TMW Chapter 15 on AO3
TMW Chapter 15 on Stars
TMW Chapter 15 on FFn
TMW Chapter 15 on Wattpad
I stared at the letter from my father. My eyes were welling
with tears. I felt his love and his pride, but his absence was made so
abundantly clear with the yellowed letter I held in my hands. I was angry with
him for not being here. He should be
leading our people. Not. Me.
But, exhaustion was making me overly emotional. As I put the
letter into the thick volume of the history of the fae, Bella padded back into
the bedroom. Her hair was braided and her eyes were at half-mast. She crawled
into the large, much too-large for humans, bed. She pushed me back onto the
pillows. “Sleep, m’aarenne,” she
said, snuggling close to me. “I love you.”
“Love doesn’t even come close,” I said, my voice raspy. I
felt her smile against my neck. I sighed, closing my eyes and holding her to my
chest. Within seconds, I was asleep and dreaming of a world where the darkness
did not exist and we got our happily ever after.
The next morning, I woke up and felt completely rested,
despite the early hour. Bella was already gone, but I could hear her in the
bathroom. I looked at the clock, seeing it was a little after nine. I went to
bed just before three. I should be exhausted and sore. But, I wasn’t. I got up and picked up the book of our
history, but shook my head. I went to my laptop, opening a new document. I
began typing and drafting a speech for this livestream. On the intranet.
I can’t believe we
have an intranet. How in the hell does that even work?
Bella came out, freshly washed and smelling divine. She arms
draping around my shoulders and was reading, humming with approval. “That’s
really good, Edward.” She kissed my temple. “I can feel the power behind it and
when you say the words …”
“I’m afraid I’ll come off as being a pompous asshole,” I
snorted.
“Stop it,” she said, moving the computer back and sitting on
the desk. I pulled her into my lap and she giggled. “Not close enough?”
“Never close enough,” I snickered, kissing her nose. “I’m
hopeful that my power as an orator, an attorney, will get me through this
livestream. It’ll be weird, addressing people I’ve never met before. People who
believe me to be their ruler. That shit is fucking beyond my scope of
comprehension, Bella.”
“Edward, you’re brilliant, powerful, funny and loyal. Just
be you,” she murmured.
“I’m afraid that being me won’t be enough,” I said, my
insecurities coming out. “It wasn’t enough for my adoptive parents. For my old
firm … I was a failure in their eyes.”
“I love you for you. Not because of this weird mating bond
thing we have or for the fact that you got me out of my fucked-up marriage,”
she snorted derisively. “You carry this aura of calm, but potent power. Even as
a human, everyone pays attention to you.
And it’s not because you’re hot.”
I shivered, making it snow around us. “Quite the opposite, sih’rena,” I chuckled. She rolled her
eyes. “I’m ice cold.”
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