Page 59 of The Kingdom of Flames

Tristien leaned down to kiss her, she arched her head up but he stopped. His eyes stared into hers.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Celestine said. He is not Encarmine, but there is such an easy way about him. This plush life. This luxury and his beauty. Maybe I am a simple creature.

“I’m going to fill you with…” Tristien whispered.

Celestine pursed her lips for a kiss, but he arched back and clapped loudly. “Breakfast.”

The doors swung open. Celestine scrambled and laughed, hiding under the covers. A stream of attendants came in, all women of course, carrying trays of bright fruit, of pastries and streamers of hot coffee.

“Set it right over here!” Tristien laughed the words. Celestine shook her head as the attendants set down a feast for the two of them on the bed. There was more than enough space.

She blushed with embarrassment, not just at being unclothed under the covers, but with a man in front of others. Several of the female attendants tried to stifle wry smiles. When they finally left, Tristien bade her.

“Please, eat my love.”

Celestine reached up to her collar, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Will you wear it for me?” Tristien asked. “Please.”

There was a smoldering in his eyes. After her time in the red realm, she felt fiercer. Fierce enough to enjoy this game, and not let it consume her.

“If you wish it,” Celestine whispered.

After breakfast with Tristien, Celestine was taken to her dressing chambers and attended to. It was a strange, yet pleasant thing, to have others dote upon you.

Mother save me from getting too used to this…

The night before lingered in her mind, like a wine so complex she wasn’t sure if her palate could appreciate—or even fully understand the depth of. There had been such delicious tension in her body, such agony, yet the surrender to Tristien had been the most peaceful thing she had felt in a long time.

Once she was dressed and readied for the day, James escorted her down to the front of the mansion where Tristien waited for her.

“Ready, my love?”

“Yes.” She smiled. The demigod bowed, wearing a matching outfit of canary and white pearl, but with a blue tint that mimicked the sky’s shade this day. He opened a carriage drawn by horses instead of men, and she climbed aboard.

As Tristien shut the door and sat across from her, she saw the glimmer of a mirror. When Celestine turned her head, she saw Captain Aidric of Calendar standing near the entrance to the mansion. He did not vanish, he did not acknowledge her. The presence of the man was the only clashing of color and style in this world where everything was to Tristien’s liking.

Surprisingly, Tristien raised his hand in greeting. “Good day to you, Captain.”

The masked man nodded with a face of sliding silver, the blue sky reflecting off of it. Tristien waved to their carriage driver and the carriage moved under the pull of horseflesh.

“He waits?” Celestine asked. “In your land?”

“It is a new contest,” Tristien said with a shrug. Yet underneath his easy demeanor, not all was right with the Captain’s presence. “The game must be adhered to. Captain Aidric is always welcome in my lands. If anything, he can stand in as a mirror for my guests.”

Celestine grinned back at Tristien’s easy smile. She decided not to press with more questions.

“How are you feeling, after last night?” the demigod stared at her.

“It was… different. Not something I am used to.”

“As I told you, Celestine.” Tristien’s eyes slid over her neckline. “I seek you to know me. To hold you after such release was greater than any dish we tasted at the feast last evening.”

Celestine chewed her smile and glanced out the opening of the carriage into his golden world. This dress did feel different. Just a week past she had been wearing sparring armor, she had hefted a spear.

“I look forward to learning more,” she said.

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