Page 103 of Acedia

“I’m more excited about getting you in bed.”

Iris laughed, gently scratching my back. “Because it’s such a rare occurrence? Don’t you dare move, Damen. That knot needs to go down, I still need to get ready. Today is a big day.”

Only somewhat resentfully, I left Iris cleaning up in the bath—so much for cum between her thighs at the feast—and headed for the nursery.

Yara smiled the moment I walked inside, but she didn’t have a chance to speak before Adeon was climbing up my leg, clawless hands digging into my thigh.

“Must you?” I laughed, grabbing him under his armpits and swinging him into my arms. “That hurts, you know.”

He may not have claws, but his strength was more Shade-like than human.

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry in the least. “Did you know Mama wasn’t here today?”

“Yes, it was her day off. Remember? Yara and Alyndra looked after you.” Usually, Adeon spent the day with us on Iris’s day off, but all the children had been preparing garlands for the Modra feast today and he’d been desperate to attend.

“Is the feast now?”

“Soon,” I assured him.

Adeon leaned his head on my shoulder, his pale blond hair stark against my skin. In so many ways, he was like his mother—both in looks and in temperament.

And then occasionally, usually when with as many witnesses around as possible, he’d behave like a feral little beast. He got that from me.

“Let’s go back and get Mama, hm? And then we’ll go to the feast.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“It smells so good,” Iris murmured as we made our way into the garden. There were too many attendees this year to fit everyone in the dining hall, so they’d moved the festivities outside instead.

“Calix and his crew are cooking the meat out here,” I said. “One section of the garden has been taken over for food preparation.”

Tilly sniffed hopefully in that direction, trotting along beside us. She was walking a little slower this year, and took a little longer to respond when we called her. Neither of us wanted to think too much about that, though.

“Can we eat now?” Adeon asked, patting Iris’s arm.

“Not yet,” she said firmly. “We need to wait until dinner time. Do you see your cousins?”

Adeon went up on his tiptoes, though it didn’t help much considering how packed the place was. I scooped him up, carefully balancing him on one shoulder while he grabbed onto my horns and used them to wriggle until his legs were either side of my neck.

“They’re sitting on the throne. How come they get to sit on the throne?”

“Because they’re princesses,” Iris laughed.

Adeon grumbled something under his breath that hedefinitelylearned from a kid at the nursery. It was in a rural Shade language, and I was very glad his mother didn’t understand it.

Allerick and Ophelia were on the temporary thrones that had been erected outside, surrounded by their gaggle of girls. All three had red hair, dark eyes, and a glare that could stop a Shade at fifty paces—even the baby. Everyone claimed that their perfect glare had come from their father, but I knew better.

The Glare was all Aunty Astrid.

Sophie was the eldest, and the crown princess for the time being. Her and Adeon weren’t that far apart in age, and seemed to vacillate between being best friends and mortal enemies.

“There’s so many of them,” Adeon observed sagely. I snorted. There would probably be more, too.

As much as I loved Adeon, both Iris and I had decided that one was enough for us to handle.

“Is Mama going to play the harp?” Adeon asked, spotting it up next to the thrones.

“Later,” Iris said. “And Austin will play his guitar—won’t that be fun? Will you dance?”

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