Page 55 of The Fae King's Labyrinth

He grinned. “I was wondering when you would catch on.”

“On to what?” Calypso tried to unwind her fingers from mine, but I wasn’t willing to let her go yet. I drew her up with me as I stood.

“I suspect we have been honored beyond any Seelie king in generations.”

The pooka made a great show of considering this statement. “Hmm… My father attended the marriage of your grandfather if I recall correctly. However, I would have to consult our records to know for sure.”

I didn’t break my gaze from his as I explained to Calypso. “He is the Great Pooka, leader of the pooka tribe in the WildWoods, and the ultimate authority on magic. As such, I suspect he isn’t even technically my subject but my equal.”

The pooka held up a hand to hush me. “Don’t tell anyone. If they hear about it, I will never get a moment’s peace.”

“So you truly do live on a farm far from other pooka?” Calypso asked. “But why?”

The pooka met my gaze. “I will leave that to your husband to explain, my lady. I suspect he envies me.”

I envied him far more than I could articulate. “But we both have a duty to our people.”

“We do,” he acknowledged. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t escape for a time.” He winked at Calypso. “Don’t let him kill himself with work. Now, it’s time I leave before your disgruntled secretary figures out that he’s missing something important.” He turned to Grim. “If you would be so kind, give me a ride to the ground.”

Grim and the pooka left, and Grim’s brother returned to his post outside the windows as Ghost unbarred the door.

I turned to my wife. “Thank you.”

“You already said that.” She frowned up at me, searching my expression. Some of her curls had escaped her coif. “Is the curse gone? The pain?”

“Completely.” I caught one of her wayward curls with my finger, twisting the coil around the tip.

Her worry eased, but her brow still puckered. “Now you can speak to the elves of whatever it was you wanted me to tell them.”

“Yes, I can speak with them directly now.” But that wasn’t what was foremost in my mind. I smiled down at her. “What was that about wanting children?”

She blushed adorably. “Eventually. Not yet.”

“We have time,” I assured her. “I was just curious how many you wished to have.”

She pushed away from me, and I let her go. “More than one.” She rose to her feet and straightened her gown. “Meanwhile, I’m wondering how far apart we can move before I start feeling odd.”

“Trying to leave me already?”

Her blush deepened, but she backed away all the same. “Just curious.”

I laughed. She reached the opposite end without adverse effects. We would’ve tested farther, but Soren arrived with my next official visitor. We fell back into our roles of the past few days. By unspoken agreement, neither of us mentioned our marriage.

In some ways everything was the same. She settled on the couch with her book, and I worked at my desk. In other ways, everything was very different.

I watched her as I listened to the agricultural report. Bent over her book, her escaped curls framed a face in repose. Unlike the perfectly balanced features of the fae, Calypso’s face was full of adorable imperfections. From the fact one of her eyebrows rose slightly higher than the other, to the quirk her mouth made even when she was smiling, the idiosyncrasies of her expressions fascinated me.

Her odd mixture of boldness and timidity meant I never knew what reaction I would get when I provoked her. One moment she was arguing we should marry and end the curse, even going so far as to admit she wanted my children, the next she retreated from my teasing, clearly disquieted.

“Sire?” Soren prompted.

I blinked. The minister of agriculture and my secretary both regarded me expectantly.

I nodded as though I had been listening closely. “If you leave the report with me, I will get back to you with my comments.” Apparently, my lack of sleep was still affecting my ability to focus.

The minister bowed and approached to lay the report on my desk. Soren, meanwhile, studied Calypso and then me, his expression boding ill for my peace. I ignored him and picked up the report.

The moment the minister left, Soren spoke. “Sire, how long is that woman going to be here?”

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