Chapter 28
[X] indicates inner speech
The room that Damien and his scouts had been given to stay in rivaled his room back home, and he thought that maybe if his father didn't completely disown him, then maybe they could renovate a little. The room was large and set up with one main common room and rooms for each of his scouts, then one for him. When the butlers had shown him to the room, they'd informed him that the double doors in his room lead to another room, that his mate would have stayed. Sighing he couldn't help but flop down on the sand colored couch and look up at the ceiling. He couldn't help but wonder what type of person his real mate was. Were they male or female? Did they enjoy flying? Reading? What about sword play?
Rolling to his side he couldn't help but close his eyes and instead of making an image of the person he hoped for, he reached his aether out looking for the other half of his soul. With ease he felt his mind attach to another's, as if it had been waiting for him for a lifetime and was eager to finally connect.
"Hello?" Damien whispered down the bond, hoping that whoever was on the other end would hear, but when there was no response his heart simply fell. Focusing harder, he could hear noises around them. People speaking all everywhere. It sounded like they were in a crowded restaurant, the sounds of plates being set down, things being chopped on a cutting board, different voices shouting orders.
If he remembered correctly, Jonathan had said that there were three royalty and one commoner that were born together. So, if Nyline and Gabriel were the royalty, then that would mean that the last person would be the commoner.
"Are you from Dunhule?" He asked, he felt an emotion shutter down the bond. As if the person had just realized that he was there. The emotion filled him, causing his heart rate to kick up, his breathing became uneven, and sweat broke out on his upper lip. Then he tasted it, worry and fear, on the other side of the bond. However, before he could look deeper into the emotion and understand why his true mate was so worried, the connection snapped leaving Damien to roll over and look back up the ceiling before he just ran his hands over his face.
That was stupid. He admitted to himself, hating himself just a little. He had just dropped into his real mate's mind for the first time, unannounced, and it probably really freaked them out. How else could he find them though? If he couldn't connect their minds, how was he supposed to do any of this. Nyline was now connected to Gabriel which, he hoped, meant that he was open for his real mate to connect with.
Well, it had sounded like they were in a restaurant, maybe they worked there? Or their families owned the place and they helped out? It could have also just been a trip out for the day, and they went out to eat. He paused; no, it had sounded like they were in a kitchen of some sorts, he had clearly heard the sound of a knife cutting into something and hitting a piece of wood.
The knock that came made Damien sit up suddenly and look at the door. He let out a breath, as he shouted. "Enter." It opened showing the set of butlers that had shown them to this room were back.
"We were sent to fetch you for dinner." The one on the right spoke as they both bowed to him. For a kingdom that didn't really care about etiquette all of their staff was extremely well trained. These two had the same uniform on as everyone else that he had seen on the landing strip, even down to having the same type of shoe. Honestly, Damien kind of loved it, his castle was organized however it seemed like Vaccoon was at a completely different level.
When the two stood he could see their blue eyes that seemed to glow softly as they looked at him expectantly. That part was what was really creeping him out, at first, he'd thought that it was just a trick of the light, but no, everyone's eyes glowed here.
Standing from the couch, Damien walked towards the door. "Thank you, lead the way please." He spoke in his calm princely tone. They bowed once more before they turned and started off down the hallway, Damien in tow. While walking, Damien couldn't help but let his mind trail off towards the mind he'd connected with. He felt like he'd known that mind after he'd thought on it for a little. It felt familiar, as if whoever was on the other side was some long-lost friend, or was that how the bond would feel when he first met them? God all of this was confusing.
"Ah, Damien, I'm happy to see that you made it." Gabriel spoke making Damien look up and see him walking down the hallway with his amazing butler next to him.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss this dinner," Damien paused looking around. "Is Nyline not with you?" Gabriel let out a long breath of air as he crossed his arms.
"She fell asleep," He confessed looking grumpy and Damien couldn't help but crack a grin.
"Why not wake her up?" He shook his head.
