Page 100 of King of Storms and Feathers

“There aren’t very many winged fae in Coridon and none whose company I enjoy. So who should I flap about the kingdom with, as you so elegantly put it? Sometimes, if I cannot sleep, I fly alone at night. Your pavilion is a wonderful place to take off from.”

“If your wings are always there, then why didn’t you fly instead of ride when you chased me to Bonerust?”

“Until I had completed the Zareen’s ceremony, renewing our alliance, I had no right to use my wings outside of Coridon. If I’d flown then, I would’ve risked losing the gift of my wings forever, and I do believe I will need them to keep you safe in the future. But if I hadn’t found you in Bonerust that night, I would have flown to the moon if required, risked everything, to have you returned to me.”

“Can I see them again?” I whispered, stroking his cheek.

“Tomorrow.” He yawned again, stretching his arms above his head. “I promise to take you around the mountain in the morning. Right now, I’m so tired I might drop you.”

“Gold forbid.” I pressed my cheek against his chest, breathing in the scent of his warm skin.

I needed to stay silent and let him drift off, but the drug had put him in a gentle, generous mood, and before I walked away from him forever, I wanted to hear a little more of his voice.

“Arrow? Have you traveled over all the realms?”

“Most places, yes. But only briefly to the forests of the Earth Realm, which is the realm I’m sure you wish to hear about.”

“The Earth Realm of Dust and Stones,” I said. “It sounds like a bleak and desolate place, quite different from my dreams. And if that’s true, I wonder why I long to return to it.”

“It’s understandable. You miss your family. But you must know they may not even be alive. Regardless, one day, I will take you to visit the forest you dream about so often.”

My breath hitched in my throat, a feeling similar to regret sliding through my blood. There couldn’t be a worse time to begin to like the Storm King or to feel real empathy for him, but at present, I came dangerously close to both.

Toying with a lock of his dark gold hair, I asked, “What have you seen in your travels that amazed you?”

“In each realm, insurmountable beauty exists, but I think my favorite place to visit is the Kingdom of Night and Stars. There’s a magical glacier in the far north of their realm where one can stand on the summit and view the stars that fly around us with great clarity. Tiny newborn planets whoosh past, so close I could have reached out and changed their orbits with my fingers.”

“Would you take me there one day?” I whispered.

He kissed my brow. “Indeed. One day, I most definitely will.”

Little fantasies, alluring dream-like scenes of what my life might be like if I stayed with Arrow and toured the realms as his prized slave, consumed me. These visions appealed to a weak, undisciplined part of me that I quickly gagged and bound, because that cozy future with the Storm King could never be mine. I wouldn’t let it be. Not ever.

Arrow’s weary gaze dropped from my face, alighting on my fingers that were digging into my thigh.

“What’s bothering you, my little Leaf?”

I forced a smile. “Nothing. I was wondering about my family again. That’s all.”

He sighed deeply. “When you first came to live in my chambers, many times during night flights, I glided around your pavilion, watching you sleep.”

“Did you? Why?”

“Because I never felt lonely when you were nearby. I hope that one day, you will find the same comfort in my company.”

Gods be damned. Why did Arrow choose the night I was leaving to speak to me in such a way? Ari warned that the drug might cause him to talk nonsense, so I did my best to harden my heart against this more open, vulnerable version of him.

As his eyes closed, I whispered one last question. “Do you promise you’ll take care of Grendal’s son, Zaret, no matter what?”

His hand sliding off my back, he grunted as he fell farther under the drug’s spell.

“Arrow!”

He jerked half awake. “Of course… promise.”

“Thank you,” I said, and pressed a lingering, barely there kiss to his mouth. A goodbye kiss, thanking him for being a better king, a better owner than I’d imagined he would be when I first laid eyes on him through the bars at the gilt market.

I had vowed to stick a blade into his heart for imprisoning me, and worse, for making me desire him. I wanted to hate him so badly—but I didn’t. Far from it. Even when I conjured the anger I’d felt that day he stripped me naked and threw me in the river, I still couldn’t bring myself to hurt him.

---