Chapter 64
"Can you please stop moving?" Mavi said with irritation as Owen tried to stretch on the hospital bed once again.
"I'm fine," Owen laughed. "I don't understand why I am here, I am completely healed."
"I still want Mom to take a look," Mavi rubbed her tired eyes. "What if there are blood clots or something."
She felt Owen take her elbow and gently pull her towards him. Her feet stumbled over the floor as she leaned over his body.
"Owen, not r-"
"Stop talking," Owen pulled her head down to look into her gray eyes. "Come here."
Mavi followed his lead as she leaned over him and placed her head against his chest. Her body was still tense. It didn't want to accept the fact yet that everything was over. The adrenaline running through her system made her muscles sore and her knees weak as she listened to Owen's heart.
"You were so good today," Owen whispered to her. "You had me believing you were going to leave with him."
Mavi shut her eyes as she listened to his words. She could still feel her skin crawling from Heyder's touch. There was nothing she wanted to do more than to go and scrub her skin with hot water and erase him from her mind.
"Owen...." She spoke up after a while. "I'm....I'm sorry."
Owen took in a slow long breath as he kissed her forehead, "I'm sorry too, Princess."
When Mavi tried to pull out of his embrace, his arms held her a little tighter. She chuckled as she wiggled herself free.
"Wait.....I have more to say...." Mavi said as she pulled back.
Owen released her as she hopped onto the bed and took a seat in front of him. She still wore his oversized shirt and as she pulled her leg under her, he placed his hand over her bare knee. Sparks flew instantly through their systems as he rubbed her skin. Owen watched patiently as Mavi's mind rambled silently in her head. She chewed on her bottom lip as she avoided eye contact.
Her quietness started to worry him. He forced his heart to remain still as she gathered her thoughts, but the task was next to impossible.
"I...." Mavi starred as she stared at her hands on her lap as she tried to put the words together. "I wanted to say no....when you asked if I liked....him. I wanted to say no. But.... my mind was so confused. Not because I like him....but because I couldn't understand what was happening. I..."
Owen watched as his princess took a deep breath.
"When he would... touch me...I would feel this spark," Mavi felt Owen's hands freeze on her knee. Her eyes snapped up to his brown ones as she rushed to get the words out.
"No like that." She said. "Not like ours....it was different."
When she saw the worry in Owen's eyes grow, she cursed herself for picking the absolute wrong words.
"Bad different." Mavi said with her eyes closed. "I knew deep down it wasn't a good thing. I was just.....I didn't understand why it was happening and I felt so confused and lost and I wanted answers."
As she finished, she waited for Owen to speak. Her gray eyes watched him through her lashes as he nodded slowly. She was dying to know what he was thinking.
"Say something," Mavi whispered.
Owen took a deep breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. He brought it down and rubbed his jaw.
"I understand," he said quietly after a while. "I can see how what he was doing would have messed with your mind."
Mavi nodded, dropping her eyes.
"And I'm sorry...." Owen continued. "I'm sorry for not being open with you. I'm sorry I don't always share how I'm feeling......I can't help but think that if maybe I was better at this communication thing then maybe you would have been more willing to share all this with me earlier."
Mavi didn't know how to respond. His words struck a chord in her heart as she felt tears rise up. All the anger, frustration, and hurt she had been pushing down was rising up to the surface like boiling milk.
Owen pulled her to his chest as she began to cry into her hand. He held her against himself as he felt Mavi's hot tears on his skin.
"I'm so sorry, baby girl." Owen kissed her forehead. "I let my insecurities get the best of me..... You are all that I have......and even the thought of losing you send me spiraling down a dark path."
"You are never going to lose me if you stop pushing me away," Mavi pulled away again to look at him. "I have fought for you over and over and over...... what more do I need to do to show you that it will always be you?"
"Mavi...." Owen sat up as he cupped her face. "You've always been too good for me..... I don't deserve this....... There's always this ticking in the back of my head that you are going to disappear like everything else in my life."
Mavi eyes filled with more tears as she shook with sobs, "I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise me?" Owen's voice shook.
"I promise," Mavi said as she climbed onto his lap and straddled him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as she cried against his bare skin. Owen wrapped his arms around her waist as she held her tightly and inhaled her scent.
"I love you," He said to her. "I love you so much."
"I love you will never be enough," Mavi said quietly, turning her head. "Never enough to tell you how i really feel."
