Page 75 of Crown of Ellova: Vol 1

I savor each and every one of his touches, my heart leaping into my throat at his thoughtfulness towards me and my erratic desires.

“But we might not have time,” I whisper into his chest. All I want is time with this mortal man, endless amounts of it.

“You will not die before we have a chance to explore the depths of our passions for each other. Tonight, unfortunately, is not for that.” His smile is so kind I want to weep all over again. “Although I do dream of that moment.”

His lips brush my temple. His chest rises and falls in a contented sigh. “Good night, Izadella.” He rolls over so once again I am draped over his chest.

“I believe you.” I fade into sleep and dream of him ’til dawn.

Iwake to Leon’s soft breaths on my nose and one loose arm around me. The aches in my limbs have faded overnight and I am surprised at how well-rested I feel considering last night’s events. The sun is just rising behind him, his outline dipped in gold. When I slide away from him, he moves closer in his sleep, seeking out the warmth I have left behind, his arm sliding up, finding only my pillow. A frown pulls at his lips in his sleep.

I grab a white blouse cut at my waist and a dark green skirt. After changing in the library, I slip out of my room, surprised to find the main living area already occupied. Tavien lounges on one of the couches, papers, and books strewn about, as he lazily flips through a faded leather book with one hand and sips a steaming cup of tea.

“Morning, Tav,” I say, yawning, flopping down on the space across from him.

He grins over the rim of his cup, setting aside the book in his hand. “You feeling all right?”

I lean forward to the table where a teapot is waiting and pour myself a large cup of tea, mixing in fresh milk. The tea is sweet enough on its own so I ignore the bowl of sugar cubes. The teapots never keep the tea quite as hot as I would like. “I’ve certainly been better. I slept surprisingly well last night, though.”

He nods and flicks his wrist at me. A single blue flame erupts from his finger and floats over to me. It wraps itself around my teacup, and the tea boils for a few seconds before he calls back his fire.

I let out a contented sigh, holding the cup up to him. “Thank you.”

He holds his cup up as well and we pretend to clink our glasses from a few feet away.

“What are you reading about?”

Tavien holds up one of the worn books. “Reading some of my family’s personal historical journals about the war over the crown and looking for history on our keyed sword.”

“I've never been more thankful for the Ink Court’s obsessive documentation than I am right now.”

He chuckles. “Itisour true passion.”

We both drink our tea in comfortable silence ’til I can no longer hold in my question. “What do you think of Leon?” I try to sound indifferent but am not sure I succeed, hope overtaking my words.

Tavien leans forward on his knees, eyes focused intently on mine. “I like Leon. I do. He seems like an honorable man and you clearly harbor intense feelings for him, but please be wary. Nu and I are worried about you. The hovering shadow of death does not make for a pleasant third partner.”

“I thought you might say that.” My hope bleeds out of me, disappointment taking its place, and I try to hide it by taking a long sip of my tea, ignoring the burning sensation down my throat.

“We want you to be happy. Nueena and I have wished for yearsyou would find what we have and the four of us would have centuries of time together, traveling and living our lives as two pairs. I just hate that you found someone with an hourglass attached to him. I like him, but I loveyou. I’m sorry, but he’s not worth dying over, Del.” His blue eyes are full of sympathy.

His words pierce me like flaming arrows even if I know they are meant to protect me.

Tavien puts down his own tea and grabs one of the empty cups, filling it and adding sugar and milk.

He turns around to face the door behind him that just opened, his Zemra strolling in. Nueena’s shimmering blue gown moves like a flowing river down her body from its high collar; the sleeves are open and made from a fine fisherman’s net covered in shells at the top that glides down over her arms to reach the floor. Pearls wrap around the cuffs. She joins us on the couch, sitting next to Tavien, who hands her the teacup. While she drinks, she leans her cheek up to Tavien, and he presses his lips to her high cheekbone.

“Good morning! Do you have coronation meetings today?” I ask.

“I have a few meetings with some representatives from the Court of Shells and their Guardian today on the coast. They are building a new ship for my personal use so I will be shown some of its construction, but I will be back in time for dinner.”

A knock at the door has Nueena waving her hand to unlock it. Lillian and Viella appear just as breakfast materializes on the table.

“Good morning, my loves,” Viella’s velvety voice greets us. Lillian follows her in. I move to one end of the plump couch and they join me,

Lillian grabs one of the newly arrived pastries. “One of the rooms on this floor has been cleared and turned into a temporary apothecary for the elixir.” She turns to Tavien. “It has everything you’ve requested.”

“I hope Leon’s ready to work,” Nueena jokes. “There’s much to be done with creating the elixir, and it needs to be done in an extremely short amount of time.” She bites into an apple slice.

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