WH - 24
It was enough for Mina to see the evil smile on Rosalyn’s face to know her cousin was planning something. How could she have been such a fool and let Rosalyn know Jayden and her hadn’t consummated their marriage?
As Rosalyn left the Drawing Room, Mina sat on the sofa and thought. She debated about telling Jayden what had happened, but he was busy enough with Lord Ferry.
Rosalyn always had a way of finding out things. Mina still remembered the journal she kept when she was younger. The one Rosalyn read and found out about Mina’s feelings for Prince Liam. Rosalyn kept her journal for a long time, threatening Mina with showing it to Prince Liam if she didn’t do what Rosalyn wanted. For about six months, Mina did everything Rosalyn asked.
While Jayden hadn’t married Mina because he loved her, she enjoyed his company. He made her...feel something other than her constant loneliness. Even if Jayden told Mina he could never love her, she hoped that one day, when they had one child or two, his heart would heal enough and learn to love again.
What Mina liked most about Jayden was that he never judged her skin color. In his room, while his hands roamed her body and his lips peppered kisses all over her skin, he never once stopped telling her how beautiful she was or how much he wanted to mate with her.
And what if Rosalyn knew about her still being a virgin? The King had given his blessing for Jayden and Mina’s marriage. While Rosalyn might want Jayden in her bed, she would gain nothing by exposing Mina. What could she do? Go to the King? To say what?
Mina decided to see the children. Since Jayden had appeared in her life, she hadn’t had time to go to the sewers. She went to her room, gathered her hair in a bun, changed her dress with an older one, took a few silver coins from her savings, and put them in her pocket before going to the kitchen.
Caesar was reading a letter with a preoccupied face while drinking some tea, and Aksel, the wolf, was sleeping under the table. A bowl of fruits sat in the middle of the table. “Are you going out?” Caesar asked, putting the letter on the table next to the bowl of fruits.
Aksel opened his eyes and lifted his head, looking at Mina. “I wanted to go down to the market to look at some fabrics,” Mina replied, looking at Caesar’s shirt. She had noticed his clothes before—his and those of the other men. While there was nothing wrong with how they dressed, Mina couldn’t stop noticing how worn out their clothes were. The men were probably too busy repairing the mansion to have time to buy new clothes. “Do you have a parchment?” Mina asked Caesar and sat at the table.
“I think there are some in the Drawing Room along with ink and writing quills. Do you want me to bring them?” Caesar asked, and Mina nodded.
When Caesar left the kitchen, Aksel moved closer to Mina and looked at her with curious eyes. “I suppose you are going to trot after me when I go out,” Mina said to the wolf. He narrowed his eyes. “You need to find a lady wolf. Maybe then you will be too busy to follow me around Athea,” Mina muttered. Aksel huffed. Mina grabbed some mulberries from the fruit bowl, and one fell on Caesar’s letter. She cursed under her breath and picked up the fruit, hoping it didn’t stain the parchment. She put the fruits back in the bowl and picked up the letter. Aksel grabbed the hem of her dress and tugged on it gently. “I wasn’t going to read the letter!” Mina said in her defense. The wolf snorted. “A mulberry feel on it!” Caesar returned with the items Mina needed only to see her holding the letter. She put it back on the table as fast as she could; her cheeks turned red. “When I grabbed some mulberries, one fell on your parchment. I only wanted to make sure juice from the fruit didn’t get on it!” Mina said, hoping Caesar would believe her.
Caesar sat at the table and looked at the message he had received earlier. “Did you read it?” he asked.
Mina didn’t like lying. “I read a part, but it wasn’t my intention!” Caesar nodded. Mina took the ink and the writing quill and prepared the empty parchment to write on it. “Kara is your sister?” she asked, curious to know more about Caesar.
“Kara is my half-sister. We have the same father,” Caesar said. “I don’t know what she will do now that she lost her job,” he said, rubbing his temples.
‘Enough fabric to make five changes of clothes for seven men,’ Mina wrote on her parchment. She hoped Caesar would know the measurements of the others. Once the fabric was bought, Mina would have to have it delivered to a tailor and have him make the clothes. “The Ruxman Mansion is big. Once it is ready, Jayden will have to hire more people. Why don’t you talk to him and tell him about your sister? I am sure Jayden will hire—” Mina frowned, trying to remember the name of Caesar’s sister. “Kara was it?”
Aksel tilted his head to the side.
Caesar gave Mina a half smile. “While Kara is my sister, we didn’t grow up together, and I don’t know her that well. My father wasn’t a good mate and cheated on my mother and had Kara. I don’t want to bring her here only to have her make trouble for me.”
Mina reached her hand across the table and patted Caesar on the arm. “You are a good person, and I am sure Kara is the same. If you want, I could talk to Jayden.” Caesar looked relieved. “Well, if that’s settled, I need your help with something. Jayden has been very thoughtful with me, and you and the rest of his men have received me with open arms. I want to repay your kindness. And of the others,” she said, remembering how they treated her on her wedding day. As if she was part of their family.
Caesar shrugged. “Andarra, I am here to serve you! The Commander pays us very well while ensuring our families are not starving. It is more than enough that you want to speak with the Commander about Kara.”
