Page 137 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

It will not be easy. When everything dies down, there will be questions, but as I look to those I love, I know I can weather it and endure anything as long as they are with me.

I might be a Dagger and Joha might be the Crown, but they are my heart.

Chapter

Seventy-Three

Four weeks later

ORION

Although we are surrounded by guards, I am still on alert. Having both the king and his new bride wandering through the city is risky, even when everything seems relatively calm. Their reception has been surprisingly warm, the nobility from the Uppers and the Lowers appreciating their backgrounds and strengths. Besides, after the coup, support for the king has been pouring in.

I am not on duty, but I stand with the guards, glancing between the king in front of me and Alyx in a clearing. She looks so regal in her gown, which is simple in design but well-made and easy to move about in, just in case.

The last four weeks have been . . . intense. Figuring out who was loyal to Joha and Alyx was a long and arduous job, and there were several unpleasant instances. Thankfully, Alyx’s training meant that she and Joha were never really in danger. I am never far from them, and Crux is always hiding in a dark corner somewhere.

They married last week.

It was simple for a royal wedding, in part due to preference, but mostly because of how quickly it was thrown together. Many of the king’s advisors tried to convince him to wait, but neither of them wanted to. I do not blame them after everything that happened. None of us take anything for granted anymore, particularly how much time we have together. What made the wedding so special and different to previous royal weddings, though, was that the whole city was able to play a part. Joha and Alyx walked through the city after the ceremony to meet their people—the whole city, not just the Uppers. I think that was the moment they fully won over the people.

Alyx was born into nobility but grew up as an assassin in the Lowers. She has brought the two into a strange, tentative harmony that no one else would have managed. She is a queen of the people. News of who she really is travelled fast around the city, and now she seems to be loved by all. They appreciate the fact that she gets involved in their lives, not just sitting in the palace all day surrounded by nobility.

Of course, it was a nightmare to keep them safe with an event on such a large scale, but everything worked out well.

Standing back with the semicircle of guards around us, I focus on Alyx. The queen. My queen. She wanted some time to herself. Standing in a beam of sunlight, her head tilted back and eyes closed, she looks as though she is praying. I wish I could see inside her head and know what she’s feeling right now. There is a broken piece inside her thanks to her brother’s betrayal and her actions to keep us all safe. Joha, Crux, and I are trying to heal that wound, but it will take time.

I can give her that. I may not have the charm, looks, or skills like Joha and Crux, but I am strong and dependable. I love her with every fibre of my being and will remain with her always. She is my best friend’s bride, but she will always be mine. I will never betray her, and I will carry her damaged heart with mine to shelter it from the guilt and grief in her mind.

CRUX

Perched on the edge of a roof, I stare down at the scene before me.

Alyx looks radiant as she clutches a single flower against her chest, her head tipped back and eyes closed. She looks like she is in pain, and that makes me twitchy, wanting to do something to help. She wouldn’t appreciate that though, not when she is trying to work through the demons in her mind.

Ever since that awful day when Alyx killed her brother, everything has changed mostly for the better, but it changed her, damaged her in a way none of us can heal.

Alyx and I had a conversation about how our relationship was going to work going forward. A queen cannot be seen having a relationship with an assassin. I would give up my life for her in a heartbeat, but that is not what she wanted. She knows me too well and understands how trapped I would feel in trying to live the life of a noble. Being in the spotlight and attending balls is my idea of a nightmare.

This meant that I needed a reason to be around the king and queen, but not constantly, so I blend into the shadows as their spymaster. This gives me close access to my Alyx, but it also means I can come and go as I please. My criminal empire mostly runs itself now, yet I put in an appearance now and again to make sure they remember who is in charge.

I am not a good man, and I don’t pretend to be. Alyx knows this and does not expect me to change who I am.

Staring down at her, I shake my head in disbelief. How is this my life? I just wish she was not hurting so much and that I could do something to help. Instead, I hang around and get information for them, waiting for when she’s ready to talk to me about her brother.

She always comes back to me. It is just a matter of waiting. Thankfully, I am a patient man and she is more than worth the wait. I have been in love and waiting for her since we were kids. This world has tried to tear us apart time and time again, but we will always find our way back to each other. Alyx is the love of my life, and she holds this assassin’s heart and always will.

JOHA

I am the luckiest man in the kingdom—not merely just because I am king, but because I have the most amazing woman at my side, one who would do anything to keep us all safe. She did the impossible and put us before even her family. She did not just save us that day, but the whole city.

Slowly but surely, we are making changes by bringing people together and trying to shrink the gap between the Uppers and Lowers. There is a lot of work to do. The former Queen Mother did a lot of damage to the royal family’s reputation, and those years where I was simply a puppet are difficult for people to ignore. Now that I have Alyx by my side, though, they can see how I have changed and how determined we are to make the city a better place. Alyx is seen as a hero for killing Atlas, and I have already heard songs being sung about her bravery and beauty, even though I know they wound her, a reminder of what she lost.

A gentle breeze tousles my hair, the air warm and sky bright. My gaze isn’t on the sky, though, but the gorgeous woman standing by the ruins of her family’s estate. The sunlight filters through a cloud and seems to shine directly on Alyx, like a heavenly spotlight. My wife is beautiful, but in sunlight, she is exquisite.

My wife. I am still getting used to that, and it always brings a smile to my lips, even on a day like today when it is shrouded with sadness.

She was the most beautiful bride, and the memory of it is engraved into my mind. That was the best day of my life, and I will never forget it. Every time I close my eyes, it replays through my thoughts, and I am transported back to that moment.

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