Chapter 147 Marcus's Warning
The training yard was empty at dawn, frost glittering on packed earth. Adrian stood at the center, moving through combat forms with mechanical precision. Strike. Block. Pivot. Counter. His body executed each movement flawlessly while his mind circled endlessly around the same thoughts.
Lila's face in the garden. White with fear. Trembling. Seeing ghosts that weren't there because someone had poisoned her mind so thoroughly she couldn't distinguish memory from hallucination.
Adrian's blade whistled through empty air, imagining enemies. Imagining whoever had done this to her. Imagining their blood on his hands.
"You're up early."
Marcus's voice cut through his concentration. Adrian turned to find his Commander standing at the yard's edge, arms crossed, his scarred face thoughtful.
"Couldn't sleep."
"Neither could half the palace. Your footsteps have been echoing through the corridors since midnight." Marcus moved closer. "The servants are starting to worry. They say you're restless like before battle. But we're not at war. Are we?"
Adrian resumed his forms, avoiding the question. "If you have reports, deliver them. Otherwise, I'm busy."
"No reports. Just concern." Marcus picked up a practice sword. "Spar with me."
"I'm not in the mood."
"That wasn't a request, Your Majesty. Spar with me. Work out whatever's eating you before it consumes you completely."
Adrian's eyes flashed gold. "You forget yourself, Commander."
"Maybe. But someone needs to." Marcus took position. "Now fight me. Or admit you're too distracted to focus."
The challenge was deliberate. Marcus knew how to provoke his King when necessary. Adrian's grip tightened on his blade, then he attacked.
They moved across the yard in a deadly dance. Marcus was skilled, one of the best warriors Adrian had ever commanded. But Adrian had an Alpha's strength and speed. More than that, he had four years of bottled rage driving each strike.
Their blades clashed, the sound echoing off stone walls. Marcus defended more than attacked, letting Adrian burn off the fury that had been building since yesterday's garden incident.
Finally, after ten minutes of brutal combat, Marcus disengaged. "Enough. You're going to hurt yourself."
"I'm fine."
"You're not." Marcus lowered his blade. "You're running on rage and guilt and exhaustion. When's the last time you actually slept? Ate a full meal? Did anything other than work yourself to death?"
"My wellbeing is not your concern."
"It is when you're my King and my friend." Marcus's voice gentled. "Adrian, I've stood beside you for fifteen years. I've watched you through war, through your marriage to Queen Celeste, through her death. And I've never seen you like this. So broken. So..."
"So what?" Adrian's voice was ice. "Say it."
"Desperate. You're desperate and it's making you reckless. Whatever happened between you and Lady Lila, whatever this is that consumes you both, it's destroying you."
Adrian turned away. "You don't understand."
"Then help me understand." Marcus moved to stand beside him, both men staring at the empty yard. "I've watched you push her away and pull her close. Hurt her and protect her. Train her like she's the most important warrior in your army while treating her like she's disposable. None of it makes sense unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless she's your mate."
The words hung between them. Adrian's hands clenched into fists but he didn't deny it.
Marcus exhaled slowly. "I suspected. The way you watch her. The possessive fury when that lord insulted her. The way you nearly killed Gerrit over a poisoned sword." He paused. "But suspecting and knowing are different things. So I'll ask directly, and I expect honesty. Is Lady Lila your mate?"
"Yes."
The confirmation came out quiet, almost broken. Adrian's shoulders sagged like admitting it aloud had taken all his remaining strength.
"Since when?"
"Since the day I married Celeste. Four years ago." Adrian's laugh was hollow. "The moment I turned to face my bride, my eyes found Lila across the cathedral. The bond snapped into place and I knew. The Moon Goddess had chosen her for me. And I was about to marry her sister."
Marcus was silent, processing. "That's... complicated."
"That's a catastrophe. I spent three years married to Celeste while bound to Lila. Three years of torture for all of us. Celeste knew something was wrong. She felt my inability to love her the way a husband should. It destroyed our marriage. Destroyed her."
"And after Celeste died?"
"The council forced us to reject the bond. Said it was cursed, unnatural. They performed a ritual. Made us speak words that should have severed the connection." Adrian's voice went raw. "But it didn't sever. It just... broke. Bled. And they took Lila's memories so she wouldn't remember what we'd been to each other."
"Someone took her memories deliberately? That's illegal magic. Dark arts."
"I know. But I was too weak to fight them. Too afraid of what they threatened would happen if I refused. Plague. Famine. The death of innocents." Adrian's hands clenched. "So I let them destroy her to save the kingdom. And I've been paying for it every day since."
Marcus absorbed this in silence. Then: "Why didn't you tell me? Why suffer alone when you had people who would help?"
"Because there was nothing you could do. The bond was broken. Lila's memories were gone. And I was left remembering everything while watching her look at me like a stranger." Adrian's voice cracked. "Do you understand? She loved me once. Completely. Desperately. And I made her forget. I let them rip that love from her mind and replace it with fear."
"The cruelty. The harsh training. The constant punishment." Marcus's voice held sudden understanding. "You were trying to make her hate you. Trying to push her so far away she'd be safe."
"I was trying to survive. Trying to function. Trying to be the king this kingdom needed while bleeding from a wound that wouldn't heal." Adrian's eyes met Marcus's. "Every day she's here is torture. Every time I see her, the bond screams that she's mine. That I should claim her. Protect her. Love her. But I can't. Because claiming her would put a target on her back. Because loving her would make her vulnerable. Because I already failed her once and I won't do it again."
"So you hurt her instead. Make her suffer so she'll stay away."
"Yes."
"That's the stupidest strategy I've ever heard."
Adrian's eyes flashed gold. "Watch yourself, Commander."