Mina tilted her head to the side. “Why would your families be starving?” Caesar rubbed the back of his neck. Aksel growled. “Shush, you! I have enough with Jayden’s growls!” Mina said to the wolf. She cleared her voice, trying to hide her smile because, secretly, she liked when Jayden growled. “Please, tell me! I want to help in any way I can!” Mina insisted when Caesar said nothing.
“First, I want to tell you a little about the ocxoas, or Sons of the Land,” Caesar said. “We live close to the mountains and forests, in clans. Each clan is ruled by a Cxeandar and his mate. My clan is that of the Thunder Wolves. Commander Jayden became our Uzgaia not long ago.”
Mina drummed her fingers on the table. “If Cxeandar is the one that rules a clan, what does Uzgaia mean?”
“Uzgaia is the one that leads all the clans,” Caesar said. “He is—” he thought for a moment. “In human terms, Commander Jayden is the King of all Sons and Daughters of the Land! His title will be made official during your mating ceremony!”
Mina’s eyes went wide. “Jayden is a king?”
“Not like King Baswein. He is more like—” Caesar frowned. “He only rules over the ocxoas. While we recognize King Baswein as the king of the Nodor kingdom, our loyalty lies with Commander Jayden. And with you, Andarra. You are, after all, our Queen.”
Mina wondered why Jayden married her. “But if Jayden is your king, why did he accept to be a baron?” Mina asked.
Caesar drank some tea before answering. “The Commander was raised by his human mother in a place not fit for an ocxoa. His father never said a word about Jayden to the Lady or the other Cxeandar. He let everyone believe his mate died during birth. Imagine the shock when we met Commander Jayden during the war, and we felt the blood of the Uzgaia running through his veins. While we live in human cities, we don’t act like ocxoa. We have jobs or titles just like any other human would. If everything turns out well with your mating ceremony and we move to Ora Dorei, as the Commander has planned, things will change. He won’t be a baron anymore.”
“You talk as if you are not humans,” Mina said.
Caesar chuckled. “We are, yet we are not. We look like humans, and we might have a human heart beating in our chest, but our spirits are different from those of humans. We are humans but...more. The Lady will explain everything when the time comes.”
Mina could hardly wait to meet the Lady. She was very curious about her.
“And Jayden? Is he like you?” Mina asked.
“No,” Caesar said. “The Uzgaia is more than an ocxoa. He is the son of night and chaos. His voice is thunder, and his body is shadow. He is the Mighty W—” he continued, but Aksel growled loudly. “I think I said more than I should.”
Mina looked at the table. Why did Jayden choose her to be his wife? She was nothing more than a plain human. He was a king, and he could have had anyone he wanted. Even Rosalyn.
How could she ever compare herself to Rosalyn’s beauty? No wonder Jayden said he would never love her. Compared to Rosalyn, she was nothing. Just a stupid woman with childish dreams.
“Why did he marry me?” Mina asked in a low tone. “Jayden could have been with the woman he loved.” Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away.
Aksel put his head on Mina’s lap, and she stroked his fur.
Caesar cleared his voice. “When he smells her on you, he will tan your hide!” he said in a low voice to the wolf before looking at Mina. “ During the war, all the Commander would talk about was Lady Rosalyn. How he would return home and marry her. He had everything planned. When we reached Athea, he came directly to your house. That day, when he asked you to marry him, had been a hard day for him. He came to us and told us what happened with Lady Rosalyn, and we could see he was heartbroken. But something else was bothering him. We pushed until he told us, ‘My ocxoa claimed another woman as his mate. She is Rosalyn’s cousin. I asked her to marry me to appease him.’ He went to speak to the Lady that same night. The Lady was pleased with you as Andarra.”
A sharp pain she felt in her chest robbed her of her breath. It hadn’t been Jayden that wanted her. “So it’s only his ocxoa that wants me?” Mina still didn’t understand what the ocxoa was.
“It may have started like that, but I have no doubt the Commander is very fond of you!” Caesar said quickly.
Mina nodded, but in her heart, she knew Jayden wasn’t fond of her. He told her that he was only content with her. If Rosalyn had waited for him, he would have been happy with her. More than happy. His heart would not be broken, and he would have still been in love with Rosalyn. Would a day come when Jayden would feel more than content with Mina?
Mina hoped Jayden would not change his mind about their marriage. As long as she was still a virgin, he could ask for an annulment. Gods! How would she survive the embarrassment if that happened?
“You said that Jayden is making sure your families are not starving. What did you mean by that?” she asked, deciding to change the subject.
“Most of the ocxoa clans are close to the border with the Kingdom of Litus. The dark magic the Necromancer used had affected some parts of the Ulsted Region. Many males have problems finding game and feeding their families.”
The Nodor Kingdom was divided into two regions: Ulsted and Valru. The biggest city in Ulsted Region was Athea, while in Valru Region was Ora Dorei. A big dead forest inhabited by Orcs divided the Valru Region and separated Ora Dorei from Athea. The road from Athea to Ora Dorea led through the Orc Forest. Usually, the Orcs were brutal creatures and the enemies of humans, but those living in Nodor kept to themselves and rarely attacked villages or towns.
“What can I do to help?” Mina asked.
Caesar shrugged. “Just be a good mate for the Commander.”
“Then let me buy clothes for you and the other ocxoas!” Mina said.