Owen laughed through the tears that had gathered in his eyes and pulled Mavi's mouth down to his. Her lips were soft and salty from crying. He savored her taste as she melted against his tongue. As her hands gripped his hair on the back of his neck, Owen felt his mother's ring around her finger. He pulled her closer, as if he could mold them into one. His hands pushed her hair back as she crushed herself against him.
"Oh my god," Rye's whine filled the room. "Can my children please for the love of God not make my grand babies in the hospital? I have a reputation here, people. Mavi, get off of him!"
Owen released Mavi instantly and held his hands up in the air.
"Sorry, your grace," he quickly said to Rye.
"Mavi!" Rye pushed her daughter when the princess didn't move. "He could have internal bleeding and you being on top of him isn't helping."
"Sorry," Mavi scrambled off her mate.
Rye mumbled under her breath as she picked up Owen's chart. She went through the routine, checked the spot where the jinn had stabbed him and finally gave him the okay to be released.
"Why are you wasting my time?" She asked Owen as he rose from the bed. "You're completely fine."
"Mavi wanted me to come," Owen said looking at his mate.
"Don't let her boss you around," Rye laughed as she signed his forms.
"Yes, ma'am."
"How are Gem and Eggs doing?" Mavi asked Rye.
"They're in the next room....Gem is just exhausted."
"And the girls?" Owen inquired.
"They're good...healthy and teeny tiny," Rye said as she ripped off the release form from her clipboard. "Now get out of here and Mavi put on some pants before your father has a heart attack."
"Is dad okay?"
"Yes... just some minor silver cuts and bruises....he should be healed by now."
Mavi nodded, "Okay."
"Owen, take her upstairs and get some rest," Rye said as he slipped out of the room again.
Once the doors closed, Owen turned to Mavi, "Do you want to go see Gemma and Exton?"
"No yet," Mavi shook her head. "Let's give them some alone time."
"Good idea," Owen ran his hand through his hair again before taking Mavi's hand. "Let's go."
"I want to go see Sofia," Mavi said suddenly. "I need to know what happened between her and Heyder."
Owen peered at the determination on Mavi's face for a while before nodding. "Okay......let's go."
"How did you know to call her?" Mavi asked as he led her out of the hospital room.
"That day at the bar when we danced....she told me to watch out for Heyder," Owen began to explain. "And then after that, when we came back and things started to go wrong....I suspected Heyder had a hand in it all. I went to go see Sofia again....."
As Owen revealed that piece of information, he watched Mavi's face to make sure she wasn't upset or angry.
When Mavi caught him looking, she rolled her eyes and pushed his face away. "I'm not crazy."
Owen shook his head, smiling.
"Anyways....." He continued as they walked out of the medical wing. "I had been looking into Jinns and I found out about the vessel..... So I thought I would try my luck with Sofia and see if she had any idea where it might be. She listened to everything that was going on and then told me she had the bottle."
"Is it bad that I get suspicious when anyone wants to help us willingly?" Mavi asked. "I'm so used to twisting arms and bargaining that when I get something easily.....it doesn't feel right."
"I get what you mean," Owen nodded. "But I think you should let Sofia explain her side."
"Okay," Mavi agreed.
They walked through the palace as people gathered the fallen weapons and armors from the travelers and cleaned the halls. Mardick stood around with an angry scowl on his face as he supervised the clean up. As Mavi passed him, he gave her a simple nod before returning to his work.
Mavi's aching body begged for a hot shower. As she pulled on a pair of jeans, she eyed her bed, wanting nothing more than a nap. Owen laughed as he sulked back out into the halls. He led her downstairs and into the study where Caspian, Adam, and Sofia sat around.
"Dad, I'm fine." Adam tried to dodge out of Caspian's reach as the man held out a glass of brown liquid. "I don't want to drink that."
"It's good for you," Caspian insisted. "You need it to regain your strength."
"I need a nap," Adam rebutted. "That's what I need."
"Say it louder for the people in the back," Mavi laughed as she sank into the sofa across from Sofia.
"How are you feeling?" The girl asked the princess.
"I've been better," Mavi confessed. "Thank you for what you did today."
Owen sank into the spot next to his girl and draped an arm around her shoulder.
"Well I had to," Sofia sighed. "I was sick and tired of Heyder's ass."
"What....what happened between the two of you?" Mavi asked.
"It's a long story," Sofia gave a dry laugh.