"We tried, as did her maids. She's out cold." The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, "Though I can tell you that she will tell you more than once that she is getting up, just not to move." Damien couldn't help but reflect the small movement of his mouth.
"We can show Prince Damien the rest of the way, thank you for bringing him this far." Janti spoke to the two butlers who bowed and left without another word.
"Sounds like a handful," Damien laughed as the three of them turned to walk down the hallway. Without saying a word Janti fell behind them, as they walked side by side. After several minutes of silence Damien finally spoke. "How is she?"
"She wants to go home," Gabriel spoke sounding sober, "That's all she wants is to go back to her life." He shook his head.
"Understandable," Damien muttered before he just sighed. "I have no idea what I was thinking when I rushed into the human world. To think that a stranger would want to completely uproot their life, and just leave everything behind to come to Dunhule at the snap of the finger. What a joke." He scoffed.
"Did you know that she was aware of who she was in the human world?"
"Not until the last minute, one of the witches at the fairy gate told me, but I didn't listen. I just jumped right in." He shook his head. "Then that darkling showed up and…" he sighed.
"She rejected you?" Damien nodded as they stopped outside a massive wooden door that had been set directly into the stone wall. There was no frame, and the door itself was slightly off set, the large iron hinges set into the wall on the right side. The large door handle was also made out of iron that had been used often.
Gabriel pushed the door open and Damien closed his eyes against the wall of steam that hit them in the face. Then, opening his eyes he saw that to his surprise, he hadn't been taken to a dining room but a massive kitchen with black marble counter tops and white wooden cabinets.
He had the fleeting thought that it was weird that everything in this castle was black and white, but then he got distracted but as a flame as it shot up from the stove towards the back where Dashiner had a skillet in his hand. He shook it back and forth causing the flames to jump as he poured something that Damien was pretty sure was some type of wine into the dish he was making. Next to him there were several more open flames as well as a couple of stoves stuck into the back wall and an old clay oven stuck in one of the back corners. The ceiling had large hooks hanging down from it where it held every type of pot and pan that anyone could have ever asked for. He couldn't help but take a minute to look at the walls. It seemed that every inch of open wall space was covered with a type of metal that held thousands of different types of knifes that were simply stuck in place. Then, in the middle of the large kitchen there was a massive island that was made out of the same wood as the rest of the kitchen. Damien wasn't entirely sure on the number, but he was pretty sure that at least twenty people could stand with elbow room.
Taking up the space in the kitchen were all of the scouts. They chatted loudly as they moved around each other like a dance that they had all practiced to perfection, never running into or knocking each other once. They tasted each other's creations, laughing at what another said.
His eyes caught on Jake who was looking down at his favorite dish, stroganoff with mushrooms and hamburger. It was also Damien's favorite. As if feeling the eyes on him, Jake turned and saw Damien in the doorway. For the first time, he noticed that Jake seemed tired and stressed. He paused as he turned away from his food and walked over to Damien, his eyes slightly downcast.
"I wasn't sure if you were coming," He muttered, his eyes going down to the ground. "I was just about to bring you a plate."
"I wasn't going to miss this," Damien laughed softly, "You guys don't cook often." Jake looked up into his eyes, a small smile breaking out on his face.
"Well, why don't you go sit down at the table. We're almost done. We're just waiting on Lady Nyline."
"She isn't coming," Gabriel grunted before he walked towards the table. Jake turned a raised brow onto Damien who smiled.
"Apparently, she is so asleep that she keeps telling everyone that she's getting up, then doesn't move." Gabriel stopped.
"She also told me that she was already at dinner more than once." He laughed softly as he walked to the table, sitting on one of the large benches. Jake snorted but shook his head.
"Do you think she'll be sad that she didn't come?" Jake asked in a softer tone, and Damien looked around the room.
"Honestly, I was surprised that she agreed to this to begin with. Being in a room with this many people has got to be really difficult." Jake nodded.
