Page 41 of Blood of Two Crowns

I tied the gift around Nakoa’s wrist, causing my fingers to brush against his skin, and I swore I felt a current of electricity pass between us that I think we both tried to pretend not to notice.

When Nakoa and hisolana kah’heihad been ushered on the dais of the throne room, I hadn’t anticipated being invited to stand among them. Val and Roderick stood on either side of me,enfolding me into their little group. Rayne, Vesper, and Rumiel stood beside Roderick, and Lokus, Famei, and Pomona stood on the other side of Val. I couldn’t help but feel a tendril of imposter syndrome standing here. It had only been a little over two weeks ago that I’d cut part of Nakoa’s tail off. Wished him dead. Had taken hissoulboundas my own.

If I were in his shoes, would I have killed me by now?

For all his gruffness, Nakoa seemed to have a moral compass and self-control that I, undeniably, lacked. He’d given nearly all the riches he’d stolen from those cunt-faced Lords to their servants. I didn’t have to wonder if I would have been as magnanimous.

I wouldn’t have.

I would have stolen Mareina away to live out our solitude together in peace, and allowed everyone else to get fucked. I tried to console myself with the excuse that those same servants probably would have tried to have me killed if they knew what I really was but no amount of reasoning would alleviate the fact that, unless Mareina was involved, I was an unforgivably selfish male.

Shame settled somewhere in my chest at the realization. For all his faults,Nakoa was a good male.

I scanned the mass of people and their magic gathered to witness Nakoa’s coronation to check for any treachery among us, as Zurie had warned. I shouldn’t have been surprised at all that theminorisoutnumbered the Lords and Ladies, who all appeared thoroughly unsettled by having to share space with them.

I didn’t miss the way some of them sneered at Nakoa in his true form, towering over the old cleric—the same one that had crowned Zurie, apparently. To the cleric’s credit, he didn’t bat an eye at Nakoa’s black twisting horns, his gigantic membranous wings, or the powerful tail swishing restlessly behind him.

The cleric had begun his speech but it all became background noise when my eyes landed on Zurie and Thalia. Her new lover, presumably, that had liberated Zurie of her collar and dungeon cell. I couldn’t help but think it peculiar, considering Thalia had initially seemed keen on allying with Nakoa. To go behind his back was an interesting move. Especially now that Zurie had nothing. There seemed very little for Thalia to gain from stealing Zurie away outside of Nakoa’s wrath.

As if by nothing more than the weight of my gaze, Zurie’s eyes lifted to mine, her pouty lips pursing. I gave her a bored look. When her eyes returned to Nakoa, I continued scanning the crowd. My soldiers lined the walls, standing guard in their finest military uniforms. I made a mental note to speak with them about my faith in our new king.While the announcement of Nakoa’s coronation had been so sudden, I had no doubt many of them were relieved by the change. There had always been an undercurrent of resentment towards Zurie.

An all-too-familiar magic radiated from behind the audience, snapping my gaze to a male dressed in the darkest blue silk suit with a fancy sash around his waist. Miroslav’s icy gaze flicked to mine, expressionless, as per usual. Admittedly, I was mildly surprised to see him here, hand-in-hand with a female wearing a silky, dark blue hooded cowl.

The sudden roaring applause of the crowd drew my attention as Nakoa bent at the waist and the elderly cleric placed an elaborately wielded gold crown adorned in rubies that matched the epaulettes on his suit. I’d never seen the former King’s crown. It looked…heavy.

Nakoa murmured something to the cleric, whose face lit up with unmistakable joy before shifting aside as our new King stepped forward.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose as Nakoa’s voice rang out like the tolling base of a bell. The crowd hushed, andsomething crackled in the air. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t even Nakoa’s magic. It was simply his commanding presence. I couldn’t help but observe him in awe. For a moment, time seemed to slow as I realized that I had been blessed with witnessing some momentous and fortuitous event in history that would change all of our lives.

The harkening of fate.

Of change.

Fuck, if only Mareina were here to witness this.

Longing and worry for her tightened in my chest to the point of pain.

“I am immensely grateful that you all have gathered here to support my ascension of the throne. I vow to spend every day working towards bringing justice and prosperity toeachandeveryone of you.

No longer, will you live in poverty, slaving away under the thumbs of the majori who glut themselves on stolen power. On aetra.

No longer will you live in fear and exile because you have gifts that strike terror into the hearts of those who would seek to either exploit you or kill you.”

A greatboomsounded as Nakoa released his magic into the room and his wings flared wide, spanning over twenty feet across the dais.

Vesper stepped forward, wiping a rogue tear from her eye. Rayne, shortly behind her, stepped forward with writhing shadows that formed into dark, monstrous avatars. The cracking of bone and sinew sounded as Val and Roderick shifted beside me and stepped forward in their gigantic Lykos forms. Rumiel, even taller than his son, boasting his wings, tail, and lethal hornsstepped forward. Lokus, Pomona and Famei joined him, looking no less formidable despite not having beastly forms remained shrouded in mystery because no one would be able to discern their gifts.

The beast within me roared in ascent. My bones ached and my skin itched with the need to shift. My heart pounded furiously.

Fuck me,I had so much more in common with Nakoa and hisolana kah’heithan I’d ever realized.

How had I never realized?

It seemed a sin that we had been at each other’s throats, each of us bearing the same burden in more ways than one.

My beast writhed within me to break free, and again, time seemed to slow as a fleeting window of opportunity presented itself.

Nakoa turned his head to lock eyes with me. Though his features remained hard and unreadable, his message was clear: He was waiting for me. Fear chased up my spine.Neverhad I revealed my beast. It had been beaten into me as a child to remain hidden.

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