"We got time," Caspian said as he placed the glass on the coffee table and took his large hat off. He handed the piece over to Adam who placed it over his own head.
"Heyder is.... My husband." Sofia said slowly.
"Ew," Adam shivered.
"Oh you poor thing." Caspian patted Sofia's knee.
"It wasn't a happy marriage," Sofia laughed. "When you find out your husband married you out of a bet with his brothers, life isn't the same after. And his other forty two wives didn't help either."
"Jesus Christ," Mavi and Adam said together.
"You were about to become number forty four," Adam looked over at Mavi.
Owen's eyes darkened beside Mavi as she felt his hands balled into fists on her shoulder.
"Of course I wasn't aware of all this then the bastard swept me off my feet," Sofia shook her head as she remembered how foolish she was. "But as the truth started to reveal.... I couldn't stand to be with him anymore."
"What did you do?" Mavi asked.
"I wanted to kill him," Sofia sighed. "But I couldn't because of this."
She held out her wrist to show everyone the triangular mark upon it, "He marked me...... my life is connected to his."
"If he dies, then so do you." Caspian concluded.
"Yes."
"How did you get away from him?" Adam asked leaning forward.
"I stole his vessel..... It kept him distracted long enough for me to get away," Sofia rolled down the sleep of her dress to hide her mark. "But even though I left him, he wouldn't leave me..... He always came back when he wasn't out chasing some new girl."
"If you had the vessel, why didn't you capture him?" Mavi asked.
"You can't just open up a jinn's vessel and expect him to walk in like a dog in trouble," Sofia shook her head. "They fight it....and when they win against it, they tear apart everyone in sight."
"How did it work today?" Mavi had a feeling she knew the answer.
"You," Sofia confirmed. "You and the evil you tired him out.....he was both drained and distracted. I saw my opportunity and I took it."
"What will happen to him now?"
Sofia pulled out a long black string from around her neck. At the end of it, the little jar of dancing blue flame hung like a pendent.
"I will keep him in her," She said, eyeing the jar. "I am finally free of him....I no longer have to look over my shoulder and wonder when he will turn up again."
"What about his brothers?" Adam asked.
"They don't care much for him," Sofia said as she tucked the necklace back under her dress. "All they care about is power and marking pretty women."
Mavi sank into Owen's arms as she listened to Sofia speak. Her eyelids fought to stay awake as all the day's exhaustion began to come down upon her at once. She sat quietly nuzzled by Owen's side as Caspian and Sofia talked about Heyder, magic and a bunch of other stuff Mavi didn't care for. Across from her, Adam had already knocked down on the sofa. His head was bent painfully behind Caspian as his long legs dangled over the armrest of the sofa.
"Should we go upstairs?" Owen whispered into Mavi's ear.
Mavi nodded as she had no energy left to speak. She felt Owen rise to his feet before he scooped her up into his arms and began to carry her upstairs.
When he laid her down against the soft mattress, Mavi immediately fell asleep. Owen climbed into bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. His eyes watched her as her eyelids fluttered. Her skin was warm to the touch, her cheeks rosy. He gazed at his sleeping girl before he felt his own eyes start to close.
________________________
The next morning at breakfast, everyone was exhausted. The palace lawn was still being cleaned and the halls still buzzed with workers. Mavi and Owen walked into the dinning room just as Adel served breakfast.
"What would you like, Princess?" Adel asked Mavi as Owen pulled out her chair for her.
"Eggs," Mavi smiled as she passed Exton's chair and kissed his cheek.
"Moooom," Exton laughed. "She's giving me her cooties."
Mavi smacked his head as she sank into the chair next to him. Exton rubbed the spot on the back of his head as he pulled his baby sister in for a hug and kissed her cheek back.
"Thank you, Piglet," he said sincerely. "For everything you did."
"I didn't do anything," Mavi shook her head.
"None of this would have been possible without you," Gemma said. "You are the blessing we need."
"And now I am bound to you forever," Exton joked. "How shall I repay you?"
"Oh I intend to make you work," Mavi said. "You are not getting off so easily."
"Name the job princess." Exton said as he cut into his pancakes.
"Well.....I was thinking," Mavi started before she shook her head. "Well first, tell me about your timeline....what's going to happen to your people?"
All eyes around the table turned to Exton. Gemma sat her cup of tea down as she waited for her husband to answer. Their lives had been so crazy for the past few days, she hardly had time to speak to him about any of that.