"Maybe she's just sleeping to avoid it." Damien looked at him from out of the corner of his eye, both broke into large grins.
"You don't think she'd do that do you?" Jake finally asked, his mouth pulling up into a smile as he laughed.
"Who knows with her," He spoke before he walked over and sat down. Jake looked over at him, amusement playing in his eyes. They took a minute to just look at each other before they both broke out into grins and silent laughs.
"Oh, come on you two," Rebecca walked in between them, "Either help get these plates to the table or sit down." Rebecca looked back and winked at them, the smile on her lips saying that she'd also heard the exchange.
"Go sit down, I'll finish helping bring stuff in." Jake said quickly as he ran into the kitchen. Damien watched him for just a minute seeing the excitement on his face as he grabbed a plate for Sigma. Deep down he wished that he could have just ended up with a mate like Jake. In the end, if he were to be rejected by his true mate then it would be okay because at least he'd have Jake by his side. Well, he'd have all of his scouts, but Jake was mateless too, so they could be mateless together.
He walked over and sat down with Shanell to his right and an open spot to his left. After Jake set everything down, then he sat down next to Damien.
"You have to try what Dashiner made," He said in a cheerful voice as he grabbed Damien's plate and started spooning some type of meat dish, "Oh and Sigma's pizza," He grabbed a slice before he paused before he just grabbed a little of everything before he set the plate down on the table in front of him. Then, he started on his own, grabbing the same things for himself. He sat back down and looked at Damien still smiling, before they started eating. Chatter rose above everyone as the scouts started talking like crazy.
The conversation paused as the door opened and everyone looked over to see a girl walking in that Damien didn't know. However, he paused, his eyes going between Delta and the girl, they looked so much alike that it was frightening.
"Hey sis," Delta spoke standing as she walked over to her, they were both grinning. "Come to join the party?" She opened the door and looked down the hallway. "Where's Pallsana?"
"Pallsana decided to say in the common room in case the..." She paused as if looking for the correct word. "Princess wakes back up. I came to grab all of us plates." Delta raised her brow at her sister. "Can I talk to you real quick?" She finally asked looking slightly, Delta nodded as they walked out the door.
"Who was that?" Rebecca asked, looking around the room with her brow raised.
"Omega, Delta's little sister, and one of Nyline's new maids with her mate Pallsana." Gabriel spoke sounding amused. Damien raised his brow at him, and Gabriel gave him a wide smile. "Janti chose them, so I'm sure Nyline will accept them.��� Jake snorted next to him and he couldn't help but smile as well.
"I'm sure that Nyline will be overjoyed with the additions." Damien spoke trying to keep the laugh from his voice. It didn't help that Rebecca erupted in a loud laugh on the other side of the table.
"Why do you guys dislike her so much?' Shanell spoke looking around at each of them in turn.
"Cause she's kind of a bitch." Rebecca said without hesitation and everyone looked at her. She paused in buttering her roll and looked around. "What she is? God, you should have seen her the first time we met her. Giving orders, telling everyone what to do like she had the right to, then without even talking to Damien, she rejected him. Flat out. She told him to leave, with him only touching her arm once." Rebecca shook her head, her red locks bouncing. "Then when we went to her house, she yelled at Jonathan, and ran upstairs refusing to talk to him, again. It was only when Jonathan went up and brought her back down, did she sit and talk to him, not before mocking us because she could hear our inner thoughts." Rebecca sighed. "I get the fact that she isn't Damien's mate, but she didn't have to be so rude about it." Damien sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I mean when you explain it like that then, yes she sounds like a bitch." Adrenell spoke sounding slightly annoyed, "But to be honest you guys did show up out of now where, didn't take into account who she was, what she had going on in her life, and thought that you'd just whisk her off her feet and take her back to Dunhule no questions asked. I mean I'd be pretty bitchy if one of the two people in the world that would make my father go away randomly showed up, and expected things from me that I'd never want."
"Not to mention that they aren't even mates," Sigma spoke softly from the other side of the table.
