Page 132 of The Mirror in the Mountain

I gave him a baleful look, and he chuckled.

“Honestly.” He squeezed my hand. “Whatever you did in that mountain…I’m completely healed. Not that I can make sense of it beyond the fact that it was a magic more powerful than any I’ve ever experienced.”

Bash lifted another egg-laden fork to my mouth, and I gave him a begrudging look as I closed my lips around it.

There was a knock on the open door, and I looked up to see Tobias and Quinn. Both holding trays of food.

Quinn eyed the feast already spread out on the bed, then smiled at Bash. “I see you weren’t kidding about the urgency.”

“Join us,” Yael said with a laugh. A controlled burst of air pushed two chairs up next to us. “Apparently, Bash missed group dining.”

Marin giggled. “But apparently not tables.”

“I suppose magical cleaning has the benefits of no crumbs in the bed,” Quinn mused as she plopped down on the proffered chair.

Bash let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’m not apologizing for taking care of myanima…”

The group broke out into loud conversation about the insanity of bonded couples, especially when one was recovering.

I just smiled to myself, stealing the fork from Bash before he fed me another bite. A shadow twirled itself into my hair, brushing lightly against my ear. I could feel his eyes on me as I ate, watching me closely as my family laughed around me. Unhurriedly, I finished my plate, half listening to the chatter. My lips quirked as I raised an eyebrow at Bash in a silent,Are you happy now?

He smiled smugly as I pushed the empty tray at him. Then his mouth opened in surprise as I hopped out of bed, using Rivan as a shield before he tried to pull me back.

“Eva…”

“If I stay in this bed another moment, I’m going to scream,” I said, then bit my lip as Bash’s eyes darkened at the insinuation.

I backed toward the dresser, picking out a pair of leggings and a workout top. Bash looked ready to leap from our bed and carry me back into it.

“Someone hold Bash down while I change.”

Bash crossed his arms as the rest of them grinned.

I eyed him as I retreated to the bathroom. “I’m going to train now. If you’d like to come with me, you’re welcome to. Otherwise, I’m not above using my new powers to tie you to the bedpost.”

Bash smirked, and I could practically read his retort in the sinful look in his eyes, the sensuous feeling snaking down our bond. The one that promised he would follow up on that declaration later.

He shifted, and Rivan made a move as if to block him. Bash gave him a look of pure challenge, and I knew they would soon be dueling it out in the sparring ring.

Then he sighed, raising his hands in defeat.

“Whatever you say, Your Majesty.”

Chapter 56

Eva

My golden dress crisscrossed across my chest, circling around my neck, leaving a diamond of exposed skin under my breasts before wrapping around my waist. The flowing skirt extended to the floor, but there was a long slit up my leg—perfect to stow my dagger within reach. Though the one strapped to my side was now a gift from my brother, an almost exact recreation of the one I had lost minus the stone, its remains melted down far beneath this castle. Delicate golden ribbons extended across my shoulders and interlaced down my arms, matching the gold strands braided into my hair, the golden liner on my eyelids and the dust of gold on my cheeks.

We had spent the evening meeting with the royal families—not that the new King of Soleara and the Queens of Imyr hadn’t been frequent visitors. Tobias had quietly assumed his new role, working to reorient our people in a realm that suddenly remembered them, all while grieving those we had lost in that final battle. Queen Sariyah’s sea-green eyes were still haunted after what had happened on her way to Adronix as she thanked me for taking down the one responsible. I had been happy to see Eliav and Noam again, though they also looked bone weary from their own rebuilding efforts.

Both Mayim and Esterra were still dealing with dissenters. Perhaps I had been foolish to think Aviel’s end would dissuade those who had supported him from rising again. Their outright attacks had dissipated to whispers about my legitimacy as news had spread about the democratic ideologies I had brought with me from the human realm, never mind the fact that the blueprint was almost entirely my mother’s.

The weight of the realm I was responsible for felt just as heavy at peace as it did in war. I wouldn’t rule as a figurehead, and I had no intention of being just another monarch. Yet finding a more democratic solution for a kingdom that had always existed without such representation would take time, even with my mother’s books of notes and learnings. Even if this group of rulers seemed surprisingly receptive to the change.

Though perhaps after seeing how close Aviel had come to stealing this world for himself, they saw the wisdom in dividing that power. With the checks and balances I proposed, it wouldn’t be so easily taken again.

My uncle had pulled me aside to let me know that, despite efforts to locate him, Silvius had disappeared from Morehaven during the post-battle chaos. I knew Rivan had already tasked some of Imyr’s best trackers to hunt him down, but the thought of him free and at large after the retribution I had promised him rankled. He was the mastermind behind the magic blocking bands, the serum they had injected me with, and gods knew what else. It wasn’t safe to leave him to his own devices, never mind my personal vendetta.

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