Galen [Beyond the Veil 4] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Read online

  Beyond the Veil 4

  Galen

  Galen is next in line for the throne of the Earth Kingdom. With father ready to relinquish the throne, Galen must be mated. His father had already arranged a mate for him to meet and bond with. However, Galen has done his utmost to forget about said arranged mating until his father leaves him no choice but to fetch his mate home.

  Finc is the illegitimate son of a noble and a low born woman. The half-brother to Galen’s arranged fiancé. Life had not been kind to him at all since his birth. However, with his mother, at least he had known love of the motherly kind, for a time, but all good things never lasted for long, especially in his case, and his only refuge against his reality was his writing and his best friend, Jory. That was, until the day he met Galen and knew deep in his bones that this was his fated mate.

  Having his fated mate be his half-brother’s fiancé was so far off what he expected, but how would they ever have an acceptable bond when Finc’s biological father, as well as his step-family, were not willing to have the half-brothers trade places?

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Fantasy, Paranormal

  Length: 31,134 words

  GALEN

  Beyond the Veil 4

  Toby Aden

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  GALEN

  Copyright © 2017 by Toby Aden

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-508-9

  First Publication: July 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  To all my fans and my family

  Much love,

  Toby

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Toby Aden has always had an overactive imagination. She is an avid reader who spends much of her time immersed in the world of romance novels. After discovering the world of M/M romance, she became irrevocably enthralled by it and decided to try her hand writing it.

  Website:

  www.tobyaden.wix.com/author

  Blog:

  www.tobyaden.blogspot.com

  Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/toby.aden

  Twitter:

  @AdenToby

  E-mail:

  [email protected]

  For all titles by Toby Aden, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/toby-aden

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Landmarks

  Cover

  GALEN

  Beyond the Veil 4

  TOBY ADEN

  Copyright © 2017

  Prologue

  In a world where only the Fae existed, hidden from all the other outside universes, the land was divided and ruled over by the four intertwined ruling bodies. The four ruling bodies were the Fire Kingdom, with its closest neighbor the Earth Kingdom, and the Water Kingdom, with its closest neighbor the Wind Kingdom.

  All lived in harmony and peace, needing the others to survive yet separate and unique in their attributes, beliefs, and inherent powers. Regardless of the kingdom, the general law to tour the four kingdoms, ordained and adhered to by each royal family on the hundredth year soon after the coming-out celebration of the Fae, kept their universe in balance and in check.

  For all Fae, a fated pair was deemed in reverence, with the bond perceived on sight during the period of the mating call, which lasts for a few months, once every hundred years. Mating could not be done should a Fae find their mate before the mating call arrived, and thus a mated pair without the mating call could fall into disastrous issues arising from their bond. At worse, mating without the call could lead to death of the Fae. On a minimal basis, it could result in impotency as well as severe mental and bodily issues. For this reason, mating was only deemed legal and recognized after a ceremony was held to bind the two souls as one.

  Chapter One

  Galen hit the thick white gloves against his thigh, standing beside the steed he preferred when riding instead of getting around in a carriage. No matter how much he might wish to delay what he was about to do, he did not have much of a choice. Especially when his father had thrown shocking news at them at the dinner table mere days after his wanderer brother Ciran had returned home and found his fated mate.

  With his father, Hodrax, thinking of abdicating the throne, his plans of delaying picking up his intended groom for a good long while fell off the grid. At first, he had been shocked and surprised just like the rest of his brothers when their father had made the announcement, but anger had quickly taken over, which he had banked well. However, the hopeful look his parents exchanged had made him unable to hold on to his anger much longer as well as the joyful news of his youngest brother Ciran finding his fated mate.

  With no other choice than to go ahead to fetch his arranged mate, Galen had steeled himself and decided there was no point in putting it off for much longer. His arranged mate, Darix, was the eldest son of Lord Bojore, a wealthy landowner as well as a distant relative of one of the kingdom’s advisors.

  Politically, the marriage was a good one as it would help strengthen their borders where Bojore’s land was located, and it would also be one more step closer for him to the throne. Darix came with a lot of dowry, but that wasn’t the most important in the marriage. It was the fact that it fostered inbreeding, something that was taken seriously by the Earth Faes. The Earth Faes were a very traditional and reserved bunch and they took their tradition most seriously, unlink the other element Faes who were though sometimes reserved, open to change. Ciran, though, had proved different and lucky in this manner.