Exton chewed the bite of pancakes in his mouth slowly as he gripped Gemma's hand under the table.
"I abdicated the throne," Exton said slowly.
Mavi's eyes immediately turned to Xavier. The Dorin family has held the crown on their head for centuries. No one in their family had ever abdicated the throne.
"I'm sorry, dad." Exton said with his head slightly bowed.
"For what?" Xavier asked as he sat up in his seat.
"In my timeline.....the Dorin family.....we no longer have the crown."
Xavier nodded slowly, "Do you regret your decision?"
"No." Exton shook his head. "It was either the throne or Gemma. I picked Gemma. And I will always pick her."
"And that's the way it should be," Xavier smiled. "You had to make a call between your family and a piece of metal on your head. I think the decision was simple."
Rye smiled fondly at her husband as she leaned towards him, "Would you have picked me?"
"In a heartbeat," Xavier kissed the tip of her nose. "Do you even need to ask?"
Mavi watched her parents as Owen picked up her hand and placed a kiss upon it.
"What will happen now?" She asked her brother. "Who takes the throne?"
"Well there are no more Dorins left in that timeline," Exton sighed. "I was the only one....so I gave the throne to Basil Hunts."
"What?" Xavier started laughing. "Basil is now King?"
"Yes," Exton said.
"Oh this will blow up his head even more now," Rye laughed.
"I think he is suited for it," Exton laughed. "He raised me after......after dad...."
The conversation died down as everyone turned their eyes back to their plates. Mavi knew the topic of Xavier dying in Exton's timeline had always bothered her mother. And whatever bothered Rye, bothered Xavier.
"Eggs..." Mavi spoke up to change the topic. "I was thinking...."
She turned to Xavier who gave her a small nod.
Do what you think is best, He linked his daughter.
Mavi nodded as she turned to her brother. Exton's eyes moved from his father to his sister as he waited for her to speak.
"I was thinking....." Mavi started slowly. "Now that you will always be here.....you should wear the crown."
As the words left Mavi's lips, the entire room held its breath. All eyes were on Exton as they waited for him to speak.
"No." Exton said after a long pause. He shook his head as if it was an absolutely ridiculous idea.
"It makes sense, Eggs." Mavi pushed. "Yes, I am the firstborn here. But you are mom and dad's first child.....and you know more about being a ruler then I do."
"Mavi," Exton sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not about who is the firstborn or the first child..... It's about change and evolution."
Mavi opened her mouth to speak again when Exton stopped her.
"Dad had the right idea when he sat out to fight the council to make your queen," he said. "We need to move out of the old monarchy and into the new age. We need a woman on the throne."
Mavi sank into her seat and nodded.
"There is a reason why you were not born a man in this timeline," Exton said. "In this universe, we were meant to change history."
Rye and Xavier smiled at their children proudly as Rye tangled her hand into his. They watched as Mavi nodded her head and Exton kissed her cheek once more.
"What will you do now?" Mavi asked her brother in a quiet voice.
"Buy a farm."
"What?" Rye asked, startled.
"Yeah," Exton nodded as Gemma shook her head. "I can have a simple life now.....Gemma and I can start a lemon garden. The girls can grow up away from the spotlight. Be normal. What do you think, angel?"
"What is it with you Dorin men and waiting farms?" Rye shook her head as Xavier laughed.
"Owen," Exton leaned over. "Know any place in Juniper we can move to?"
"I...."
"No!" Mavi stopped him. "You are not moving to a farm. I need you here. I need you both here"
"What?" Exton asked, cutting his pancakes. "For what?"
"Well...." Mavi turned to her brother and his mate. "Exton....Gemma ...."
Exton paused to raise a brow at his sister, "What do you want?"
"Will you be a part of the queen's council?" Mavi asked with a bright smile.
Exton titled his head to one side as he stared at his sister, "What?"
"You know more about how a kingdom runs more than anyone I can think of....well, maybe after dad. And Gemma is a witch.....I want to redo my council and have representations from all the kingdoms."
Exton watched Mavi as he chewed his pancakes. "Who else are you planning on asking?"
"Well....." Mavi smiled. "I would tell you if you were part of my council..... I could really use some guidance right now."
She looked at Gemma and pouted. "Gem....please say yes."
Exton looked at his wife. Gemma gave him a quick nod before she turned to Mavi.
"Of course."
Wow....this has been a journey.....