Page 81 of When Eden Falls

Holy souls, that explained a lot.

“The blue ones had been laced with a mild sedative to calm the males’ predominantly primitive behaviour. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were incapable of making rational decisions. It’s all in the attempt to make sure every female mates without alpha dominance getting in the way. It widens the gene pool, apparently.”

My head found the palm of my hand and I groaned inwardly. That explained why Rooke seemed interested in me. He hadn’t been thinking straight.

“You make it sound like a farce, Miss Zamya,” Yuska said from behind me.

“Isn’t it?”

Yuska appeared in my peripheral. “Of course not,” she snapped. “It encourages the success of a natural and essential process.”

Zamya scoffed. “You think drugging people is encouraging?”

“Why do you always make my cultural traditions sound outrageous? Just because it is different to yours, does not make it wrong.”

Zamya laughed, and I turned to look at Yuska. Her cheeks were red, proving her fluster.

“Why didn’t you warn us…about the drinks?” My tone was quiet but pointed. When she didn’t answer I glared at her. After everything that had been communicated between us over the past few weeks, I’d hoped I could trust this older, wiser female. Clearly, I was wrong. “Why, Yuska?”

“I must’ve forgotten.” She was blatantly lying. “Besides, I would’ve thought one of you would’ve worked it out, as you aresuch an intelligent species.” The sarcasm laced in her final words were sneered at Zamya.

Zamya sniggered around a mouthful of food. “Are you going to tell her the rest?”

Glancing at me for a brief second, Yuska swallowed nervously before replying. “And stop you from telling her in your own delightful words? Here.” Yuska brashly placed a glass of red, cloudy juice in front of me. “Drink this and you’ll feel better.”

As I stared at the strange drink, I heard the door screech open and shut, announcing Yuska’s departure. Peering across the table at Zamya, she seemed amused with the effect she had on our Akquarian attendant.

“Tell me what?” I asked.

Zamya pouted her lips, swallowing her mouthful of food. “You know we were informed the females here choose their mates, blahdy blahdy blah. Well, it’s nonsense. Bibska told me that if Havav or any of his royal spawn offer a female their claiming token, she is obligated to choose in their favour. So, those females have no choice. The royal takes precedence. And if you think that’s bad,” she made a face before shaking her head, “I was told, if a female faints within a few minutes of kissing a male, it’s deemed they are soul mates. I mean, come on,soul mates? But the Akquarians apparently believe in that crap.”

“Which means?”

“It means, even if she had decided who she wants to mate with, the soul bond supersedes any of her choices. Even Havav would have to stand aside. They class the bond as sacred. A type of destiny. No one can interfere with it.”

“So, she has absolutely no choice in the matter?”

“No. Her soul mate scoops her up in her unconscious state, takes her back to his room, and is, basically, allowed to take advantage of her for the duration of the season.”

I stared at Zamya. I felt appalled. It was no wonder Yuska hadn’t told me this. She knew I’d be disgusted. I already held reservations about how the females were treated here. Then a vague recollection appeared in my mind. The male carrying theunconscious female into the fortress last night, the male with the snarky expression. Had that been an example of the soul bond?Yes, probably. I assumed the male being restrained had been her first choice, but she’d foolishly kissed another male and wham! She was unconscious and had become soul bonded, stripping herself of any independent decision.

“She probably had too much to drink,” I murmured to myself.

Zamya mused. “I’m interested to see if there’s a truth in the fainting aspect. There must be something in the two drinks that causes a chemical reaction. I’d love to get my hands on a sample.”

“It sounds like nonsense to me,” Cora said. I glanced at her. She had been so quiet and still, I’d almost forgotten she was sitting there. She looked exhausted, picking at the food on her plate. I frowned, remembering what Zamya told me yesterday about her stomach. But her face was bright and full of glow as she smiled at me. “Eden passed out.”

“Eden drank too much.” Zamya chuckled.

“So, it is nonsense,” Cora said. “It was a good job Rooke was with you when you did,” a grimace spread across her face, “otherwise a random Akquarian could’ve picked you up, claiming you were his soul bonded.”

I couldn’t remember getting back to my bed last night. I couldn’t remember anything after…

My eyes widened. Did I pass out? Just after Rooke kissed me? My breath hitched. We’d both been drinking those drinks. My mind whirled in contemplation. No. No, the soul mate phenomenon was absolute nonsense. It wasn’t possible. Just another Akquarian ruse to detriment a female’s integrity. Surely…

“Rooke was with you?” I heard Zamya ask, forcing myself away from my ridiculous thoughts. I found her narrowing her eyes at me. Nux, did she know?

“Um…yeah. Like Cora said, good job he was.”