  Had Ciran not found his fated mate in Ilno, a prince of the Water Kingdom, he would have been married off as time went by to another Earth Fae. Now, Galen was about to set off from his home and do the responsible thing, even though he didn’t agree with it. His brothers Kalen and Xiran filed out of the castle.

  “Farewell, brother,” Kalen said, hugging him tight.

  Kalen was the second born and Galen’s identical twin. Only where Galen’s brownish hair was to his shoulder, Kalen’s fell well to his waist. The brothers hugged long, Kalen trying to infuse warmth in
to his twin as well as support even while knowing and feeling how disheartened Galen really was. “I wish it could be different for you, Galen,” Kalen whispered so that only Galen could hear his words.

  “I know,” Galen responded in a like manner before pulling back.

  With a hand on his twin’s nape, he squeezed gently, letting Kalen know silently that he appreciated the sentiment. When they let go of each other, Xiran, Ciran’s fraternal twin and their third brother, stepped forward and gave him a fierce hug.

  “I hate what this marriage means to you,” Xiran murmured, sniffling. “You more than anyone else deserves your fated mate.”

  Galen squeezed his brother Xiran tightly against him, comforting the man silently weeping in his arms. It hurt him more to see his brother cry for him, but he understood why. Xiran had always been the most sensitive of all the brothers and his nature a very warm one. Galen drew as much comfort as he could from the arms of his brothers before straightening and stepping back with a wry smile on his face.

  “I’ll be fine Xiran. Do not worry overly much,” Galen said.

  His attention was snagged by his mother and father stepping through the door, and with a nod at them, Galen swung up onto the stallion. He gave them another nod before setting out with an entourage of soldiers behind him, riding toward their southern border to Bojore’s land for his intended.

  * * * *

  Finc peered out at the riders moving rapidly toward the large town house that had been his home since his mother brought him here to live with his father at the age of ten cycles. At first, he had had no idea why his mother had brought him to the large house. He had been impressed by the building, a shy young boy hiding behind his mother’s legs when she brought him here.

  Even at that tender age, he had known that his mother was sick, but he had never known his father and had been the butt of so much ridicule and many childish taunts. Even though it had hurt the first few times he’d been called names, when he’d asked his mother about his father and seen her break down, crying, he had resolved not to ask any more of those questions and deal with the cruelty turned his way silently.

  He had not wanted to see his mother cry again and had kept it all to himself. They lived a modest life in a small one-bedroom, apartment so seeing this large town house had been like a mansion in his ten cycle’s eyes. At first, he had not known why they’d come to the house, and after his mother had dressed him in his best finery and marched him the long distance to this place, his curiosity did not overwhelm his apprehension.

  His mother had spoken to a man at length, showing him off to the man until the man had nodded, and then his mother had told him that the man was his father and he would now be living with him. At his young age, the only thing he had comprehended was that his mother was leaving him, and he had shaken his head, crying hard and desperately as he clung to her.

  It had taken them a long while to pry him away from her, but with both mother and son crying, it had been hard. Finally, he had watched his mother run away from the house without once looking back and that had been the last time he saw her.

  It had been hard to warm up to living in the house with his father and his father’s wife and other son. Technically, the two sons were only a few months apart, but he and Darix were not the least bit close. Whereas he was treated more like someone to be spurned and ignored, Darix was treated like a prince. In fact, he felt more at home with the servants than he did with his father and stepfamily.

  Now, it had been just a few days past his hundredth celebration, and no one had bothered holding a small ceremony for him. Cook had been the one to make him a small cake, which he shared with the other servants. It was from the gossip going around that he’d even come to know about Darix’s intended groom and that the man was the soon-to-be king of their kingdom and would be arriving anytime soon. The entire house was in an uproar with the impending visit of their soon-to-be king.

  Darix had been primping and being more obnoxious than normal, ordering him about as though he were a servant. Sometimes, he really wanted to bash the other man’s head in and demand that he do whatever he wanted by himself and not bother him, especially when he was already busy getting lost in the fantasy world in his head.