"And that him going through the portal would open her up to the aether word, making it unsafe for her to stay there without Jonathan." Sigma added, as she grabbed more food onto her plate.
"Then, there's the fact that the darkling came through and had just attacked her," Dashiner spoke very softly. "That's got to be a jarring situation, being completely knocked out of the air mid movement skill." Gabriel's face softened as he looked at Dashiner.
"I know that we were in the wrong, Damien has made that abundantly clear. None of you have to remind me as to why exactly she would hate us. It's just I wish that she would have at least been a little nicer when talking to Damien. We've spent so much time looking for her…" She whispered.
"It's not Nyline's fault that she isn't my mate," Damien said in a soft but strong voice. "Honestly, she's right. I do want my mate to be my true mate, the one that's born at the exact same time. Not two minutes apart. She never led me on or made me thing that we could really have anything. I'm kind of happy that she shut it down so quickly." His eyes went to Gabriel, "I mean like how awkward would it have been if Gabriel and I were just constantly bickering and arguing over Nyline? I mean to be fair; I don't have what it takes to be Nyline's mate, everyone at this table knows that." Rebecca looked at him for a few seconds before Nathan elbowed her softly in the ribs and she let out a whoosh of air.
"Fine, I'm sorry for ever saying that she was bitchy," She rolled her eyes and continued to eat.
"On another note," Dashiner spoke suddenly his eyes lighting up and going around the room. He winked at Gabriel. "You guys know where Nyline's house is in the human world, don't you?" Everyone stared at him.
"We do," Angelica spoke softly, her pizza halfway to her mouth.
"Why?" Nathan looked confused at Dashiner.
"I guess that is right," Shanell looked at Dashiner, "But we still won't know what to grab even if we made it over there."
"You're not wrong, but I'm sure that there will be obvious things that would be important. Possibly pictures? Maybe even something that stands out. Anything that has Jonathan's face on it would be good, maybe she even has something with her parents on it." Adrenell said suddenly her face brightening as well.
"I doubt that," Sigma said but still she was smiling, "We could take a bag and grab some of her clothing as well."
"Hold up." Ryan said suddenly and the table went quiet. "What are you guys talking about?" Gabriel's scouts looked at each other before they all looked at Ryan.
"Nyline has nothing from her old life. We wanted to go to the human world and bring things back for her, however we don't know where her house is." Sigma said shortly,
"But if one of you could show us," Shanell spoke in a cheerful voice "Then we'd be able to at least get her something from her old life. Just something to make her feel more at home." All of Damien's scouts turned his attention on him, he looked at them each before he let out a breath.
"Can we discuss this and get back to you tomorrow on it? I'm assuming that you guys will not be leaving tonight so there's time?" Damien asked his eyes going to Gabriel who nodded.
"No, they would not be leaving right away, I'm sure I could arrange with my parents to have an airship take them down to the forest that the fairy gate is in, they'd just have to cross, get her things and then come back. I'm assuming that it would only take two or three days total." Damien nodded as Gabriel finished speaking.
"Alright, we'll talk about it tonight and let you know tomorrow." Damien grinned. The door to the kitchen opened allowing Delta and Omega to walk back in. Delta returned to her seat as she started eating again.
"Prince Gabriel, Prince Damien," Omega bowed to the both of them before she grabbed a few plates and started to load them up with food.
"Why don't you sit down and eat with us?" Shanell said watching her make another plate.
"Oh, Pallsana is back at the room waiting for me." She smiled at Shanell. "Plus, neither of us are really sure when Lady Nyline is going to be waking up." She paused as if there were more to that sentence that she didn't want to speak out loud and Shanell nodded her head.
"Alright then, but the next time you're coming." Omega laughed.
"Of course, you guys might be stuck with the two of us here pretty soon, so I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of me in the future." Dashiner and Adrenell looked at each other, grinning, and Omega threw a napkin at them. "No bets on this one." She made a harrumph noise.
