Page 93 of Joined By Magic

“I want you to be my wife. My queen.” He blurted the words out. “Because I’m—”

He broke off with a frustrated sigh.

Queen. The huge, spiky word clanged loud, but I pushed it aside. “You’re what? Tell me, Adante.” My voice softened. “Please.”

“Because I love you.”

Shock doused me. Had he lost his mind? Or was I still asleep, in truth? “You can’t mean—”

“I do.” He wrapped careful fingers around my hands, eyes fixed on my face. “I’d have burned the palace to the ground if it would have woken you up. As queen, you’ll be second to no one, and you’ll have all the freedom you desire.”

My breath caught in my throat. He loved me. A king. A man with all the power and wealth in the world.

But he was more than that. Finally, I let the feelings I’d kept locked away out into the open. The way he fascinated me more than anyone ever had. The way we fit each other, like mismatched puzzle pieces that somehow clicked together.

“Will you stay? I won’t mistreat you again, Talia. I swear it.” He gripped my hands tighter, and his body tensed. He was frightened. Scared I’d reject him. A surge of happiness captured me. He’d chosen me, over tradition. Over everything.

“Yes. I’ll stay. I love you too.”

His face relaxed, and he let out a breath, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he ran a finger down my cheek and leaned in for a kiss. It was gentle and careful, as though I might break. I rested my hands on his shoulders and grumbled when he pulled away. An amused smile played over his lips. “The healers need to see you before we go any further.”

“Then get one in here.”

He laughed, and I settled back down on the pillows, a little dizzy. He ran his fingers through my hair and looked down at me as though he’d won a grand prize.

“I’ll make sure you see the world. Every corner of it, if you want.” He closed his eyes and looked more at peace than I’d ever seen him. “As I sat by your bedside, I realized I’d never left my father’s shadow. I’d been trapped in the old ways of thinking. Now he’s dead, we can forge our own path.”

We.

A team. A partnership. Equals. Happiness danced through me at the implications of that one tiny word.

“Will people object?” I asked, though I didn’t care much about the answer. As long as we were happy, who else mattered?

“Of course.” This time his smile held the sharp, predatory edge I was familiar with. “But I’m the king now. I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

Epilogue - Seven Years Later

Liv

Mylink-upbuzzed.Isighed before answering. Ten calls in the last hour. Impossible to get anything done. The voice on the other end sounded harried. “Mrs. Rahl? There’s a problem with the builders—they’re disputing some of the boundaries with the architect. I don’t know what to do about it. Can you come down here?”

I tapped my fingers on my desk. Not today, I couldn’t. I was late as it was. “No. I’m going to Atar. Call Kristen, she should be able to handle this. If not, I’ll set up a vid link tomorrow morning to sort it out. Okay?”

“Sorry, I forgot about your trip. I’ll call Kristen. Have a good time.”

“Thanks.” I hung up.

My office was a chaos of paper. I took a sip from the cup on my desk and grimaced. Stone cold. I stood to leave, taking a moment to smooth out the creases in my cream-colored trouser suit with teal trim. It was funny, how shocked people had been when I ditched the constricting dresses favored by the Assembly wives and started having these tailored. Now everyone wore them. I’d inadvertently started a trend.

I set out through the palace and into the grounds to walk the short distance to our five-bedroom house at the edge of the forest. The Lord Commander’s apartment was nice, but not built for three kids. We kept the apartment for playtime. We’d furnished it with lots of items that were probably still illegal in Dexia, even though things had relaxed a lot. It’d been almost a week since our last visit. Much too long.

I paused at my red-painted door and took a breath, trying to switch off work mode. After a slow start, the project I’d poured all my hopes into was taking off, and Dexia now had three mixed schools, with another under construction. I’d argued the point so many times I knew the words by heart. Powers didn’t manifest until mid-teens. Until then, kids were just kids.

It’d taken promises, favors, and trading off Leo’s hero status to persuade the first mage parents to sign up, but now the ball was rolling, and some parents had even volunteered.

I wasn’t stupid. Of course, most mages only went ahead to get into Leo’s good books, but it didn’t matter. The kids would build lifelong friendships, mage and non-mage together, and that generation could begin breaking down centuries of prejudice.

I pushed the door open, and noise hit me immediately. A small body followed the soundwave. “Mummy!”

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