Chapter 535: 535: Scarlet Vows III
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He stayed in the egg chamber until the worst of the frantic hatching settled into something like a rhythm. Watching the steady rise of new life did something strange to the tight knot in his chest. It did not erase the weight of the dead above, but it changed the balance, just a little.
The mountain breathes, he thought. The mountain bleeds. The mountain hatches.
By the time he climbed back toward the upper levels, the sun had slid down behind the desert's distant ridges. Evening bled into night. Torches burned brighter. The earlier frantic energy had sagged into a heavy, worn quiet.
He had half expected to be ambushed by someone before he reached his chambers. Luna, demanding to poke at his ribs again. Shadeclaw, wanting more orders. Miryam, radiating prickly jealousy.
Instead, his path stayed unexpectedly clear.
Until he opened the door to his room.
Mia stood in the middle of it.
The Scarlet princess had left her armor behind. She wore a simple tunic and wrapped skirt in deep, rich red, the color of fresh wax and old banners, belted tight at the waist. Her hair, usually braided up for battle, fell loose around her shoulders, dark strands brushing the line of her collarbones. Her antennae were pulled close, betraying tension she probably thought she hid.
She had not lit many lamps. The room was mostly shadowed, touched by the warm, low glow of a single oil dish on his table. It made the silver of her eyes stand out.
"Kai," she said.
He shut the door behind him.
"Mia," he returned. "You should be resting."
Her mouth twitched. "So should you," she said. "You look… different."
"Less broken?" he suggested. "I had help."
She looked him up and down, taking in the easy way he moved, the lack of bandages peeking under his clothes.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Less broken. And more… something. Taller, maybe. Or just heavier in the air."
He leaned against the stone near the door, giving her room.
"You wanted to talk," he said. "You sent Miryam to tell the guards not to let anyone else in."
She flushed faintly. "She was very smug about it," Mia admitted. "I thought she might bite me if I did not phrase the request correctly."
"That sounds like her," Kai said dryly.
Silence stretched between them for a heartbeat, taut and full.
Then Mia drew in a breath that hitched just a little on the way out.
"You have grown so much," she said. "When I first saw you, you were barely two stars. An odd, stubborn ant who thought he could take on the world if he just pushed hard enough."
Her gaze held his, steady now.
"In less than a year you became this," she went on. "A seven star mountain Lord who stands in a circle with an eighth star general and does not die. Do you know how insane that is by our standards?"
"I have been getting that a lot," Kai said. "I am starting to think I should stop doing impressive things and go back to digging tunnels."
A small laugh escaped her, quick and sharp. It eased something in the room.
He pushed off the wall and stepped closer, not too close yet.
"Princess Mia," he said, feeling his heart thump harder than it had when Vorak's fists were flying. "Stay."
She blinked. "I am standing right here," she said.
"I mean here," Kai said, sweeping a hand to indicate more than the room. "In this mountain. With me. Stay in my hive. Not as a guest we are afraid to touch because your court has too many knives. Stay as… part of this place."
Her eyes widened, then narrowed, suspicion and something more fragile warring.
"Why should I?" she asked. "You already have so many girls. Wives. Concubines. Soldiers. Miryam... Why would you need me?"
He did not hesitate.
"Mia," he said, "you were the first."
Color jumped into her cheeks.
"The first what?" she asked, trying for tart and failing to keep her voice steady.
"The first one I fell for," he said simply. "The first time I saw you, in the Scarlet kingdom, half ready to put a spear through my chest just by your beauty, I thought this was going to be a problem. And I was right. You have been a problem for my thoughts ever since."
She made a small, strangled sound.
"You cannot just say things like that," she said. "It is embarrassing."
"You asked," he said. "Or at least you implied."
She stared at him, then looked away, arms crossing over her chest more like a shield than a pose.
"In the Scarlet kingdom," she said slowly, "you saw me bathing. Twice. You turned around so fast you almost fell over. You never said anything from your heart. You just pretended it had never happened."
Heat crawled up his neck.
"That was a mistake," he admitted. "The walking in part, not the turning around. And you had guards. And a court. And nine different royals who would have happily used your feelings against you. I did not say anything because if I had, it might have gotten me killed."
He stepped closer. The air between them felt warmer.
"But Mia," he said, voice dropping, "there is a place in my chest that only belongs to you. No matter how many wives or concubines I collect by accident or terrible timing. That piece is yours. It has been since you yelled at me for bleeding on your courtyard."
Her face went very red very fast.
For a moment she looked like she might actually bolt.
"I— this is," she stammered. "You cannot just… say you have a special place and expect me to know what to do with it."
She turned as if to flee toward the door.
He moved faster.
Kai stepped in, reached out, and caught her gently around the waist before she could get past him. He drew her back against his chest in a careful, firm embrace, mindful of old bruises and his own still - settling strength.
She stiffened for a heartbeat, every instinct screaming at her to turn and hit him.
(Note: A new book is out about the Blood God / Lord. The man who promised Kai to help from the gods world. Check it out... I tagged the book below 👇👇👇)