow. “Thank you for your visit.”

King Daemonikai had nearly reached the door when he paused, glancing back over his shoulder.

“There is one question I have long wished to ask,” he said. “Why did your mother leave the Citadel? Why would a good female like Naila abandon her bondmate—who fought on the frontlines for the good of the kingdom—over gold?”

“Contrary to the rumors, my mother did not steal the family wealth. Those were lies, begun and spread by our own clan,” Herod stated in a cool voice. “She was pregnant with me when she fled in the middle of the night because her life was in danger. She was poisoned repeatedly, and had she not been skilled with herbs and plants, recognizing the scent of those poisons in her food, she would have died long before she had the chance to run.”

The grand king remained attentive.

“But one time, she mistakenly ate one of those poisons that had no scent,” Herod's voice was quieter. “Only realizing it only after the first swallow, she was quick in finding an antidote. But after that narrow escape, she made the choice and ran to protect me.” He inhaled deeply. “With father away at war, he could not shield us—so she did it herself, for her life and for mine.”

Herod blinked, clearing the cloud of memory. “But their bond… it severed. She never meant for that to happen. At first, it only went dormant, but through grief—and the way she fled, making certain never to be found—it eventually broke.” Sadness was clear in his voice. “I suppose my father must have been heartbroken. Felt betrayed. That’s likely why he never came for her, not even after he returned from the war.”

There was only the hush.

King Daemonikai nodded slowly. “Thank you for sharing that.” He turned to the door but then paused. Again.

“I will say this now—not as a Grand King, but as someone who holds your best interests at heart. As one whose female has told him the kind of male you are. How deserving.”

Herod looked up, meeting the king’s softened gaze.

“I understand your hesitation, but I ask that you truly consider this,” he said. “I imagine you feel as though your life is behind you. Your bondmate is gone. Your son is grown, accomplished, living a life of his own. And so you ask yourself—what is left? Why take on the weight of the Northern Throne? Why endure the politics, the endless teachings, the burden of leaving behind everything you have known to reclaim an old name?" the grand king's eyes bored into him. "Why move into the fortress, re-learn the ways of governance, train again in the arts of war two thousand years too late, memorize the sacred texts that guide our rulers, and submit to the rituals required before you are crowned?”

Herod swallowed hard. How did the male know exactly what was in his mind?

The training of a Grand Ruler was arduous beyond imagining. The most demanding and unforgiving known to their people. Training began at birth and never ended. He was too old for this.

“I know you may feel your life has reached its twilight. That there is no more strength left in you to start again. But I ask you to reconsider. It may seem that the grief, the long loneliness, have drained you… yet two thousand years isnotold. There may yet be another female for you out there. One who is truly compatible, who may walk beside you as you begin again.”

Oh, how I wish for that.The ache in his chest deepened.

To have someone again to care for. To love and be loved. Someone who would color his world and keep the cold away.

“I know it is not easy. Believe me, I know this personally. But look at me, Herodis.” The grand king moved toward him, his expression open in a way Herod had rarely seen. “I am living proof that life does not end when we think it has, certain we’re too old. I, Daemonikai, am five thousand and two hundred years old, yet I have once more found a female I will not trade for anything in this world. She came at the most unexpected time and brought light back into my life. She filled it with color again.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Today, I feel younger than I have in an age. And I’m about to become a father again.”

Herod’s throat constricted, his heart too loaded to speak. Unable to meet the grand king’s eyes.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to remove you from your position as Lord of Agriculture,” King Daemonikai revealed. “I believed if Zaiper discovered your true identity, it would place you in danger. It troubled me for centuries… but you were too perfect at the post, giving me no cause to dismiss you, until two years ago.”

“Wait.” Herodis’s eyes boggled. “What happened with your female… that wasn’t the real reason my title was taken away?”

King Daemonikai snorted. “You protected my female, cared for her, helped her survive. Your deception angered me, yes, but even then, I wasthankfulto you.”

“Oh,” he… did not know what to think of that.

“Think deeply on everything I have said. The life you believed had come to its end may, in truth, be only just be beginning. It’s never too late to begin living again, Gustazlion Herodis Dragaxlov.”

With those final words, the grand king turned and walked away, the door closing behind him.

Herod stood unmoving, staring at nothing.

“Your Grace! It’s an honor to have you in our home,” he heard his son’s shout, his tone nervous and overly earnest. “Please, forgive my father all his transgressions, and do not take his life away. He truly doesn’t know any better. Wake him any day to speak of crops and farming, and you’ve found the right male—but when it comes to friendships, bonds, and boundaries… my father is stillterriblynaive. He doesn’t always realize when he crosses territories he should not.”

This boy…Herod grunted, shaking his head.He really does have a poor opinion of his old male.

He heard Daemonikai’s chuckle, low but not unkind. “Worry not, young Dale. I value your father’s friendship with my treasure. But you may teach him still—there is no shame in a son instructing his father.”

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