Page 30 of Till Kingdom Come

He ignored what I said and straightened up to come slowly toward me. “I’ll always come after you. Make no mistake. I told you that you belong to me. I claimed you, and you’re mine.” He walked up behind me and put both hands on my shoulders. I couldn’t help leaning back into him, without intending to do so, but drawn there like iron filings to a magnet.

“It’s almost time for our wedding, so I’ve come to fetch you.”

“Have you? I’ve been in my room all morning. All alone.”

“I’m here now,a chuisle.”

“What do those words mean anyway? You use them a lot.”

“‘My pulse’ is the literal translation…it’s just a term of endearment.” He held out his hand to me. “Now let’s go down to your room and get you ready.”

“What exactly does ‘getting me ready’ entail?”

“I brought you a new outfit to wear. The entire court will be on hand to witness our union, and I want to show you off.”

“What about you then? Are you ready?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Again, you manage to make everything sound like a challenge.”

“It’s a gift, I suppose.”

He gave me a slow smile, reached for my hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss. I felt the flutter in my heart and cursed it. I didn’t want to feel so much for him when I was all alone in this thing, and I’d do well to remember that.

He led me back down the long, winding stairs, holding tightly to my hand, as if he were afraid I might suddenly pull away and fling myself down the stairs.

Maybe the thought had occurred to me.

Chapter Nine

Bracca

He was in an odd mood when I finally located him. I knew he thought I’d been avoiding him, but I’d been in meetings with my father and his council all morning about how to approach the dark Elves and King Hendris. If I’d been in Hendris’s place, I wouldn’t have been at all happy about the news that the rightful heir to the throne had mysteriously been located and was ready to take his place as king, no matter how much I feared for the kingdom. The people would no doubt require verification, too, and all our evidence was circumstantial. Why should he simply take our word for it? There could be some kind of reaction to his blood from the throne itself or maybe the crystal underneath, but we didn’t know enough about that to be sure.

Killian’s testimony wouldn’t be proof of anything, as he had no details and no evidence to present. He barely even believed himself that he was heir. He’d been kept in the dark about all of that for most of his life. We’d considered bringing in Sir John, but all he would have been able to verify was that he once was married to a woman who’d left him—and left her baby too. And then once we had the human, what would we have done with him? He no doubt would have wasted away, like so many of the mortal creatures who came to the Liminal to stay, unable to adapt to our realm. I would have been fine with that, but Killian was a different story.

We hadn’t been able to locate Ashlin, Killian’s mother, so that left only the witch who must have glamoured Killian. My father, who was hundreds of years old and had deep connections in dark magic had still not been able to find her either. Basically, we had nothing but the word of some demons who had first told us where to find the boy.

“The baby was less than a year old when his mother left,” the demons had told my father, “And already beautiful. Too much so to be mistaken for mortal.”

The glamour had been put on him by somebody, though, to hide his true nature, and anyone who had seen him before could testify to that fact if need be. Our one real hope was that the throne itself would react strongly to Killian, and the people would demand King Hendris’s agreement. I was dubious of that, too, so I felt as if we would have to take it by force. That discussion devolved into an argument that lasted most of the morning. I would have to bring Killian with me to test the throne, but he would do no fighting, no matter how much he thought of his skills. I wouldn’t risk him in such a way.

In the end, I made plans for us to leave the day after we wed and go directly to parley with King Hendris. I’d spent the rest of the morning in preparations for the journey.

I told all this to Killian as we made our way to his bedroom, where the servants had already laid out his clothing for the wedding. I left him with the serving maids to bathe and dress him, though I could hear his complaints through the wall and over in my room. I went back around an hour later and was more than happy with how he looked.

He wore a suit of gold cloth, and his fur coat to keep him warm. His shining hair, which had grown to waist-length by now, was pulled up in a bun, showing off his high cheekbones and sparkling eyes. I gave him my arm and we went to the main hall. The doors to the hall were closed but the guards hauled them open, and we stepped inside. Gathered on either side of the long gallery were nobles, courtiers and council members, all clothed resplendently. They stared at us as we walked in and bowed to me.

He was trembling and I held his hand even more tightly than before.

The guard at the door stepped forth and said, “Presenting the Crown Prince Bracca, son of King Larek. And Killian, the son of King Brendan of the Dokkalfar Elves, born of Ashlin. The true-blood heir to the throne of the Dokkalfar.”

At the far end of the aisle made by the rows of noble guests sat my father, brooding silently on his throne. He rose and beckoned us forward, and I escorted my beautiful prince down the aisle to be married, forevermore, until the mountains crumbled into the sea, and until the stars fell from the sky.

****

Killian

As ceremonies went, it was beautiful, solemn and long. My knees buckled slightly at one point, and I had to lean heavily on Bracca to hold me up. The king conducted the entire service and at the end, when he pronounced us Crown Prince and Consort, I turned toward Bracca and was swept away with a bold and passionate kiss that left me flustered and a little breathless. He slipped his arm around my waist and turned me to face those who had watched the ceremony, but I still had enough of a mortal mindset to be embarrassed at the fact that I was now married to another man, even though it was my preference.

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