Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Hello, my precious Halun. My dutiful son. My wild one. I hope it feels like a solace to hear my voice right now rather than a source of pain. Because you have brought me so much joy in my life, from the moment I found out you were inside of me. Your first smile, your first word, your first step. I hold each of those moments in my heart like a treasure. You returning from your first hunt, your first royal duties, all the stepping stones that have led to you becoming the incredible male you are. And the amazing king you will soon be.”
I feel him flinch at that, but I don’t interrupt his mother's last words to ask why.
Fate brought you to Earth where your mate awaited you just as much as it is calling me for to come to a planet I’ve never seen, but I know will be my resting place. Fate is what we all live by, the strings that wrap around us and weave throughout our lives as we grow, as we find our mates, as we begin our families and watch our children begin to live their own lives and carry out their own fates. Fate is what gave me your father, you and your brother and sister, my grandchildren, and it is also what will join me with your father again. Fate has given me a life that has kept me smiling, and when I did cry, it was only tears of joy. You remember that when you think of me, Halun. You remember what a life I had, because … what a life it was, son.
Always appreciate the gift of the warrior sitting beside you right now giving you her heart, and don’t be too stubborn to let others help you when you’ll need it in your duties to come. You have always made me proud, and I know you will continue to do so.
Until we meet again, Halun.
Silence fills the room after the message ends. I won’t speak until he does. Until I know he’s processed all that he’s heard. Until I know his heart has settled. But then his hand finally loosens its grip on mine, and without words, I know his mother’s words have hit him right where they were intended to.
“It was …” he says, voice low. “It was everything I needed.”
“Her voice is so gentle, so soothing.”
He smiles. “Even when she was reprimanding me and my siblings, it would stay just the same.”
“Which only made you feel all the more guilty.”
“Exactly.” He chuckles, and oh, how I savor that sound. “She reminded me of all the reasons to celebrate her life instead of mourning her death. And she pointed out some things that are coming faster than I expected without making them plainly obvious.”
My brows furrow, not quite understanding, but before I can ask about his meaning, he begins to rise from the bed, pulling on my hand to bring me up with him.
“I went to Bothaki and asked him to give us five turns of the moon to ourselves. Just you and me. You were right. I … I need to grieve without feeling like I’m letting people down by taking that time. I need time.”
“Let’s go, then.”
He places the tablet on the table and stares at it for a moment before nodding and bringing the back of my hand to his lips.
“Let’s go.”
THIRTEEN
The rock ledge I’ve called home for the changes of five moons isn’t any more comfortable now as I finally ready to stand again than it was when I first sat down to regard the skies. Far in the distance, where the glow of the palace and the city lights the mountaintop, I still hear the drums. They’ve beat day in and day out for my mother once her passing was announced. A solitary, low rumble of pain that carries down the mountainside for every Hallan to hear.
The queen is dead.
My mother is gone.
For as long as Luna could manage it and the weather stayed pleasant, she sat beside me for another long sit to stew in my pain. As I watched the mountainside in the distance, knowing word of my mother’s death was traveling, I showed memory after memory of my mother to Luna because remembering Jozay’s life was far less painful to do than accepting her death.
I considered not showing my mate more when she started crying after I showed her a memory passed onto me from my father a long time ago. Despite that, I never forgot it, knowing that snapshot in time that I was able to witness through my father’s eyes was sacred. Mere minutes after my birth. Still wet from my mother’s waters and blood with Hallan soil sticking to my back. My mother held me and stared up at my father, smiling and teary-eyed.