10 Chapter Nine

The stables, as Nemyria soon discovered, smelled just like the streets.

Horrible.

That's it. That's all they both were. Just horrible.

She didn't mind too much, however. After all, she had lived on the streets for the past few years.

Tiberius, however, did mind.

"My goodness. Do they not clean the stables?"

Gavrynn rolled his eyes. "Horses don't just stop smelling, Tiberius."

"Then clean the horses, too," the king said, "See, this is why I stopped riding."

"Because it's too dirty for you?" Nemyria questioned.

"Because I don't want to end up smelling like horseshit," Tiberius said.

"You're full enough of it as it is," Gavrynn mumbled.

Nemyria snorted. Tiberius frowned.

"Well, you may not enjoy riding, but I certainly want to try it," Nemyria said.

"I'll see about setting something up, then," Tiberius said.

She smiled, and he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Might I have my own horse?"

"I'll find you the best horse on the continent," the king replied.

Her grin grew, and she offered him a nuzzle.

"Where would you like to go next, my love?" Tiberius asked.

"Eager to get away from the smell?" Nemyria teased, raising a playful brow.

"Maybe just a little," he replied.

"Well, that explains why you didn't want to stick around long before my bath," she said.

"Speaking of which, I'm thinking of giving you another soon," he said.

"No,"she almost snapped.

He held his hands up in defeat.

"I want to go to the barracks," she said.

Tiberius paused. Blinking, he looked to Gavrynn, who said, "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" Nemyria questioned.

"Because if you get hurt by a stray arrow or a blade slipping from someone's hand, it's my head," Gavrynn snarled.

"And?"

The guard's frown deepened. She crossed her arms, her tail waving.

"I want to go."

"No."

"I-,"

"It's the barracks. People fight and train there. That's all you need to know," Gavrynn said.

"I still want to see what it looks like," she argued.

"Why?" Tiberius asked.

"Because, as a kid, I always wanted to see the barracks, maybe train there to be a guard or a part of the army. At least, that was until I discovered you didn't take half-breed bastards born in other nations," Nemyria said.

Tiberius frowned. "Yes we do."

Gavrynn coughed quite pointedly. Tiberius blinked. "We don't?"

"I take it you haven't reviewed our laws in a while," Gavrynn said.

"Well, I didn't think we had anything that stupid," Tiberius argued.

"You have a meeting at noon. You could discuss it then," Gavrynn offered.

"Indeed I will," Tiberius said.

The conversation hit a stalemate, a silence flooding in. Nemyria chased it away quickly.

"So, the barracks?"

With a sigh, Tiberius gave in, and he led her away.

Soon enough, Nemyria found herself admiring a rack of plain- yet efficient- weaponry while a few groups of trainees battled in the background.

She'd still prefer her claws and teeth over any other weapon, but she could not deny that the shiny weapons were quite pretty.

"See anything you like?" Tiberius asked, walking up behind her.

A hand glided over her back, to her hip, and Tiberius placed himself at her side.

"Not as much as these," she replied, letting her claws slide out to their full length.

"Feral beast," he snorted.

"Yes, but I'm your feral beast," she replied, the corner of her lip twitching into a smirk.

He grinned, and he leaned down to whisper something quite fowl into her ear, but was cut off by a feminine but harsh voice.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Your future queen, you pissy bitch," Gavrynn replied.

Nemyria turned to find a female vampire with curly red hair and eyes to match, glaring her down.

"Is she now, you cowardice bastard," the female responded, her gaze focused on Nemyria.

"Indeed she is," Tiberius said, "Meet Nemyria, my feral bastard."

She chuckled, and leaned her head on his chest. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to her hair.

She could get used to this.

The female frowned. "She looks awfully stick-like."

"Well, I was picked up of the streets," Nemyria offered.

"Ah. A rat, then. For a moment there I mistaked you for a dog," the female said.

Nemyria snorted, amused.

Gavrynn rolled his eyes. "Hello, Crimson."

"Hello, Gavvy," she replied, almost teasing him.

"How the husband?"

Nemyria blinked. That female had a husband?

"Oh, pissy as ever," she replied.

Gavrynn snorted, mumbling something about how she's just as pissy, if not more so.

Crimson rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I'm just hoping he'll finally bother to come to bed for the first time in two months."

"Yeah, good luck," Gavryn said, huffing out a laugh.

It was hardly visible, but some hope flickered out of Crimson's eyes, a sadness replacing it. A spark of suspicion bloomed in Nemyria's chest.

