54. Thinly Veiled

Astrid

"No, no and no."

I can't believe we're having this conversation. It's bonkers, or whatever humans say. "There shouldn't even be a duel. He's her mate for crying out loud. He has no right over her."

Rune sighs, fingers twining my hair to calm me. Queen Zephyr...well, she says nothing, staring out the window like the matter is of little consequence to her.

But then, she has been like this since my father-in-law's secret came to light. Closed, distant, quiet. The only time she ever smiles anymore is when she is with Ember. She doesn't even talk to her mate. She stopped sharing his bed that day.

For the revelries and the hearings, they act as one, but Rune and I, we see it all. We hear it as well. The arguments, her cries and shouts. She is hurt. Deeply.

The time frame dates back to way before she became King Fenrir's Erasthai, so I know that it is not the fact he had a child somewhere else that hurt her, but the fact that he could abandon him, and hide it from her.

It ta