* * *
It feltodd to meet my mother at our house. I was so used to meeting her at the bakery. We spent far more time there than we’d ever had at our house anyway.
Still, she poured the tea as we crammed into our little townhome. Krew put a sound barrier around the four of us, extra guards standing outside the home just in case while Owen was with me as usual.
“So,” I offered as soon as the tea was all taken care of. “I didn’t get a chance to mention this while on the tour...”
She looked up at me and smiled.
Don’t torture the woman, just tell her already.
Rather than outright tell her, I held my palm out, letting my magic blow a slight breeze around her hair and then dissipate.
She gasped.
“You—You’re,” she paused, her eyes bulging. “I don’t believe it.”
“Surprise?” I offered.
Her eyes were still attempting to leave her head. “Were you already bonded when I saw you last?”
I gave her a nod. “Yes.”
“And I didn’t even notice?!” she asked, her voice going up an octave.
“Apparently not.”
“I am your mother,” she explained. “I thought I would have noticed.”
I took a tentative sip of my tea. “Well, as it turns out, I am still me.”
Krew reached over and took my hand, bringing it up to brush a kiss to it.
“Did the two of you getmarried?!”
Krew’s smile could be categorized as nothing but cocky. “Mrs. Demir, Jorah is horrible at explaining things as it turns out. Please allow me.”
She pressed her lips together as if to keep from laughing and gave him a nod.
And for the next twenty minutes, my moody and dark prince explained to my mother that yes, we were married. How sorry and apologetic he was that she couldn’t be there, but that we had moved things up after the fires in Nerede so that I wouldn’t have to feel helpless ever again. And that when we had our public wedding in front of Wylan, he promised she would not only be there, but be pampered and taken care of right alongside me. And then he even explained that we were soul bonded, not heart bonded. My mother almost fell out of her chair at that moment, but I was too caught in the moment of watching him carefully explain everything to my mother to laugh.
“So, Mrs. Demir,” he ended. “Your daughter and I are married. We are soul mates. And when we are not attempting to figure out how to remove my father from the throne, we are deliriously happy.”
“Well.” My mother put down her teacup calmly. But then she was moving, wrapping her arms around Krew and hugging him hard. “I am so happy for you both.” She moved from him to me. “Don’t you worry about me not being there. Your wedding ceremony is about the two of you, not anyone else.”
I wiped at my eyes, knowing she was right, but wishing she still could have been there all the same.
Krew must have felt what I had been thinking because he added,As soon as my father is gone, she will be at the castle with us.
“Oh, and Krew and I can sometimes feel one another’s thoughts and emotions,” I offered.
She sat back down, looking from one of us to the other.
“They talk telepathically too,” Owen offered from the window. “It is equal parts amazing and odd.”
“I—” she closed her mouth before opening it again. “I know nothing about soul bound couples, apparently.”
“Nor did I truly until I became half of one,” Krew provided.
