CalledtoPower by Viola Grace

seething. Agoth was on point next to Ikatti and Perinio was on her left.
    The moment that the servers had given Perinio all the dishes and he started his work as her food taster, Dorium reached out and took her hand.
    “Yes, Dorium?” She blinked innocently. In all of her daydreams, she had never imagined that they would be in this position where she held all the power.
    “Syrella, would you be my bondmate?”
    Ikatti blinked rapidly, “Empress, it is imperative that you take a noble as husband.”
    She looked at her advisor. “Why?”
    He scowled, “It is tradition.”
    “Tradition also had the emperors raping their way through the servants. It is time to make my bedroom my business.”
    “But he doesn’t have the bloodline, he can’t share power with you.”
    “Nobody has the bloodline but me, Ikatti. It doesn’t matter who fathers my child, as long as I start having them quickly.”
    Ikatti opened his mouth and then closed it as the truth of her words sank in.
    She turned to Dorium, “Will you be able to deal with your role as consort? It will mean long days and nights at my side with little to no power.”
    He squeezed her hand. “I have my own power, and even an empress gets a weekend off now and then.”
    “I think something can be arranged. I have plans to work out the court and mediation systems here, and inviting trainees from Thoola and other Citadels to come and apply their skills will keep a steady supply of talents running through Vexa.”
    Ikatti cleared his throat, but Syrella merely smiled when he said, “You are going to encourage talents?”
    “Of course. I had to spend years of my life away from my family, and I was not there when they began to disappear. That is not a fate I would wish on anyone, and if I can change it, I will.” She put her sincerity into her gaze, and met Dorium’s with her own. She stared at him and felt the delicate tendrils of his mind connect with her.
    She had studied the idea of mind bonds but had never expected to be on the receiving end of one. Syrella confirmed the mental touch with the words, “Yes, Dorium Povix, I will.”
    The tendrils thickened alarmingly, and she laughed as she leaned in to kiss him. He met her halfway, and she hoped that he would do the same for the rest of their lives. It was a chaste kiss, but Agoth got to his feet, raced around the table and hugged them both.
    Perinio was more circumspect, but he shook each of their hands with a huge grin on his face. “Congratulations. He has been talking about you for years.”
    Syrella blushed and arched a brow, “Really? I find that hard to believe.”
    Dorium’s green skin darkened with a blush. “Ever since you assisted me on that session at Drekkiak, you have been the only woman in my thoughts.”
    She had helped a young woman with a toxic touch come to grips with the fact that she was not a monster. It had been hard to keep Dorium away while she counselled Helari, but when she wrapped the young girl in her cloak and helped her over the rocks, she had looked toward the shuttle, and he was standing right in front of her, his gaze locked with hers.
    She had relived that moment a thousand times in her mind but had never imagined that he was doing the same.
    “Ikatti, when can we have a formal bonding ceremony?”
    He scowled. “Technically, you could have one tomorrow. Do you have a dress?”
    She started to laugh but kept hold of Dorium’s hand. “Oh, I have a dress.”
    Dorium frowned. “I don’t know if I want to get bonded on the Day of the Dead.”
    Syrella did what she had seen her mother do so often to her father and stroked the side of his face. “It isn’t a day for the dead, it is a day to speak with those we love and those who loved us. There is nothing I would rather do than have my father with me during my bonding ceremony, but who will perform it?”
    Perinio raised his hand. “I am ordained as a minister in the Alliance.”
    Dorium frowned, “I didn’t know that. What