Jacinda's Challenge (Imperial 3)

"Is it? Do you not, my love, also love Jotham?"

  "But... but that's different! It never would have occurred if you were still alive!"

  "Are you so sure about that, my love?" Stephan looked at her with no censure in his eyes. "I know you would never have betrayed me, never would have broken your vows to me, but feelings are about neither of those things. They just are, and Prince Dallan, unfortunately, had them for two women at the same time. One he had known for cycles and had grown to love. The other one he instantly fell in love with as soon as he met her. One he made his Queen and the other gave him his daughter. Both women knew about the other, but once Dallan said his vows to Rohanna he totally committed himself to her and never saw Pascua again. Instead, he sent the bush."

  "I don't understand."

  "It's not the soil that causes the blooms color, Jacinda, not in the 'mother,' it is the love between its caretaker and the man she loves."

  "But I was its caretaker before you died and it only produced golden blooms."

  "That's because you are a royal and although you loved me, someone from the House of Protection, I wasn't royal."

  "But..."

  "Jotham is royal and that's why the 'mother' now blooms two colors. You love Jotham, a royal from the House of Protection. The plant understands that and acknowledges that love."

  "But I didn't love him when it changed!"

  "It doesn't matter, the plant knew you would."

  "But... I don't want to lose you, Stephan."

  "Oh, my love." Stephan pulled her into his arms. "You can never lose me. You are my life mate, I am yours and the day will come when we will be reunited. But that doesn't mean your love for Jotham has to end, any more than him loving you means his for Lata must. The life with the ancestors is an amazing place, Jacinda, where love is celebrated."

  "Yours and mine."

  "Yours and Jotham's."

  "Jotham's and Lata's."

  "I'm confused, Stephan. I don't know what to do."

  "Follow your heart, my love, just as you did with me. You followed your instincts. You made no mistakes and because of it, I was able to fulfill my destiny. Now you must do the same with Jotham. If you do, our world will continue on this bright new path... " Clipping a rose, he handed it to her.

  Looking down, Jacinda was shocked to see not a violet rose, not a golden one. Instead, a tiny new bud was just starting to open. Its base, House of Protection violet, while the tips of its petals were House of Healing gold.

  One House.

  Looking back to question Stephan, she found him gone.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  "She's right, you know."

  "Hmm," Jotham asked sleepily, enjoying the gentle fingers running through his hair. "Who is?"

  "Jacinda."

  "What?!!" Jotham's eyes flew open to find Lata smiling down at him. "Lata?"

  "Hello, my love."

  "What? Where?" His eyes flew around the room only to discover he wasn't on his shuttle, he was in the garden.

  His garden.

  Next to Lata's rose bush.

  "Jacinda is right, you know. You will meet the ancestors before you should if you keep on as you are."

  Jotham frowned at her. "What are you talking about, Lata?"

  "You. You've always been destined for greatness, Jotham, but you will achieve none of it if you continue on as you are."

  "I don't understand."

  "I left you before I should have, my love, because I refused to recognize the signs, didn't follow my instincts. I was young and stubborn and believed nothing bad could ever happen to me. After all, I was the Queen." She gave him a sad smile. "I was wrong and now both you and Barek blame yourselves for what was never your fault."

  "It was my fault, Lata."

  "No, my love, you did everything you could. The fault is mine. All mine, and I don't want you to make the same mistake."

  "And what mistake is that?"

  "The one where I thought I could handle everything alone. I couldn't, and you can't either. If you continue to try you will fail, just as I did."

  "Lata..."

  "Our world is on the brink, Jotham."

  "The brink of what?" he demanded.

  "Of greatness or great destruction. It could go either way and you are the pivot point."

  "Me?" Jotham felt himself pale.

  "Yes, my love, you. But you have to be there to make it happen."

  "I don't understand, Lata. How can I possibly do more than I already am? I'm..."

  "Tired. I can see that. So can Jacinda."

  "Jacinda..."