"What can you suddenly hear the voices too?' Dashiner mocked.
"I've known you long enough to know when the two of you are making bets, it's not like you hide the rewards." Dashiner grinned showing his teeth as Adrenell started laughing.
"Oh honey, that's never going to happen." Adrenell spoke though, the laugh still on her voice as Omega rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, thank you all for the food. I'm sure I'll be seeing you tomorrow." She turned and bowed a tiny bit, before she turned towards the door. Jake jumped up and opened it for her, she thanked him before turning and walking out into the hallway.
"Bets?" Nathan asked with his brow raised.
"Ignore them," Gabriel said rolling his eyes, "They are constantly setting stakes for everything that is going on around them." Damien and his scouts looked at Gabriel as his scouts all started laughing.
"What do you guys bet with?" Rebecca asked sounding interested.
"Back massages," Shanell started.
"Cookies," Sigma added.
"Sometimes cleaning duty, which makes no since because we have maids that do our bathrooms." Delta said rolling her eyes. Damien's scouts watched them all talk before they broke into a laugh. Confusion crossed Damien's scouts faces.
"It's odd," Angelica spoke very softly, "But it's almost as if you guys spend just as much time in each other's heads as you do your own mates." Everyone quieted and looked over at her.
"We're just that tight knit of a group," Delta said without missing a beat before she shoved a large fork full of pasta into her mouth. Damien noticed for the first time that Janti wasn't at the table and he wondered where he had gone. He couldn't even remember when he had left them before arriving at the kitchen.
"Gabriel," Damien turned and looked at him, "Where did Janti go? I thought he was with us when we walked in."
"Janti?" Gabriel paused thinking about it, "He's probably somewhere in the castle by now, doing some self-appointed task. He does that type of thing."
"Does his mate work in the castle as well?" Jake asked his brow raised slightly. Gabriel smiled and his eyes went to Delta.
"Well yeah, he's mated to Delta."
"But wait," Nathan looked from Delta to Gabriel, "Wouldn't that make him a scout?"
"Well yes." Gabriel nodded without really paying attention.
"Wait, then why is he your butler and why isn't he eating with us?" Rebecca looked confused as she glanced at Angelica who was also looking at Gabriel with the same expression on her face.
"Oh no," Delta said in a very mocking serious tone, "The serving staff does not attend meals with the prince." Dashiner and Adrenell started laughing.
"Make no mistake, Janti is very happy as my butler and wouldn't give up the position for the world. Honestly, I wouldn't want him anywhere else other than that position. He is so competent that I'm not sure where I'd be without him." Gabriel spoke smiling at Rebecca and Angelica.
"Okay, but that doesn't tell us why he isn't in a scout position, is he trained?" Nathan asked, his brow raised.
"Janti is trained as a scout, however he does not do field work. It is his own personal preference that he decided to become part of the serving staff rather than to go out on missions. No matter what he things though he'll always be my scout and welcome wherever we go." Gabriel shrugged.
"And you're okay with that?" Jake asked with no criticism in his voice his eyes looking down at his plate. "Doesn't that make it hard? Having one scout that you don't have a connection with during any type of mission."
"Not really," Gabriel shrugged, "Delta generally doesn't go too far away from me in any type of situation. She's somewhat of my main personal guard and it works out that way." Damien looked at Gabriel for a few seconds, feeling deep in his gut that, it wasn't true. Gabriel didn't seem the type to constantly need another person around him. He just seemed to have too much aether to really require that type of protection.
Damien looked down at his almost finished plate, pondering some of the oddities that he'd noticed since meeting Gabriel. The glowing eyes aside, there was this air of mystery surrounding him. Like why would his kingdom choose to keep its boarders closed for so long, but he would go down to Thaul enough to understand the layout of the entire castle? Wouldn't his parents want to keep him as close as possible cause kingdom's only have closed boarders if there being threatened or at war.
