“It's also next to impossible for a man to hold himself back,” Kira pointed out. “I’ve read many accounts of men trying to accomplish such a feat, but they see how much pleasure the oracle is in, and they can’t help but take a little pleasure for themselves.”
“And then the tears are useless, because as soon as an oracle is no longer a virgin, she loses her powers,” Drake sighed in understanding, “And her tears are no longer capable of healing.”
“The kind of powerful men that are usually able to get their hands on an oracle are usually noble and impatient men who take what they want when they can and think little of the consequences, until it is too late,” Kira admitted with a shrug. She half expected Drake to be offended by her words, but he simply smiled down at her.
“Men like me, you mean?” he asked, bemused. “What if I said I thought I had a way to obtain these tears without risking your powers? Would you be willing to try?”
Chapter 10 - Drake
“You want to what?” Blake demanded, slamming his fist down on the desk where Drake had found him in his library shortly after leaving Kira. “You want to…share her with that…that prince?”
Drake cringed at the anger in his brother’s voice. It was quite clear that the Winter King was not thinking clearly.
“Think about it, brother!” Drake snapped back at him, unable to control his own raging emotions. Having been so close to Kira, he could think of nothing more than holding her in his arms again. “If we can get him what he wants, he will return to his homeland, and we may never have to lay eyes on him again.”
Blake seemed to mull over what his brother had said for several moments before he finally breathed a deep sigh and slammed his fist down on the study desk. “Damn it! I hate it when you’re right.”
Hope, and perhaps even a little excitement, began to flare in Drake’s stomach. He could already imagine how happy Kira would be when she learned that they’d all chosen to support her. That is, if Menion agrees to it all, Drake realized. His stomach twisted and his chest tightened at the thought that the younger prince might be too stubborn to accept their help.
“Does that mean you’re willing to help?” Drake asked, trying his hardest not to get his hopes up. He stared at his brother, looking for any sign that he might be doubting his decision. When Blake finally gave what looked like a reluctant nod, Drake rushed to the door of the study before he could change his mind. Pulling it open, he instructed the guard who waited just outside, “Go to Prince Menion and escort him to lady Kira’s rooms. Inform him that we shall be joining him there.”
The guard’s only response was to bow his head in acknowledgment and hurry off like a little worker bee, his wings fluttering behind his back in his haste to do as the king had said.
“I hope you’re right about this,” Blake said grimly, and it was clear from his tone that he still wasn’t entirely pleased with his decision to help the foreign prince.
“Does Kira seem like the kind of person who could forgive herself if she allowed a woman to die without doing everything in her power to help?” Drake asked, trying to convince his brother that they were doing the right thing.
Blake’s blue eyes turned up from where he’d been staring absentmindedly at a pile of papers on his desk. He regarded Drake silently for several minutes before finally nodding his understanding. “I know you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Drake knew how his brother felt. He and his brother had shared everything ever since they were born, and yet even he was struggling at the thought of sharing Kira with another man entirely. For the first time in his life, he was even feeling jealous at the thought of sharing something with his twin. There is no way around it, he reminded himself quickly to stop the jealousy from taking hold. Fate has spoken.
Upon returning to Kira’s bed chambers with his brother, Drake found that Menion had already arrived. It was clear from the disgruntled look on his face that he had no idea why he’d been summoned. The tension in the room suggested he wasn’t pleased by having been ordered around by one of the twin kings.
“Is somebody going to tell me why I’ve been summoned in the middle of the night?” Menion demanded as soon as the twins entered. Kira was sitting at the stool of her vanity table, running a silver boar bristle brush through her hair. When her eyes met Drake’s through the mirror, he got a distinct impression that she was nervous, yet the smile she offered him warmed his heart.
“Kira, my brother and I have decided that we are going to help you,” Drake announced, holding his head high as he turned to the prince, half expecting him to instantly push back against their offer to help. Instead, the prince simply stared at him, a look of confusion in his moss-green eyes. “Kira has agreed to try and give you what you came here for, on one condition,” Drake continued when it was obvious that the prince wasn’t about to say anything. “As we are all her fated mates, we must all be involved.”
Menion’s lips parted, and the expression on his face suggested he was going to object, but before he could, Blake added, “The way I see it, your chances of success are increased three-fold if we are all involved.”
The winter king shrugged his broad shoulders and glanced at Kira as if it was only her opinion he was interested in. when she nodded her agreement, he turned his attention back to Menion and added, “Unless you don’t want us to help your mother.”
The prince did not respond to his borderline sarcastic tone. Instead, he turned to Kira and regarded her with some suspicion before he finally asked, “Is this true?”
There seemed to be a mixture of hurt and hope in his voice. The conflicting emotions played upon his face as they all waited with bated breath to hear Kira’s response.
“I think it might be the only chance you have of curing your mother,” she admitted a little breathlessly, as though she was already imagining what was about to occur. “Fate brought the three of you to me for a reason, and I think part of that reason may be to help your mother.”
“I…I don’t even know what to say,” Menion gasped, obviously overcome with emotion. He glanced from Kira to the twins and added, “Are the two of you comfortable with this? You understand what we have to do?”
Drake simply nodded while his brother shrugged and responded, “I can’t say that I’m running around doing cartwheels about the whole thing, but I’m not about to be left out.”
Drake cringed at his brother’s reaction, but quickly tried to force the negative feelings away. They weren’t going to help any of them now. He didn’t know too much about what they were attempting to do, but what he did know was they needed to be positive if their efforts were to have any chance of being successful.
“So, are we going to do this?” Drake asked, glancing around the room at them all in turn. Blake appeared to be his usual bad-tempered self, but he nodded and although she appeared nervous, Kira nodded too.
It was only Menion who hesitated, looking uncertain as to the twins’ motives for their sudden willingness to help. He glanced from one to the other suspiciously before he finally turned to Kira and said, “Only if you’re absolutely sure.”
Drake watched admiringly as Kira swiftly crossed the room and firmly took Menion’s face in her hands. Though she was almost a foot shorter than the fae prince, she didn’t appear intimidated. In fact, she appeared regal and beautiful, and Drake knew for certain that no matter what happened, he had to do whatever it took to make her happy. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to do so.