  "You love her, Jotham." Lata's eyes were soft and full of understanding as she spoke.

  "Lata..."

  "It's all right, my love." She reached out, running her fingers down his cheek, soothing him as she used to. "It takes nothing away from you and me. If I could have, I would have brought the two of you together sooner. I hated to see you so alone and struggling, but Stephan had his own destiny that he needed to fulfill before the two of you could be together."

  "I worried..."

  "That I would not approve." Lata leaned over and kissed his lips. "Jotham, she is the only woman I would approve of because she truly loves you."

  "I know she cares about me, but love..."

  "How could she not love you, Jotham? You're a wonderful man."

  "I've made mistakes with her, Lata. I've been impatient, demanding, I expect her to do as I say."

  "And does she?" Lata's eyes sparkled with mirth, knowing the answer.

  "No. She argues with me. Tells me when I'm wrong."

  "Good. Someone needs to."

  "Lata, stop teasing me, I'm serious." Jotham suddenly realized he was discussing another woman with his life mate.

  "And I'm so glad you are, my love." Lata looked at him with understanding eyes. "Jacinda sees you, but more importantly, she understands what your duties should entail... and what they shouldn't. She isn't going to let anyone, not even you, intimidate her. She will make a magnificent Queen."

  "You are my Queen, Lata." Jotham sat up sharply.

  "I am," Lata acknowledged, "but that doesn't mean she can't be too. It's always been her ultimate destiny, Jotham. You've seen it for yourself."

  Jotham knew she was referring to Jacinda's royal mark, but for him to take a Queen from another House...

  "What you're suggesting..."

  "Will change our world forever,” Lata agreed.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  A steady beeping dragged Jotham from the deep sleep he had fallen into. Blindly reaching out, he hit the button to answer the comm.

  "What is it?" he demanded.

  "Majesty, we are fifteen minutes out of Kisurri," Chesney's voice informed him.

  "Understood." Disconnecting, Jotham relaxed back into the bed and while he pulled Jacinda closer, his mind was on the strange dream he'd had.

  It had to have been a dream. Right?

  "Jotham?" Jacinda roused sleepily in his arms, rubbing her cheek against his chest.

  "Hmm?" Her next words had him stiffening.

  "I just had the strangest dream."

  "You did?"

  "Yeah." She lifted her head to look at him. "Was that Chesney I heard?"

  "Yes, he was letting us know we are fifteen minutes from Kisurri."

  "Oh, I guess we'd better get up then."

  "In a minute." Jotham sat up and leaned back against the wall and pulled her across his lap so she was in his arms, facing him. "Tell me about your dream."

  "I..." she hesitated.

  "It involved Stephan, didn't it?"

  "Yes." Jacinda's eyes widened as she looked at him. "How could you possibly know that?"

  Jotham knew he had to be honest with her. "Because I just had one with Lata."

  Jacinda felt her eyes start to fill. "Praise the ancestors! That means it wasn't a dream, that it was actually an encounter and..."

  "And?"

  "Stephan was actually holding me in his arms."
br />   "As Lata was in mine."

  Jacinda gave him an uncertain look. "And she was okay with..."

  "Us being together?"

  At her nod, Jotham gave her that little half smile from the left side of his mouth that always made her heart beat a little faster.

  "Yes." Now it was Jotham's turn to look uncertain. "Was Stephan?"

  "Yes."

  Silence reigned for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Jacinda tried to understand everything Stephan had told her. He said she needed to follow her instincts, her heart, and both were telling her she needed to tell Jotham how she felt. Needed to tell him now.

  "I need to tell you something, Jotham."

  "You can tell me anything, Jacinda."

  "I'm in love with you."

  "Jacinda..." Before he could say more, she put gentle fingers over his lips.

  "I'm not sure I'm happy about it."

  "What?" Jotham pulled away from her fingers, his heart that had leapt at her first words now fell.

