Page 104 of The Kingdom of Flames

She saw it that day. He was true to himself in such a different way. His power didn’t grow nor diminish. But when they fucked, when he laughed, when he rode, she saw his majesty. It was part of him, not something he became. He was as large as any Lord of Season with or without his circlet.

He didn’t need it.

“It will be time for us to ride to my city soon,” Azure told her as they lay among the grasses.

“It will?” she asked.

“A great tourney arises. You have seen the hawk, the hare, the horse. The vastness of the grasses and plains and sky. You must meet my people.”

“If I am to wed you?” Celestine asked slowly. She found great comfort within Azure, and love, if she was capable of that, was of a different sort.

Azure grinned. “You will not wed me, Final Bride. Nothing is owned by another in my realm. That is why Aidric does not worry. Cruelty lies not within me because I don’t deny myself. My people do not wed. They join. Sometimes, they part. Sometimes they do not. We are the wind, and you cannot bind the wind.”

My people do not wed.

It made sense. In truth, she loved her time here with him, and he was a great man, a great Lord of Season.

“What happened to the brides you found in the hunt?” she asked, suddenly curious.

“I brought them here. They are among my people now. Many have had children. Many lay dead and buried.”

“Dead from what?”

Azure smiled. “Old age. I am older than time Celestine. I am Summer’s beauty in its hope, in its freedom. Freedom from frost, from harvest. Freedom has no brides. It owns nothing, bows to nothing. I lead my people as a paragon, not a king. There are no crowns here.”

Celestine felt taken aback, nodding. He would not wed her. That denial, that refusal, she needed answers to questions.

“You may stay forever, Celestine. You can. And you can be my lover, my partner. A horse is safest in the stable…”

“But that’s not what they are for.” Celestine looked out over the plains.

Azure stroked her face. “My people love to be seen. As you are learning. Part of that means they travel, they travel to many realms. They tell their stories when they return.”

“But they always return,” she replied.

“As can you. The Final Bride is meant to be married, and the choice must be yours. I am a safe haven, but I am not medicine.” He gestured to the grasses. “This land is, this life is. And it’s up to you to administer it.” Azure stood nude and reached down to her. “Come, see my people as they travel.”

Celestine stood, and for the first time since the first day, she saw the plain with other people on it—dotted with riders and travelers on foot.

“They travel to Skye for the tournament. My people are many things, and competitive is one of them.”

“What happens there?” she asked.

“A great tourney. A melee. Races. Feats of quickness. We are not the brutal exertion and effort of the Red Banners. We value quickness, speed, like the hawk in its dive. The true winner is not the one who knocks the opponent down, but the one who wins or loses with the greatest grace and precision.”

Celestine pulled her trousers and shirt on, as did he, and they walked barefoot, Azure holding her hand clasped in his. She shut her eyes, thinking of his words.

I know he is right. But I will miss him and this place.

They crested a hill and looked down, where travelers rode in the valley. Some younger people, men and women, were racing.

“They travel to the tourney.” Azure put an arm around her. Then he turned her, and they watched a young couple, Celestine’s age, proceeding together towards them.

“Hail, Azure.”

“Hail,” Azure greeted them.

The young girl was dark-haired and short. The young man was lean, a handsome, boyish face. They both grinned.

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