CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Raze stepped into his apartment followed by the rest of the group. Just like in the car they stared at everything in wonder. Affina walked with her arm around Satia and ushered her into the front room, followed by the men.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
The group nodded.
"We shall get you each a shower and something clean to wear and then you shall eat."
She looked to Razor. "Can you call down and have some fruits and meats and bread brought up?"
Razor nodded. "Of course."
"Satia, you come in my room and you can shower in there."
"Highness, I cannot," said Satia.
Affina wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. "Here there is no highness and handmaiden. There is just us. Okay? What is mine is yours."
Satia looked to Raze terrified.
Man this was not what he wanted. He didn't want them to look at him like an oppressor. He wasn't his grandfather, or his father, he was his own man. His gaze travelled over the group. Each of them stared at him with tired fearful eyes. He wanted to yell at them. To make them understand this wasn't his fault. He hadn't asked to be their new leader. All he'd wanted was Affina.
"Come." Affina led Satia toward the guest bedroom.
Incus, Boramus, Medajon watched them go and then turned back to Raze.
"I'm not going to baby you the way Affina might, but you can use the other showers. I'll show you where they are." He walked past the men to a guest bathroom and opened the door. "One of you can use this one. There's towels in the cabinet. The other can use my bathroom."
The men looked at each other.
"Incus should go first, he was captain of the guard," said Boramus.
"No." Raze blew out a harsh breath. "Like Affina said. There are no ranks here anymore. No hierarchy."
"Except for you. And Queen Affina," Incus said.
Raze licked his lips. The disdain and distrust wafting off the men was hard to ignore. His saber paced back and forth wanting to be unleashed to show the men their place. But he refused. Showing dominance wouldn't win him any points with any of them. And more than anything now he needed to show Affina he was capable of compassion.
"Affina is Queen. I am her mate. We are Alpha, that is all. Nothing more. If you wish to go out on your own, you are welcome to. If you wish to stay, you are welcome to. There will be no servants here. No slaves. Just the last of our clan surviving together and trying to rebuild what has been lost- to all of us."
The men looked at each other. Raze knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Saber traditions had been set for hundreds of years. But Mandrake's actions had shown just what those traditions could lead to, and he wanted no part of that. He was done with the old system. Kings and slaves. Ranks and placements. If they were to survive on Earth they would need to do things differently.
"Boramus, you take this shower. Incus you can take mine. It's through my bedroom. Medajon you can wait in the front room until one of them is done." Raze turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" asked Incus.
Raze clenched his fists as memories of Incus' orders and his whip lashings pushed to the surface.
"To get you some food." Raze rushed to the elevator and pressed the button. He needed some air.
****
The group sat at the table and ate in silence. Affina picked at her grapes watching the rest of her clan devour everything in sight. Razor also sat at the table and looked on. This was so not what she expected. Her parents were dead. Razor was the king and they were now responsible for four other sabers. Sabers whose lives had been filled with only serving, to running for their lives and now... now what did they do? How did they fit into this world? Affina was lost and she'd obviously not been through what they had at the hands of Mandrake and his men.
Just when she thought she could start over with Razor. Be his mate. Fit into his world, she now had four other people she was responsible for. That they were both responsible for.
"Majesty, may I go to bed?" asked Satia.
The men stopped and looked between Affina and Razor.
"Satia I told you," said Affina. "You don't have to ask my permission. You can just do what you want."
"Yes, Majesty."
Affina blew out a slow breath. "Affina. Just Affina."
Satia looked down at her plate. "Affina."
Affina's gaze connected with Raze's. Sadness rimmed his eyes making her gut clench. They needed to talk. To figure out together what they were going to do. But part of her just couldn't bring herself to speak to him yet. She had no idea what to say to him. He was the rightful heir. Her family were the traitors. It was she that should have been brought up as a slave in his house. She wondered if they would still be mated if things had gone the other way. Would he have needed her when they were younger or would he have chosen a female of royal bloodlines?
She swallowed back the lump in her throat and gave Satia a tight smile. "Come, you can sleep in my bed."
"Oh, no-"
"You shall sleep in my bed, as it is now your bed," Affina said firmly.
Satia's mouth slammed shut and she nodded. The men rose as Affina got to her feet. Razor looked at her like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.
"Come," said Incus. "Let us clean up the mess and sleep as well."
"I'll take first watch," said Medajon.
Affina stopped. "We are safe here. There is no reason to keep watch. No one can get in. Let me get Satia settled and I'll get you some blankets."
"I can do it." Razor pushed his chair back from the table scraping it on the tile floor.
Affina nodded and walked into her room. Her saber paced back and forth wanting to be closer to Razor's saber, but tonight was not the night.