  "I never wanted to be involved with a King. If I had, I would have stayed in the House of Healing. It's why I always steered clear of you at the Academy." As she spoke, she traced his full lower lip. "I worked so hard to try and not end up here, but it seems the ancestors have other ideas."

  "You don't wish to share your life with me?" Jotham felt his heart begin to ache.

  "Of course I do!" Jacinda instantly denied. "I love you. You! What I don't love is the thought of watching another man I love working himself to death. I can't do it again. It will destroy me."

  "Jacinda, Stephan died..."

  "Because I didn't stand up to him, make him keep his promise to slow down, to cut back. He promised he would stop chairing so many committees, that he would delegate more. He did neither and you are even worse."

  "Jacinda, I am the King. There are things that only I can do."

  "Yes, but there are things that you don't need to do, like being involved in the labor talks for the Sokol Corporation. There's no need for it, and in truth, it's detrimental for the workers every time you are."

  "What are you talking about?!!" Jotham took great pride in that work. "They are always my top priority."

  "Sokol knows that. He also knows how much your people love and respect you and he uses that. He knows if he presents them with a contract that you've approved, they will accept it, no questions asked. Every time they do, his share of the profits increases. "

  "How can you know this?"

  "It was one of the new committees Stephan was chairing before his death. He was investigating Sokol after he was approached by several disgruntled workers."

  "Why didn't they go to the Chair of the Labor Committee?"

  "Because Pajari chairs that committee and Sokol is his biggest supporter."

  Jotham couldn't believe what she was telling him. How could he not have known this? All he was trying to do was help his people.

  "And you do." Jacinda saw he hadn't realized he'd spoken out loud. "But by doing so much, you don't have the time to give any of it your full attention. You're no longer that new King, the youngest ever crowned, trying to prove yourself. You are not that newly-widowed King trying to fill those suddenly empty nights to keep your mind off of what you had lost."

  "How can you know that?"

  "Because I was there, Jotham. I saw it all and then I did the same thing after Stephan died. The nights were always the worst, especially in the beginning. But it's time for it to stop. You rule the House of Protection, Jotham. It doesn't rule you. Not like this."

  Jotham just looked at her, letting her words sink in. Everything she said was right. He had felt he needed to prove himself in those early cycles. He didn't now. He had demanded to take on more and more after Lata's death because he couldn't stand to return to his rooms and know they were empty. Now when he wanted to clear time, time to spend with Jacinda, something always interrupted. But how did he step back now?

  "I understand what you are saying, Jacinda, and you are right. But I can't just abandon these duties, to do so would be like abandoning my people."

  "I would never suggest that, Jotham, but you can assign those duties to someone else."

  "There is no one else."

  "Not even Barek?" She saw she had surprised him.

  "Barek?"

  "Yes. He is your heir, shouldn't he start to learn the responsibilities that will one day be his, from you? Not be thrown into them unprepared as you were?"

  "I... I never considered it before. Barek never expressed a desire to be more involved."

  "Just like he never expressed an interest in knowing more about his mother?" she quizzed gently. "He is his father's son, Jotham. He watched and learned from you and it's made him a very good, strong, and proud man. It's also made him a very private one."

  "Yes." Jotham nodded his agreement.

  "When it comes to men like that, sometimes you just have to be very blunt to get them to tell you what they are thinking."

  "And if that doesn't work?" He caressed her cheek with a knuckle.

  "Then you yell at them, at least I do. Tears work well too, but only when it’s absolutely necessary."

  "I find it hard to believe you ever had to take it that far with Stephan."

  "Oh no, never with Stephan. Yelling always made my point with him. I only ever had to pull out the tears with my father." Jacinda smiled gently at the memory. "My mother taught me how."

  "What could you possibly have had to cry about to get your father to agree to?"

  "My Union with Stephan."

  A discreet knock stopped Jotham from replying.

  "Yes?"

  "Majesty, I need to inform you that we are beginning our descent."

  "Thank you, Chesney, we'll be out in a moment."

