Tasmina's Tale

13. Two Years Later

Tasmina

“MINA! MINA, hurry up. I swear by goddess, girl, if we’re late…”

“Mama, I’m coming!” I said, laughing loudly, running to her as she stood by the door. 

I kissed her on her nose. 

“You worry far too much, Mama,” I said, smiling at her widely. 

“And you don’t worry enough!” she replied, shaking her head but grinning at me all the same.

The day was finally here. Each night for two years, Prince Rikom had linked me, stealing my sleep and somewhere along the way, my heart as well. We had met only once in those two years, after his parents had sent him to Bulan. 

Ruki was getting ready to stay with Aliza for the day. I still hadn’t told her and as I got ready now to finally meet Prince Rikom, I felt incredibly guilty for not telling the girl who had now become my sister, about my mate. It had sat like a weight on my chest for two years and I had wanted nothing more than to share it with her and Malaka, even as they tried to push me to spend time with other men and women. 

“You’ve been talking about this for weeks, Mina. Do you happen to have a little crush on Prince Rodin? I’ve seen him riding out to hunt with his father. He’s very handsome,” Ruki teased. 

She had completely come out of her shell in these past two years, becoming a sister to me and a second daughter to Mama. 

“Not Prince Rodin, no,” I said, sheepishly looking at Mama. 

Mama nodded to me as if giving me permission. 

“Ruki… I’m mated to Prince Rikom.”

I blurted it out quickly, the desperation to finally say it out loud overcoming me. She paused for a moment and a silence hung in the air. Then she burst out laughing. 

“Ah Mina, that’s a good one. A mystic mated… to the Crown Prince no less. Where do you come up with these things?” 

She looked between me and Mama, waiting for us to join her in her laughter. When neither of us did, her eyes widened in shock. 

“Goddess, you’re not joking, are you?” 

I shook my head and her hand clasped over her mouth. 

“How? When? How?”

“We do not have time to explain all this right now,” Mama said, impatiently. “We must leave at once. Queen Maha has already linked me twice. Ruki, will you come with us?”

Ruki shook her head quickly, paling all of a sudden. 

I nodded, quickly adjusting my band around my breast. Felan and Faris stood ready by the door. 

“Wait,” Mama said, just as we were about to walk out of the door. 

She rushed into her chambers and brought out a beautiful gold cuff. 

“Mama,” I gasped. 

She put it over my upper arm and smiled warmly at me.

“There. Now you’re ready.”

With that, we left our home and began our walk to the palace. 

—

Rikom

I paced back and forth in the hall. 

“Where are they?” I snarled, my patience wearing thin. 

“Calm down, son. They will be here. Miya gave us our word. And you had better be careful with how you speak with her. You didn’t leave the best of impressions the last time you were here.” 

I resisted the urge to grin. I had grown significantly over the past two years. Plus, after the evening I had spent in her home, I knew that Miya had a certain fondness for me… as I did for her. She’d had a warmth, a motherly instinct that I perhaps hadn’t often received from my own mother. I remembered how safe I had felt under her touch. I also hadn’t forgotten the royal scolding she had given me the first time we had met. 

“Are you sure it’s wise to keep this from Baba?” I asked, turning to Mama. 

“Your Baba has gone to the coast to investigate reports of rogues near the village. Today was not the day to burden him with this. We will take this one step at a time. Who knows, perhaps it was a false impression. You may see the mystic and feel nothing.” 

I nodded shortly, but I knew it to be untrue. Every night for two years, I had heard her voice in my head, tossed and turned at the way she said my name each time she told me goodnight. I had her voice change from girl to woman, her thoughts growing, her ideas of the world shifting. I wondered how else she had changed. I couldn’t believe I had seen her only once, since I had been sent to Bulan to train, and my duties as Crown Prince had increased upon my return. The man I had trained with was a powerful warrior by the name of Coman, but he had recently had a baby son with his mate. They had decided to call him Conin. A strong name. I was sure he would make a great warrior one day, just like his father before him. 

“Has it ever bothered you, Mama? That Baba is not your mate?” 

Mama thought about it carefully. 

“No, I suppose it never has. I knew what I was getting into when I married your Baba. We have built a relationship of trust and respect. He values my council and I honour him as king. It may not be the love one reads about, but it is love all the same.” 

I nodded. I had watched my parents my whole life. They seemed to like each other well enough; my brother, Rodin and I seemed proof of this. Baba had seven more wives, but there was no love lost between any of them. In fact, the only time they seemed to band together was to mutually hate my mother. Only three of them had given Baba children, one each. Two girls and a boy. The girls were still young, only nine and seven. The boy, Enzo, was turning fifteen this year. A bit of a sullen git, but he seemed to get on alright with Rodin. Perhaps it was just me he didn’t like. 

I bounced on the balls of my feet. Where were they?

Just as I was reaching the end of my tether, I saw the palace gates beginning to open. Even from a distance I could already see that she was taller. She stood shoulder to shoulder with her mother, the only person other than my Baba to instil a slight twang of fear in me. But you would never hear me say it out loud. 

As she grew closer into the gardens, the most beautiful fragrance of warm amber wafted towards me. It was musky, rich with a hint of spice. It filled my senses and I inhaled deeply, never wanting to exhale again. She was flanked by her two brothers, who had also grown into men, and her mother, but I had eyes only for her. How she had changed. 

The last time I had seen her, she had been shorter, slimmer, and slightly gangly. As I had been. Now… well. Now she stood tall, her black hair falling in dark curls around her face. It was almost mane-like, masses and masses of thick ringlets that added at least a few inches to her already tall frame. And her body… good goddess. Her hips had widened where her waist had stayed the same. Her chest was fuller, the band much tighter across her breasts than the last time we had met. 

They bowed before me and I bowed back, receiving a raised brow from Miya. I turned my attention to her first. 

“Thank you for coming, Royal Mystic, Miya Aera Kaiz. You honour me with your presence.” 

She smiled at me warmly, and I couldn’t help returning it. I stood before her and bowed my head and she took my face in her hands and kissed my forehead as she had done the last time I had seen her. It inexplicably filled me with a sense of joy.

“And thank you for your kind reception, your majesties,” she said, nodding at both me and Mama, who had her brow raised at this greeting. 

My eyes went back to Tasmina. Her black eyes met mine and I felt my legs weaken slightly. What witchcraft was this? 

“I hope your journey wasn’t too arduous. I was hoping that perhaps you would join my mother and I for lunch.”

Her brothers looked at their mother and a glance was exchanged, though I couldn’t be sure what the meaning of it was. I was relieved when she finally turned to me. 

“We would be honoured.