****
Raze lay in bed listening to the men whisper in the front room. He'd spent the first hour hoping Affina would come to him so they could speak, but as the second hour ticked onward he knew she wouldn't. Though she'd told the men that there was to be no difference between them, she still felt the need to put up appearances. He grumbled and rolled on his side. It was as if her father had come instead of Mandrake. But why should anything have to change between them? Her father was gone. Mandrake was not coming back. They were finally free. Free to be who they wanted. What they wanted. Free to be together. And yet it felt like just when they finally had the opportunity to be close, they were farther apart than ever.
A scream sounded from Affina's bedroom and Razor was out his door and across the front room before the other men could get to their feet.
His heart pounded as he threw the door open. Satia screamed over and over. Affina tried to console her but the woman was still asleep. The men rushed in past Raze. Incus took Satia's hand and Boramus took the other. Medajon sat behind her and lifted her head into his lap. Together the men spoke to Satia softly in their native tongue, pressing their bodies near hers.
Suddenly Satia's eyes burst open and she looked around wildly. She spotted the men and sobs wracked her. She curled into a ball on Medajon's lap and he nodded to the others.
"Is she all right?" asked Affina.
Incus looked up, his eyes pained. "We couldn't help her. When Mandrake's men captured us they tortured us. We couldn't protect her."
Bile bubbled up Raze's throat. "Did they-"
"No," said Boramus. "Mandrake wouldn't let them. Said she was a slave in a ruined house. She was beneath them. But they did just about everything else they could to make up for it."
Raze's saber roared. He'd sent Mandrake away too soon. He should have killed the man for what he'd done. Now that man sat on his throne ruling over all the other sabers on Aurora.
Satia rolled over. "I'm so sorry Affina. I didn't mean to wake you."
Affina stroked Satia's hair. "Hush. Don't think on it."
"We should take her in the other room with us," said Medajon. "She'll be more comfortable there."
A pained expression crossed Affina's face. "No. You take this bed. I'll... sleep in Razor's room."
The group looked to Raze. Affina walked to the door and laid her hand on his chest. "Come. Let them get some sleep."
Raze looked down at her, knowing she was only staying with him because she had to. The thought made his heart ache.
He nodded and they closed the door. They crossed the apartment in silence and crawled into his bed.
Affina slid under the sheets and faced the wall. His saber yearned to touch her, but instead he rolled over and closed his eye. The distance between them larger than when she'd been sleeping in the other room.
****
Affina poured coffee for Incus, the others still sleeping. He looked at the cup and sniffed it.
"You aren't happy to be here," she said.
Incus shook his head. "It was your father's wish that we come here, not ours."
Affina nodded. "And now you can never go back."
"My mate and unborn child are buried on Nova. My son. My parents. My king. And I'll never be able to go back and commune with their spirits there."
Affina reached out and squeezed Incus' hand. Back on Nova he'd been captain of the guard. A pinnacle of influence and power. Yet sitting at Razor's counter he looked so much frailer. Loneliness and sorrow hunched his shoulders.
"You can commune with their spirits anywhere that you hold sacred," said Affina. "We just need to find you a place here to do that."
His gaze connected with hers and she gave him a smile. A question nagged at her.
"Incus, did you know my father had sent Razor here?"
Incus shook his head. "I knew he'd sent someone. I had no idea it was Razor's Edge." Thick silence fell between them.
"You do not approve of my being with him."
Incus sipped his coffee. "I don't think it was ever your father's intention that you two mate, but as it has saved all of our lives, I cannot complain. He is king now."
"He is a good man," said Affina.
Incus nodded. "It was obvious you always thought so."
"And you did not."
"I feared what would happen because of your father letting him live. And apparently for good reason. Mandrake had made his displeasure known for years about the death of his daughter. And there had been whispers of a possible attack. But your father thought he could handle it. Maybe that's why he chose Razor. Maybe he thought if he sent the boy away we would be safe. But Mandrake found out the boy was alive and it was too late."
So her father had sent Razor away to protect the rest of the clan, not necessarily to protect Razor. Affina sipped her coffee. The more she learned about her father, the less she liked him.
Razor's bedroom door opened and he entered wearing a beautiful dark suit that cut from his broad shoulders to his trim waist. His gorgeous blond hair had been slicked back and his scruff nicely trimmed into a goatee. The sight of him made her body warm and her saber purr with delight.
He nodded to Incus as he passed but his gaze barely touched Affina. Affina rushed from the kitchen as he pushed the button for the elevator.
"You're leaving?" she asked.
"I have to work. I have meetings." He refused to look at her.
She reached for him. "Razor-"
The door opened and he stepped inside. "I left the credit card on the nightstand. Get them whatever they need. I'll have Ario come back with the car once he's dropped me off."
The doors slid closed and she stuck her hand out stopping it.
"You'll be back tonight, right?"
He stared at her for a moment, his eyes sad. "Late."
The doors slid closed like the slamming of her heart.