  Without the right writing materials, he’d been jotting down every thought and fantasy he had on paper that was not as good as the quality ones sold in the market. Even though his stepmother and Darix mocked him for it, they were stories he enjoyed and kept writing. They did not know this, but under a different name, he already had a few of his works out there with the help of Jory, his childhood friend and their nearest neighbor.

  Jory had helped him to get good quality papers, and he transferred his work onto them, and together, they contacted different shops to sell his works in. Already, the name he wrote under—Funchent—was in steady demand. His work was well known within their kingdom. Even Darix spoke of it when his friends had all been talking about his work constantly for a week and in order not to look ignorant had gone out to buy one of his books.

  No one knew that he was Funchent, and he preferred it that way. Let them all continue to ignore him. He just needed enough to move out of here and live on his own. Then everything would be all right, and he would not need to put up with them for much longer.

  He had a plan already. He had already saved a lot from his stories. At first, with Jory’s help, they had been supplying his books to only one store, the biggest so far in their kingdom as it was the farthest from his home and no one would know so easily about it. They had never expected that the books would become a favorite of everyone, though, and be in much more demand than he was used to.

  Soon, other stores had come calling to the bookstore he normally supplied to, demanding to have his work in their store. He had been shocked then elated, and he and Jory had celebrated his success together. But with him being the only one who wrote the books out by hand, it was hard to produce many copies of a single work, not to mention his other books.

  It was good for him, though in the sense that it meant more money for him going into his secret savings, but bad in the sense that he could not meet the demand. He also did not have the time to put forth the other books he had written, transcribing them into sellable papers, so he had many works ready to sell but no way of getting them ready to go out.

  Just a few days ago, he’d let Jory know about this issue, but his friend had no idea what they should do either, especially since he needed to keep his identity a secret. They had agreed to come up with an idea but nothing was in the offing yet. With the intention of dodging Darix’s attention, he’d hidden himself in an alcove no one really used with his big notepad in hand and his writing pencil, focused on getting more words out of his head as it was his only way of escaping his reality.

  He just never expected that where he was hidden would give him a clear view of the riders riding hard for their house. The horses soon came to a stop in the compound, and the riders dismounted. Their leader, obvious from his position in front, got down first, followed by the other soldiers. Finc watched as Bojore, Darix, and his stepmother, along with other servants from the house, quickly moved to greet the riders.

  Finc watched as the leader took off his helmet, shaking his head and allowing his curls to fly freely around his face before turning to regard those who had come out to greet them. Breath caught in his chest and a gasp emitted from his lips in shock as he peered at the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his entire life.

  By the spirit, please do not let him be the soon-to-be king.

  Finc prayed, hoping in his heart, his writing forgotten as he leaned forward to get a closer look. The first things he noticed about the man were his chiseled face and the gray eyes he peered directly at. They were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, shaped in slanted oval orbs. The man was tall. He was really tall with a very muscular build, too, and had shoulder-length, curvy, brownish hair.

  Never had Finc seen anyone so perfect before, and he hoped
with all his being that this was not Darix’s intended. He had no idea what he would do if the man turned out to be his arrogant brother’s groom-to-be. He didn’t even want to think of it.

  Please do not let him be. Please do not let him be the one.

  Finc repeated it over and over in his mind, and leaned out more to watch the interaction between his family and the new arrivals. When he saw Darix bow toward the leader, the one whom Finc kept hoping was not his brother’s intended, his heart sank a bit. He had a feeling he would not like what he saw next, and true to his feeling, he saw Darix slide his hand into the leader’s arm and lead the man into the house. Finc felt his hope shatter and disappointment settle in like never before.

  Chapter Two

  “Your Highness, please come with me, and I will show you to your quarters,” Darix said, sliding his hand through Galen’s arm and leading the man farther into the house, uncaring whether the others followed them or not.

  “You have a lovely home,” Galen commented as they walked through the courtyard styled house.

  “Thank you, Highness.”

  “You may feel sad to leave such beauty,” Galen continued, not looking at his intended but the beauty of the decorated home.

  Darix laughed, his voice high and irritating, and Galen had to force back a wince. A near thing, but he suppressed it.

  “Not at all, Highness. I cannot wait to leave and see something different. I’m sure the palace is more beautiful than this,” Darix said.