Damien looked up and over at Gabriel who had started talking to Nathan and Rebecca about something. He just felt like there was more to the story than Gabriel was letting off. He just didn't understand it quite yet. Then, as the people around him started up conversations his mind wandered to his own problems. The main one being, who exactly would his mate be. How much trouble he was in when he got home. Being disowned.
Taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly his eyes unfocusing on his plate as he thought of his mate. The person who was supposed to be the other half of his soul, the missing part. After a couple deeper breaths, he felt his mind stretch out for the other mind. There was a soft click as his mind connected with his mates.
"Can you hear me?" His voice was whisper soft as he started putting food into his mouth, his eyes un-focusing at the wall. He could tell that the mind on the other side of the tether knew that he was there. "Please don't snap the connection just yet. You don't even have to say anything. I'm sorry for scaring you earlier with just randomly dropping into your mind unannounced and again for this time but I wanted to apologize for never being able to connect to you before this. It's a long story that I can tell you one day if you want to hear it. However, I'm Damien Williams and I'm assuming that you're my other half? I understand that you might not want me after all these years. You probably have a life, maybe even someone special, and I understand that. Know that even if we don't end up as a mated pair, that I'll always be here for you if you need me. I was hoping that I could get to know you a little since my mind can finally reach yours now." There was a pause before Jake knocked him as he stood up suddenly. Damien looked at Jake, who's face had changed from the happy smiling one, to something else entirely that Damien had never seen before. "Where are you going?" He spoke catching his arm and making Jake stop to look down at him.
"I'll be right back," He said softly before he ran from the room. One look at his scouts told him that he wasn't the only one who thought that. An equally odd emotion filled at him he watched Jake walk from the room.
"Why don't you go check on him?" Angelica spoke softly and without pausing, Damien stood and headed out the door as well.
"Jake?" His voice was soft, and he saw his friend stop in the hallway and look back at him. Damien jogged over to him.
"Are you okay?" He said as soon as they reached each other.
"How long do you think that we're going to stay here for?" Jake blurted, his eyes going down to the ground, hands twisting together. Damien looked at him.
"Is there something wrong? Should we leave now or tomorrow?" Jake's eyes were wide as he looked up at Damien.
"Oh no, that's not it. I was just wondering what our game plan is going to be." He sighed, "I feel like we're all very up in the air right now, it's making me nervous."
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I only planned on staying here for a day or two before we left. I'm sure that Vaccoon has a really interesting shopping district and I wanted all of us to go check it out tomorrow. I was thinking of maybe finding something that I could present to my mate, whenever I found them." He sighed, "I wanted your help since you're so good at finding the real deals for the best items."
"Did you figure out how to speak with your parents about everything yet?"
"No, I'm still working on that." He sighed, "I just don't want to go in there and speak to my king and queen. I want to talk to my parents. I want to sit down and ask them what happened when I was born. I want to hear it from them as to why I've spent so much time running around looking for Nyline. I just… I don't know how to do that with them. There always up on those stupid steps."
"Well if they will not lower themselves for you," Jake started then stopped before he let out a long breath, "You could always try going to their level. Go sit on the steps with them, tell them how you feel when they talk to you. I'm sure if you explain your emotions your father won't banish you right away." Damien cracked a small smile.
"I've been starting to wonder if my mother would ever allow him to banish me. I mean they have no other heir," Damien's face fell slightly. "I figured that might be a saving grace with this entire situation. If they throw me out, then the crown will end up going to my uncle's children, and I think dad would rather cut out his own tongue than either of them get it." Jake laughed before he just looked at Damien and smiled.
"I thought I told you that I doubted that they'd reject you?" Damien could only shake his head.
"I'm not counting on anything, until it happens. I'm preparing for the worst. To be completely rejected again and I wouldn't blame them for a second." Jakes eyes fell slightly at his words. His hand moved as if he wanted to reach up and comfort Damien, but his hand just balled into a fist instead.
