I found myself cowering into my shoulders at her tone. It rivalled the fear the mention of him brought out. I wasn't the only one. A glance around the room showed eyes glance away in embarrassment at reacting like children to the tone of an angered mother.

Cassius wasn't immune to it either. His struggles against his confines had stopped as he looked down at the table before him, not daring to use the same tactics I had witnessed him employ on other women before him. It took a brave man to stare his mother down when she had taken on the tone he had. It didn't matter how grown the man was.

"One of the concubines is better fit to take the title of King alongside their Queen."

Cassius's head snapped up. His eyes narrowed slightly, no longer caring that it was his mother before him. "Mother-" he began, but she cut him off, continuing.

"I would rather have the blood of another rule than let a man like your father send us back to the dark ages." His mother's face seemed to darken with her words, her eyes going distant.

"Mother," Cassius's voice came out tense but controlled.

She shook her head. Her fingers gently massaged my head before smoothing the hair down again, easing some of my own tension out of my body. It was like she was transferring it to Cassius. "Did you know your father did the same to me?"

Cassius's body jerked as he was hit with the surprising words.

"You would have had an older sister from the assaults your father committed against me on the night I was unwillingly wed to him." Her hard eyes could cut diamonds. "But he couldn't let the title of heir be given to a girl, so he dealt with it with a swift kick."

I couldn't stop a gasp from escaping my lips, causing her to increase her efforts to soothe me while her eyes narrowed on Cassius, seeming to force him to look at her. "I wonder if you would do the same seeing as you care so little for what the realm's Queen has to say."

He swallowed hard as a horrified silence descended upon the room that had been filled with amusement and anger only moments ago. Eyes were wide as everyone tried to absorb the traumatizing details of a past Cassius's mother had survived.

"I was barely able to save your younger sister when it became known I was carrying a girl. The promise that I would give him another son was all that kept him from eliminating her from being second in line. He conceded, warning that he would deal with her if anything happened to you as long as he had another son."

A sad smile graced her lips. Waving a hand before her, she manifested a stemmed glass on the table before her with a floating decanter filled with a transparent purple liquid. It tipped over, filling the glass as she reached out and took hold of it. Raising it to her lips, she took a sip, closing her eyes. Whether to savour the taste or to hide the pain in her eyes, I didn't know.

"Too bad for him that I got to him before he could touch her when you were poisoned in your youth and we were worried you wouldn't make it." Her sad smile grew. "But I never expected him to succeed in the end, even after death." She threw back the contents of the glass in a single drink, placing the glass back on the table to be refilled. "He managed to take all my children from me even after I had finally worked up the courage to fight back for them."

She shook her head again, seeming defeated. I could see Cassius reacting to the sight as a son who loved their mother would. For the first time, I was witnessing tears filling his eyes.

"I didn't know." His words were quiet, yet held more emotion than I had ever witnessed him express before.

"You shouldn't need to."

Her eyes softened as she looked down at me. Waving her hand before her, another stemmed glass appeared before me for the decanter to fill before she took hold of hers again. She urged me to take it with a point of her chin. I hesitantly reached my hand out and brought the drink to my lips. The glass felt cold under my skin, but the liquid warmed my tongue with sweet spices as I took a sip.

Her gaze hardened once more, her face transforming like she had switched out a mask for another as she looked at Cassius. "You shouldn't need to think about your mother to treat your Queen with respect. My struggles and pain shouldn't be what stops you from doing the same to another. If so," she shook her head again in disappointment. "Then I raised you wrong. I wouldn't need to picture you in the place of another to stop injustice. The ruler of this realm shouldn't either."

Cassius wasn't the only one to show shame in response to her words. Aside from Ares and Ryder, the former who stood stoic as usual with his arms crossed behind Cassius and the latter who had taken the seat beside me and was wearing a face that showed he was enjoying the moment, everyone's face reflected guilt as they avoided looking towards the sovereign mother as she stroked my hair while I took small sips of the drink I found myself enjoying. Her words were hitting marks she didn't know were set.

"Nea," I jumped when she suddenly addressed me. "I will begin training you in court matters. While you learn what is needed, I will resume rule until you are ready to take over. This realm has survived under the sole rule of a King before, it can do so under a Queen."

My eyes widened as my mouth parted of its own accord in shock. Queen? She wanted me to rule over others when I couldn't rule over my own life? Was she delusional?

