Rising from the Ashes

Moving to my new home

Chapter 18

Regina’s pov

The mate bond really is an amazing thing, even if it doesn’t always get it right the first time. But because of it, I have this amazing man as my own. I know he will always love me and protect my heart, and I am glad I can finally accept my love for him. Now I know he is mine.

It has been lovely spending time with everyone, especially the little ones. Alec is absolutely hilarious. He had absolutely no filter and comes out with some quite surprising things. It is great finally getting to know all of the kids, I missed out on meeting Alec and Angel when Cassie adopted them.

Alec has attached himself to me these couple of days. It looks like I am the flavour of the moment as I am new to him. So he is making the most of our time together until we go to our own home, I have promised him we will see each other lots now that I will be staying with Marcus.

I am kind of dreading dreading going back to Elysium now that the initial excitement of being mated to Marcus has calmed down slightly. I really want to be with him, live with him, and everything that goes along with it.

The issue is that it will be easier for certain people to see me. Not to mention the fact that my ex mate will be king, so I will have to talk to him at times, along with my father, and then brother when he takes over the role of king.

I may be feeling a damn sight better than I was months ago, but I don’t think I am ready to face any of them yet. At least we won’t be taking over straight away, but I don’t think it will be long before Louis and Liana want us to take on our roles.

I decided to have one more session with Dr Carol before we leave and ask Marcus if he wants to join me. I have spoken to him about my sessions and told him everything that has happened. He has been really kind and supportive, and was happy to come along so he could see if there were any other ways in which he could help me.

Dr Carol was happy to see me there with Marcus and gave him an overview of what we had discussed and the steps I have taken so far to heal. She also went over what I needed to continue doing to stay strong and mentally healthy.

“So Regina, what are your main concerns about going back?” She asks me.

“Welll, I am worried about them just appearing without any notice, and I don’t know what they will expect of me. I am also worried that when I become queen, I will have to talk to them regularly on the phone and at events” I reply.

“If you don’t want to talk to them, then any royal business can be done through me. As long as I talk with them, we won’t have any issues with the elders” Marcus offers, and I do feel relief that I wouldn’t have to talk to them.

“At any events, you just need to be polite, greet them, and move on. As we discussed before, it is not your job to make things easier on others. Your job is to look after you, and now this lovely mate of yours. Now, from what I know, people can not just turn up when they want to any kingdom” she says.

“No they usually get in touch first, and we can limit people’s access to the kingdom or a person if need be. It is not usual, but it does happen” Marcus confirms.

“So what we need to do is set boundaries. You have already been successful doing this with your mother when she kept on trying to talk about people you had asked her not to. It is the same thing just applied differently” she says.

“So we can ask them to come only on official business and give plenty of notice unless it is an emergency. Do you think mum and dad will be fine with that?” I ask Marcus, both him and Dr Carol smile that I am now referring to Liana and Louis as mum and dad.

“They would ban them completely for you, my love, and only do business in their kingdoms” he says, smiling at me, and I know he is right.

“I don’t think we need that quite yet, but if they keep on overstepping the boundaries set, then you would have a case for doing that. I think this is the way forward, decide on what actions you plan to take and then you can get your mum to pass them on, or Marcus can call them and tell them what will be happening going forward” she says.

“Thank you for everything, Dr Carol” I say, feeling emotional.

“You are most welcome, dear. You are ready for this. You have worked too hard to let them hold you back any longer. I am always just a call away, Hades set me up with an inter dimensional phone, so you can call me any time for professional or friendly advice” she says warmly, giving me a hug.

“Thank you for helping her. It was a pleasure meeting you” Marcus says, shaking her hand.

“It has been a pleasure, look after each other, you have a very special bond over and above the mate bond, and I want an invite to your wedding” she says with a chuckle.

“Definitely doc, you and your family are always welcome in our kingdom” Marcus says.

Dr Carol has a two year old son and was one of the lucky ones who got a mated bond with the father of her child when Lilith and Zeke marked each other. They are a lovely couple, and she knows what it is like to love the person before the bond sets in, just like Marcus and I.

I am going to miss her she has become more than my therapist in the time we have spent together. She is just a really nice, good person who is fun to be around. So I am happy that she wants to be there at the wedding.

Marcus and I spend some time discussing things after we leave, and when we know what we want to do, we go and talk to his parents. They are not surprisingly happy to do whatever we need to make sure I will be comfortable in my new home.

Louis even offers to make the calls as he is still in charge for now, and he wants to show everyone that I have a strong backing and that they won’t be able to take advantage of my emotions. We decided it wasn’t fair on Mum to make her the messenger.

I will talk to her and explain my reasons if she wants me to, as long as she doesn’t try and change my mind, we will be all good. The next battle will be my handfasting ceremony. I have no intentions of inviting certain people to it.

My mum, aunt, grandma, grandpa Julius and his mate, and Tamara and her mate will be the only ones invited. If they are not happy about their mates being left behind, then they don’t have to come. I will not be upset with them if they choose to stay home with their mates.

I will have to have them at our crowning ceremony. All leaders and their family have to be invited to these events. It was something that was agreed on long ago to improve relations between the different species and kingdoms.

I will cross that bridge when it comes, for now I have to speak to Hades for a favour before we leave and I am really hoping he will say yes to it.

“Hades I was wondering if you would walk me down the aisle at my hand fasting ceremony” I ask him.

“Is there no one you would rather ask? Obviously, I would be honoured to do it, but I don’t want to take away anyone’s right” he says, sounding rather emotional.

“You, Grandpa Julius, and Louis have been more like fathers to me than my own dad. Louis has had Cassie and Lilith to do the honours with, and I will ask Grandpa Julius to walk me to my crowning ceremony” I explained my reasoning.

“She has already spoken to me about it and I thought it was a great idea, you have treated both Lilith and Regina as your own child, and it has put me at ease knowing they had you when I was so far away” Louis said with a smile.

“Of course I will. You pumpkin will look just like the Irish Queens of centuries ago, with that beautiful red hair of yours, now you definitely have to call me páppa” he says proudly.

Páppa is apparently an ancient Greek earth word for daddy, and they don’t get much more ancient than Hades. He was there before mortals first learned how to speak. I am honoured to call him my páppa and Claudia mumma Claudia after everything they have done for me.

I am feeling much more confident about leaving here for the vampire kingdom now. I have a plan and a mountain of support behind me, any bumps or setbacks I know I can deal with now and in the future.