  "Yes, Majesty."

  "Jacinda," he cupped her cheek, stilling her when she went to move away. "We will talk about this again when there is more time. But right now, I have something I need to tell you."

  "What?"

  "I'm in love with you too."

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jacinda lay across Jotham’s chest, propped up on her elbow as she watched him sleep. She still couldn't believe this amazing man loved her. Her. Jacinda Michelakakis.

  When they arrived in the dead of the night, they were quickly shown to a private wing and informed that the High Admiral and the Queen were expecting them for first meal at seven.

  Now the second sun was just starting to rise and Jacinda knew they would need to rise soon too. She wasn't sure what type of reception she was going to receive from the Queen and High Admiral, but she hoped it wouldn't cause problems for Jotham. She knew he thought they would welcome her with open arms, Jacinda wasn't so sure.

  What she was sure of was that Jotham loved her, and she loved Jotham. Together they would figure the rest out. No, it wasn't the life she expected, being a King's... companion, but she wouldn't shy away from it either. She of all people knew how precious love was.

  "Do you know how much I love waking up with you in my arms?" Jotham's husky words pulled her thoughts back to him. "How much I love you?"

  Jacinda smiled gently down at him. "As much as I do you?"

  "More," he told her stretching up to capture her lips.

  It had been cycles since Jotham had woken up to a beautiful woman staring down at him. The last had been Lata and now because of his 'encounter' with her he could experience and love again with no doubts and no regrets.

  Jacinda let him take control of the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as he rolled her onto her back. They both sighed heavily when there was a knock on the chamber door.

  "Yes?"

  "Majesty, I was just letting you know you have thirty minutes."

  "Thank you, Chesney."

  "One of these times we are going to wake up without Chesney interrupting us," Jacinda teased.

  "Yes, we will." Giving her one more, hard kiss he rose then held out his hand. "Come on, my love, I'll
let you use the shower first."

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Jacinda walked confidently beside Jotham as they were escorted through the Queen's Wing to the private eating area of the Royal family. She was trying not to be nervous but found she was. Not because of who she was meeting, but because they were Jotham's friends and she wanted to make a good impression.

  The chatter of voices could be heard through the closed doors. When the guard knocked on the door, the chatter ceased.

  "Enter," came the command and when the guard opened the doors, Jacinda was surprised at what she saw.

  A long table was set in the middle of the room and seven pairs of eyes turned to see who had interrupted their meal.

  "Jotham," William rose as he greeted his old friend. "Come in, I saved you some food and I want you to know it wasn't easy, not with the way these four rascals eat." He eyed the boys sitting at the table.

  With a hand on the small of her back, Jotham guided her to William. "I believe it. I've seen the way these monsters eat. Will, you remember Jacinda Michelakakis, don't you?"

  "Yes, of course. Hello, Jacinda, it's been a long time. Won't you sit?" He gestured to the two empty seats, pulling the closest to him out. "Cassandra will be back shortly, Sabah was being fussy so she went to lay her back down."

  "It has been a long time, thank you." She took the seat next to him.

  "Let me make the introductions. The one at the end down there, shoveling food in his mouth is our oldest, Kayden. Next to him is Brett, Peter and Cyndy's son. Across from them is Jacob and Willie, our second and third sons. Say hello to Madame Michelakakis, boys."

  "Hello, Madame Michelakakis." The four quickly obeyed then went back to eating.

  "Hello," Jacinda smiled, remembering how much her own boys used to eat.

  "This is Peter Chamberlain and his wife, Cyndy."

  "Hello." She acknowledged the couple that sat across the table.

  "Madame Michelakakis," Peter Chamberlain greeted while his wife gave her a small smile.

  "As I said, Cassandra will return shortly." He gestured to the empty chair to his right. "Coffee?" he asked lifting the container in front of him.

  "Please," Jacinda smiled her thanks. She hadn't yet had a cup.

  "So, Jotham, how was your flight? You got in earlier than I expected."