I shook my head vehemently in response, pulling my head away from her like it could distance me from her decision.

"Mother," Cassius's controlled voice spoke. "She's not fit for rule, she would crumble under the pressure."

Though his words were an insult, I couldn't help but agree with them. They were true. I wasn't raised to rule a realm like Cassius, and I guessed Zev, were.

"That's why I said I would train her." Placing her arm on the back of my chair, she placed her glass down on the table hard. I was worried the thin material was going to shatter from the impact.

Cassius settled back in his chair, finding a comfortable position while his face showed anything but. "The people would never accept it. She doesn't carry Royal blood. They'll allow her to rule by my side, but not on her own."

Then you can dress up like a pretty king and sit quiet and respectfully at her side.

"Do you really think they would go against my words in favour of hers, even if I was only King for appearance's sake?"

"You have been absent for a while. It wouldn't be surprising if they had forgotten your face by now."

Cassius didn't give a verbal retort. He just levelled her with eyes that said enough.

I could feel his mother tense beside me, telling me he was making a valid point. It was the same point he had for why my first child had to carry his blood.

A ruler was nothing without the people.

If it wasn't for the sombre air that filled the room from her earlier revelation, I was positive Cassius would have been smirking in victory. Instead, his eyes reflected pained anger and respect for the woman before him.

His mother tapped her manicured nails on the table. The sound expressed the frustration her face hid.

Her eyes shifted from Cassius to the other men occupying the room as silent spectators. What had begun as a meeting to set ground rules surrounding our relationship had turned into a debate on who would rule the realm.

Raising her glass she took another sip. "I will be taking overrule again while you sort this mess out." Her eyes narrowed. "I am prepared to rule until my dying breath if I see it fit. I am also not above banishing my own son from my lands. I already have one waiting to be executed. If the need arises, I can create more heirs with my blood, but I will never let borne by force rule on the throne, so that makes your plan moot."

She rose to her feet. Her glass disappeared while the one before me and the floating decanter remained.

"I'll let you all sort this out like you were planning, but keep my warning in mind," she narrowed her eyes. "I'm not too worried, seeing as a few of you already have Nea's best interest in mind," she said looking around at the men who had sought her out for restraints, her eyes ending on Ryder who had taken hold of my hand and started playing with my fingers. "Though only one may hold the official title of King, I look forward to what you all will bring to the rule."

Placing a hand on my cheek, she turned me to face her. "Never hesitate in seeking me out, dear. He may seem frightening, but he is still a mother's son. If he wants me to continue acknowledging him as mine, he will change his ways immediately. Otherwise," her eyes cut to him. "Not only will he lose his title, but he will also lose his remaining blood family."

With another caress and a soft smile, she left us to it, her warning echoing in her departure.

"Anything to say, Casey boy?" Ryder's voice drawled out beside me. His grin agitating like intended.

Ares made his way to me, taking the seat Cassius's mother had vacated. The other followed suit, claiming a seat of their own around the table.

"I think his mom said more than enough to rip him a new one," Ezra chimed in from between Ryder and Zev. A smug smirk has his lips curving. He looked at me. "Looks like that address the main concern. I don't think you have much to worry about going forward now, isn't that right, Cassius?"

His eyes narrowed on Ezra. "You all went crying to my mother like children."

Ezra shrugged in response. "Sometimes you have to drop to your opponent's level to get things done. You lied to me, I got your mother involved."

"Fine, do as you please," Cassius said. "Have all the children you want, but don't come crying to me when they feel slighted that they aren't eligible for the throne-"

"Actually," Ares interrupted. "You said an accepted heir must have royal blood running through their veins. Is it necessary that the royal blood be that of a Demon, or is the Royal flame that exists in ancient blood all that's necessary? The ruler of the Water Folk on Asorix is a shifter with Royal blood that was accepted after the original royal family was assassinated. Do the people of your realm require a Demon to rule over them?"

Cassius's face hardened into a blank mask. "People will only accept royal blood that belongs to the throne."

The corner of Ares's lips quicker up in a cold smile. "But not only the royal blood from your father's side, right? Your mother isn't a full-blooded Demon, yet she was able to take over ruling a land filled with them. She even threatened to replace you with another child that lacks your father's blood, meaning it isn't necessary that his blood remains in rule."