"I wished you'd give yourself a little more credit," Jake scoffed finally. "But you know that I will stay by your side regardless if you are a prince or an outcast. I gave my life to you long ago and that's not changing." Damien's face pulled up on one side.
"You know, I think that's the only reason why I would be okay not having a mate. I'd still have you. Yes, I would have the other's, but we have always bonded about not having a mate and I think having you stay by my side is enough in the end. More important than my crown or even my room at the castle, or any of the jewels that exist. We could just end up the two of us and go adventuring around the world, see everything. I'm sure I could become skilled at something, maybe smithing or leather working, sell just enough to get by. Sleep under the stars."
"You've been thinking about this a lot having you?" Jake asked, his eyes were still on Damien only instead of the nervousness, he saw that they had gone soft at his words.
"I don't think I've stopped thinking about any of this since Gabriel entered the picture. I just want to make sure that if things don't work out, that we have a backup, then a backup to that backup. You're my best friend, I'd never want to go anywhere without you." Jake laughed.
"You better not or I'll get pretty upset for being left behind. If you're going on an adventure, then I better be there to experience it with you. Plus, all of the random food you eat, you'd either be broke or dead within a few minutes of us getting into a new town." Damien looked mock shocked.
"I would not. I know now that you can't eat the mushrooms that the healer is selling now. That was a one-time deal. Healers sell medical supplies that cannot always be eaten, is what you told me I believe, but I remembered." Jake laughed loudly.
"Or take candy from anyone who looks suspicious."
"That happened when I was five!" Damien was laughing so hard that he didn't know if his words were coming out correctly. "And it wasn't a suspicious person, it was the head of the guard with his cloak on but thank you from saving me from the chocolate chip cookie that his wife told him to give me."
"Hey, you never know what type of things could be hiding inside of a cookie." Jake smiled, one finger wagging in the air. "One must always taste test it first to ensure that it is safe."
"You mean eat half the cookie?" Jake smiled. "Yeah you meant eat half of my cookie." Jake looked at him sideways before his smile grew wider.
"Oh, don't act like you weren't going to give it to me anyways." Damien's face softened at the memory.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I always did give you half of what ever sweets that I had. Mom used to get so mad." Jake laughed.
"Oh yeah she did." Damien paused for just a moment as he looked out one of the large windows that took up one side of the hallway.
"Are you okay?" His voice was soft and when he looked back at Jake, he was surprised to see that he was looking at him with big round eyes.
"I will be," he whispered, then turned one hand going to his face. "We just need to make it through this together and I'll be okay."
"What's going on Jake? Talk to me." Jake took a shaky breath in and let it out slowly.
"I've always been okay with chasing after her for you, looking for her to the ends of the earth, as long as you got your mate, it would be fine. You know I don't have one, but I always wanted to make sure that you were happy. That's all that mattered to me. Now? You're not happy. You're afraid of going home, to speak with your parents, willing to give up your right to the throne after all of this, and it's just not what I expected after all of these years."
"I don't think this is what any of us expected honestly," Damien sighed. Jake looked at him from the corner of his eye.
"Have you tried connecting with your real mate?"
"Yes, though I can't say if it's been positive or negative. We connect easily, which means that they didn't form a mating bond with another, but they won't talk to me, just listen to my words. The first time they broke the connection. So, who knows?"
"Are you going to keep trying?"
"Of course, I might not know who's on the other side, but I can still talk to them. Then, in the end if they don't want me or express that they wish I'd go away," his face fell, "I'm not going to force them into anything." He shrugged.
"Keep talking to them," Jake said softly. "Tell them about who you are, your hobbies, your dreams. Then, maybe they'll open up to you too. Any ideas on gender?" Damien shook his head and Jake nodded looking pensive. "We'll make it through this together, don't worry." Damien smiled softly.
"Thanks," Damien reached over and pulled him into a hug. Truly, even if his real mate rejected him as long as he had Jake and his other scouts, everything would end up fine. They all would be able to persevere.