"Oh, whatever. Not like the bastard cares enough to show up anyway," she mumbled, waving it off, "I'm going back to work."

Gavrynn waved her off. She offered them a wave before returning to her group of what Nemyria assumed to be trainees. Gavrynn looked after her for a moment longer than necessary, and that suspicion grew.

Tiberius, however, didn't batt an eye at it.

"So," Nemyria asked, "Who's her husband?"

With a shrug, Gavrynn replied, "Some prick that doesn't treat her like he should."

Nemyria raised a brow at the sadness that flickered to life in his eyes, and Tiberius explained.

"Gavvy here was friends with Crimson while they were in school. A bit competitive, yes, but friends nonetheless. Gavvy had a bit of a crush on her, too, until he found out she'd be killed if they ever fell in love," Tiberius said.

"Oh," Nemyria whispered, that suspicion disappearing.

"If he'd been allowed to marry, he'd have married her, probably," Tiberius said.

Nemyria nodded, a bit of sadness blooming in her chest.

That explained it, why he thought the girl wasn't treated right. He probably thought he could have done better. Probably would have done better.

But because this nation was so damn loveless, he'd never have that.

Anger replaced that sadness, and she might have snapped at Tiberius, had Gavrynn not mumbled, "You have a meeting, Toby."

He blinked. Looking to the sun, he said, "Ah. Right. Oops. Well, I'll see you later, my lovely Nemyria."

He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and slipped away before she could snap at him. Instead, she chose to glare at him as he walked off.

"Nemyria," Gavrynn said, pulling her from her thoughts.

"What?" She snapped, turning her attention to him.

"Would you like to return to your room?" Gavrynn asked.

Nemyria paused. Gavrynn wouldn't meet her gaze, but she did see enough emotion in his eyes to tell her he wanted to leave.

"Oh, I suppose so," she replied, "I am starting to get a bit tired."

He nodded, and quickly led her away. The walk back to her room was silent, a silence that shifted into discomfort. Upon arriving to her room, Nemyria curled up in her bed, and Gavrynn again took up a place in the corner. Quiet, Nemyria waited for him to speak.

For the longest time, he remained quiet. Then, finally, he mumbled, "Are you going to say something?"

"I was waiting for you to say something, actually," Nemyria replied.

"What's there to say? I had this stupid notion that I might fall in love when I was younger, I found out that was never going to happen, and the woman I had an interest in married some bastard," Gavrynn said.

"And that makes you sad," she said.

"So what if it does?" Gavrynn questioned, pain and anger flashing in his eyes.

"If it does, then that upsets me. You're my friend, Gavrynn," Nemyria said.

The guard ground his teeth together, taking in a calming breath. The anger fading, he said lowly, "Well, it doesn't matter now, now does it? It's not like you could do shit about it."

"I could try to do something about it," Nemyria offered.

Gavrynn scoffed. "Do what? You have no power here. You won't have any power until you and my brother get married. Even then, I have no idea if he'll even surrender any of his power to you."

"I would be the queen," Nemyria said, "And I would still have no power?"

"I'm a prince, and I have nothing," Gavrynn said, "Tiberius doesn't exactly give power up, Nemyria."

She hummed, a bit of a scheme forming in the back of her mind. Quickly, however, she scolded herself for it, and pushed the thoughts away.

"So, did she get married upon your request, or did she do it of her own accord?" Nemyria asked.

Gaveynn stiffened. "What?"

"Oh, forgive me. The fae part of me likes to come up with outlandish theories. I can't help but wonder if you asked her to marry someone so that she wouldn't be harmed for ever loving you," Nemyria said, meeting his gaze.

He narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth.

"Do you think me that selfish?"

"I don't think it's selfish at all to want to save a life, and to sacrifice your love for it," she said, "In fact, I find that a noble sacrifice."

Gavrynn fell silent. The animosity left his eyes, and he lowered his head.

"Well?" Nemyria asked.

"I made sure it was someone she wanted to marry," Gavrynn said.

"Ah, so it's a mix of both," Nemyria said.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry, Gavrynn," she said.

He lifted a brow.

"I'm sorry that she was taken from you because of these stupid laws," Nemyria added.

"I- thanks," Gavrynn replied.

She dipped her head, then lowered it onto her pillow. A silence almost settled between them again, before Nemyria said, "So, anything lighter you want to talk about?"

Gavrynn rolled his eyes. "No, I don't. Now go to bed."

"Goodnight, Gavvy," she replied, grinning.

He sighed, but did not reply. Chuckling, she closed her eyes. Exhaustion soon took over, and she drifted into the land of sleep.