"What are you getting at?" Zev asked, his interest visibly peaked by Ares's inquiry.

"He's saying a child sired by another royal bloodline would be accepted. As long as the one who father's it shares their Royal flame with Nea first, there should be little objection. Cassius just lied about it," Ezra clarified.

I couldn't help but glance at Ares at the mention of sharing a Royal flame. He would have already known about it, yet he never mentioned it. Unease began in my stomach when his eyes evaded mine.

"I didn't lie," Cassius said, cutting off my wandering thought before they could go too far down that rabbit hole.

He also didn't deny it.

"A lie by omission is still a lie. You knew your greatest threat carried royal blood in his veins. From what I've been reading, only a small percentage of the population of this realm actually consists of Demons, making it an insignificant deciding factor. You also failed to share that your Royal blood first joined the throne when the last royal line was overthrown by the people."

"What difference does it make what title the blood has," I quietly asked Ryder. The queen of England still bled just like everybody else.

"It's not just a title, sweetheart. Royal blood contains a Royal Flame; ancient magic. Many believe it's a sign they're blessed by the sky's, others don't care for the reason, only seeing the power those without royal blood can weld in comparison."

"So a child sired by me, Zev or Cassius would be accepted by the people," Ares told me after Ryder finished. He looked away without mentioning the Flame again.

"And me."

The two unexpected words caught the attention of the room. Everyone's eyes turned to Jaxon as he held up his hand. Almost everyone in the room seemed surprised, except for Cassius and Axel.

They knew.

"I had enough siblings that it never would have been relevant unless a massacre took place," he said, shrugging it off like it was an insignificant detail. "The whole golden dragon thing also sort of overshadows my lineage..."

"Anybody else?" Ares asked the room, leaving me wondering if royalty was more common than I expected.

Ryder, Ezra, and Axel shook their heads.

He nodded before pointing his eyes at the man whose face had increasingly grown darker in anger. "So the truth is, there is no need for you, Cassius. Your mother made it clear where she stands. I think she'd be more than delighted to know she doesn't need to go through the pain of childbirth again to replace you with royal blood. Sure we may be on your territory, but we aren't your prisoners."

"Not to mention, you owe Nea, not the other way around," Ezra pointed out.

My brows furrowed in confusion. "He does?"

Ezra smiled at me softly as he nodded. "When you traded your life for mine, we become indebted to you. A life for a life. Though I wouldn't have died in the Deadlands, you would have, yet you still sacrificed yourself to save me pain."

"Cassius may be an ass who thinks he knows what's best for everyone, but when he accepts you as family, he doesn't half-ass it. Ezra's debt is all of ours to share."

"Not to mention the other shit you all have to make up for," Ezra offhandedly added under his breath, peaking Ryder and Ares's attention. "So she has no obligation to provide you with a blood heir," he continued louder. His words softened. "I don't know if this is your way of gaining the child you lost Cassius, but she's not her. You can't use her to recreate what you once had."

Cassius's eyes had dropped to his knees as Ezra spoke. His hair hung down over his forehead, his eyes hidden.

Axel placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're stubborn in what you want, but, you're risking losing the family you've created. None of us would be together if you hadn't saved Jaxon's skinny ass as a child. Blood doesn't make family, the people do."

"But what if the person doesn't want to be a part of it?" Cassius asked.

Ares's heavy sigh cut through the air. "It's too late to ask questions that no longer hold relevance. You made that decision for her, now do right by her instead of trying to use her to replace another."

Cassius lifted his head and locked eyes with Ares. They narrowed.

"Why the change of heart?"

Ares scoffed. "Because I see Nea as a person, not a means to an end. I want what's best for her, and in the long run, that means mending the mess you all created. It's why this meeting was set, to find a solution to fix whatever it was that you did. Preferably before I learn the detail."

Cassius's eyes shifted to me, his brows drawn. "And your willing? To give this a chance?" He paused, hesitating. "To give me a chance?"

Refusal jumped to the tip of my tongue, but Ares's hand on my thigh stopped it. I followed it up his arm to meet his eyes. The silent support in them had me sighing in annoyance. I didn't want to have to attempt being civil after everything, but I knew by the silent urging of the bond to say yes that I would have to eventually.

I looked down in my lap fidgeting with my fingers while trying and failing to keep the anger I felt at having no other viable choice from my voice.

"Yes."