Page 4 of A Trial of the Heart

I could lust after Daxton all I wanted. No one could blame me for being attracted to him, but that just might be it. Any other feelings I thought I was having needed to be squashedimmediately. Besides, I imagined he had a plethora of females waiting to be called on or hold his attention. Why, in all of Valdor, would he wantme?

I gazed out the window, avoiding Dax with all my might. I could feel his perplexed stare lingering over me, calling for reasoning behind my sudden coldness, but I couldn’t answer him. If I did, I would fall apart, and I wasn’t sure there would be anyone to catch me this time around.

Before Dax could speak, voices boomed from outside the room. “I don’t care what Daxton said, Adohan Ekon! The female is clearly awake, and I’m going in there. You males need to take a step back. I swear to the Gods above, I will stomp on your toes and break them. Don’t push me, love… I’m hardly in the mood.” The door handles turned, and a petite yet feisty female High Fae entered with a towering male close on her heels.

“Skylar!” the female announced with open arms, a wide welcoming grin, and a very rounded pregnant belly. She waddled, still somehow gracefully—which was amazing to me—across the room, taking my hands in hers. “Welcome to our home! It’s an honor to have you here with us,” she said as she hugged me tightly.

“Idris,” the male behind her growled with a slight snarl in his voice.

The female, who I now understood to be Idris, snapped her attention back toward him. “Would you calm down, Adohan? There’s no danger in greeting her.” Adohan folded his dark-skinned muscular arms across his bare chest and scowled. “These males are so overprotective in general with their mates… And when we’re pregnant,” she added, stroking her growing babe, “they’reimpossibleto live with. I can’t even greet a guest without him growling in protest.”

So, this is Adohan and Idris Ekon, the ruling mated pair of Crimson City.

Like many High Fae I saw from my balcony, Idris and Adohan had dark skin paired with deep brown eyes. Idris was slender, with long, flowing auburn hair with small intricate braids woven in between strands that tied back against her petite oval face. Her nose was slightly flattened with full lips that held a shade of red that matched her hair. She wore an airy, flowing crimson gown with long slits on either side and cross-stitching pattern across her middle that broadcasted her growing womb. She carried herself with an air of elegance and grace, paired with a genuine smile that made me feel welcomed.

Adohan was tall, but Daxton still held a few inches over him in height. He wore a long crimson robewith cut-off sleeves and a decorative gold armband wrapped around his left bicep. His pants were white with stitched red and gold designs embedded into the seams that matched the swirling decor on the walls of the room. His dreadlocked hair was dark brown at his roots and changed from yellow to orange, then a deep red color at the tips that hung past his shoulders. His facial hair gathered in a small patch on the base of his chin and matched the dark brown coloring of his hair at the roots. On closer inspection, Adohan’s eyes were a lighter shade of brown, almost a golden hazel, which gave him a regal beauty fit for a high prince of the Inner Kingdom.

“All right. You males need to get out!” Idris ordered.

Daxton looked to Adohan, who held out his palms and shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t you think I’ve tried? I’m in no place to argue with her when she gets her mind set like this. I’m lucky she didn’t have her throwing knives or her spear on her when we started this argument.”

“Lucky, indeed,” Idris added, narrowing her eyes toward her mate. Dax was about to protest, but Idris cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Skylar is alady… and ladies need privacy when it comes to bathing and primping. From the looks of her and what little we do know about shifters; I would imagine this nightgown might be one of the finest things ever to grace her skin.”Ouch.Well, she wasn’t wrong. I guess I’ll give that to her. “And… I willnotallow that to be the sole impression of our kingdom while she is an honored guest. I’ll tend to her.” Her dark eyes darted to Daxton. “It’snotyour place to do so right now.”

Wow. Just wow.Idris was a force to be reckoned with and didn’t shy away or back down from… well, anything, it seemed.I like her already.

“Now, out!” Idris flicked her wrists with flames twirling around her fingers, making a shooing motion at Dax as he reluctantly moved through the doorway. “She’ll befine, Daxton.”

I placed my hand to my mouth, trying to conceal my laughter. I knew they could all hear me, and the spark of amusement in Idris’s eyes only egged me on.

“We’ll be in the—”

“This ismyhome, Daxton.” Idris gave him a look that only a mother could master. “I know where you’ll be, and I promise I’ll return Skylar to your care once she is cleaned and properly dressed.” She promptly closed the doors on her mate and Daxton, pivoting back to me. “Now that we have some privacy, let’s get you cleanedup.”

Chapter Two

The bathhouse back in Solace hadnothing, and I mean nothing, on the glorious luxury I experienced bathing in this oversized tub. Idris filled the massive pool with bubbles and added essential oils that seeped into my aching muscles, allowing me to relax for a moment without a care in the world. I loved the feeling of being clean, and even though I was rinsed off and changed while I slept, it was nothing compared to this.

“Enjoying yourself?” Idris chuckled as she called out from behind the screen.

“Gods above.” I sighed. “This is amazing.” I drifted below the water to scrub my hair. When I broke through the surface, Idris was holding out a white fluffy towel for me to dry off. “Ahhh,” I exhaled in blissful relaxation. “Can I live in here?”

Idris laughed. “No, unfortunately, that’s not an option. Your fingers will prune, and you’ll be reduced to nothing but mush. But I do have a surprise for you waiting in the bedroom,” she said as I washed off the soap remnants. “I believe I was able to size you up just right when Daxton carried you in three days ago. And lucky for you, our seamstresses in Crimson City add their own magical touch to the garments they make. They’realso wickedly fast. Case in point… your new clothes are ready.”

“Thank you. That’s extremely kind, but I’m not—”

“Hush,” she commanded, moving around the screen. “You shifters are all the same. Granted, you’re only the third one I’ve ever met, but the other two were just as clueless. Finery is lost on your kind, I know, I know. But… you deserve to indulge in what we can offer. It’s the very least we can do, so please allow us to do it.”

I blushed and sank a little further into the water. “All right, understood.”

Idris beamed a bright smile that stretched from ear to ear before leaving to give me some privacy. After exiting the tub, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, and to my surprise, I seemed well rested and not the least bit worn down. I dried my hair as best I could and wrapped the towel around my chest, tucking it firmly in place. Trying not to drip water everywhere, I quickly crossed the clean marble floor of the washroom and dashed back into the bedroom. When I emerged, I stopped in the doorway. My eyes widened with shock and awe.

Idris held her head high and her shoulders back with a prideful grin as she stood near the bedside. Lovingly stroking her pregnant belly, she lay one final garment atop the white sheets. Various dresses, casual attire, and new training clothing covered the width of the bed, and I couldn’t believe how beautiful they all were.

“Oh my… Gods,” I stammered. “Is this all for me?”

“Of course it is.” Idris cocked her hip to the side, her brows raised and her lips pinched as she continued to caress her stomach. “No other female in this house istall enough to fit into these. And before you ask, I’m the only other one residing here, for now,” she said, smiling at her growing womb. “Some outfits are for your time here, others for travel, and the warmer layered garments are for any place south of our realm. And then there’s this…” Idris reached down and revealed one of the most breathtakingly beautiful deep midnight-purple gowns I had ever imagined—let alone seen.

It sparkled with silver beading that mimicked the splendor of the shimmering stars in the evening sky. The front was a deep V-cut that would stretch down to my navel with a sparkling sheer silver lining continuing over the top of my shoulders, making the gown translucent near my neck yet still covering portions of my back. The purple shade of the gown transformed from a lighter pigment to a deeper hue near the bottom that held silvery swirling stitching.

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