Page 28 of Randall
I huffed and returned to Darvon’s side, the humans visibly relaxing now that I was no longer in their immediate vicinity. “It’s true. Prince Valter has chosen a vampire, Master Baron Cendres of Clan Onyx Ashes, and a wolf shifter, Alpha Duke Valen, heir to the wolf clan Pack Valen, as his mates. Both arepowerful men, and if those words had passed your lips in front of them, be assured you’d be dead right now, so I highly advise you to keep a civil tongue in your head.” I released the soldier from my spell, and he stumbled away, hiding behind his fellows, apologizing again.
“Thank you for sparing my soldier,” their leader said, taking a few steps closer. “My name is Lanter, and I am the captain of these men.” He bowed stiffly. “Please accept my apologies as well for his outburst.”
Lanter took another hesitant step forward, his voice dropping when he hesitantly asked, “Might I request your names to relay to my men?”
Folding my hands in front of me, I said, “My name is Randall DeCarin, Royal Magician of His Majesty, King Sulter. This is my mate, Prince Darvon Quicksilver, second in line to the throne of the Fae.”
Lanter quickly bowed. “My lord, Your Highness, again I apologize for our behavior. You’ve been nothing but kind, and we…”
Darvon darted to Lanter and pulled him upright. “Please, don’t apologize. We are simple men.” I scoffed, and my mate threw me a death glare. “We are. I hate all the court intricacies, and I think you do, too.”
“That is true,” I conceded, “but I’m anything but simple, and you are the same. We are not humans who only have their brains, brawn, and weapons at their disposal.”
“That doesn’t make them any less equal.”
My eyes widened at his bold statement. The Fae were known to place humans well below them in status, but it appeared my mate did not hold to that standard. I gazed at him with newfound respect.
“Do you agree, Randall? Or do you place these men of the sword one, two, three steps below you?” He stood in front of me, hands on his hips, and a frown marring the beauty of his face.
“You are right, Your Highness. I am unworthy.” Dramatically, I swept my arm out as I bowed low before him. “Forgive me, my love.”
Darvon huffed and shoved me off-balance. He laughed as I stumbled a step, gaping at him.
“Trickster,” I grumbled, smiling all the while.
“Noted,” he teased back.
Chapter 19
Darvon
What has come over me?
Darvon turned away from Randall, his cheeks hot, his heart racing. He’d reacted without thought, first helping the captain and then standing as the man’s champion. If Sylvan had seen, he would have thought Darvon sick or ill of mind.
Yet, he’d never taken the spouted words of the Fae who traveled between the lands to heart, their reports to his mother filled with disdain for the humans. She’d never countered their claims, which led Darvon to believe she felt the same. Instead, he listened to his father’s softer, kinder voice. Never had his father countered his mate, his queen, in public, but behind closed doors, late at night, his father would come to his rooms, and there they spoke earnestly into the wee hours of the morning.
While Darvon was sure his mother knew of and allowed their deep bond, his father assured him she was unaware of what they spoke about. Their father-son time, or whatever term shechose to call it, was sacred, and she never denied them the time together.
Darvon suspected it was because of Jarrah’s relationship with her. As heir to the throne, their mother had taken Jarrah fully under her wing, leaving Darvon to flutter in the wind once he was old enough not to hold on to her skirts. How many days had he raged at his brother for stealing their mother’s attention? How many nights had he cried because she no longer came when he called?
Until the day his father filled the gap. From that day forward, he hadn’t shed a tear for her. It was his father’s voice that he heard foremost, and he had told Darvon to respect humans, shifters, vampires, and any others that he should meet. He was the only one Darvon insisted on seeing before he left, the only one he said goodbye to. His father was also the only one he’d told about feeling a pull to leave. To find his mate. He was the only one who deserved to know, except for Sylvan.
“I wish I could take away whatever thought brought this sad expression to your face.” Randall cupped Darvon’s cheek.
Darvon shook his head minutely, unwilling to jar Randall’s touch, forcing a smile onto his face as he glanced at him. “It’s fine.”
His mate smoothed the pad of his thumb across Darvon’s lips. “Your secrets are safe from me for now, but once we are fully mated…”
Darvon grimaced and then shrugged. “I was just thinking about my father. We were… are… close.”
“Ah. You are lucky then.”
“How so?”
“Flynn’s parents gave him to the healer; mine gave me to King Sulter.”
Darvon gasped. “Gave you?”
