Page 46 of The Bone King and the Starling

“I promise I will be careful with it from now on.”

“As I will be with yours.” His gaze flits between my eyes before briefly sobering. “And do not run from me again, my warrior. I cannot survive the pain of your loss again in this lifetime. I want death to be the only thing that separates us going forward.”

I nod, seeking strength, mining for courage and finding both. “I will not. I will speak to you and make my demands as a queen should.”

He grins. “And what are your demands, my lady?”

I glance around the hall, the desecration of so many bodies, and then at the small army of men and several women crowding the hallway, staring at us with one of two expressions — wearing smirks, or in utter shock.

“Take me away from this carnage, my king,” I say, circling my arms around his neck tighter and planting a kiss on the lobe of his ear.

The king shudders and hoists me up against his chest, his hands underneath my bottom. He takes three backward steps putting us inside his room, then kicks the door closed behind him, blocking all his violence out, and trapping only my tenderness within.

MY HUSBAND

My eyes burn with delight as I take in marvel after marvel. Ithanuir is everything Ebanora said it was and even more she didn’t. She stands beside me now, her brother having accepted a trainee position with the king.

It was not his interest to take the position, but he could scarcely refuse when the king also invited his family to join them — us. Considering that Ebanora’s mother is a healer and her father works the fields, only her mother came with Ebanora as an escort. She’ll leave after six months and for these six months that she’s in Ithanuir, she’ll take up training with the midwives’ guild. Winterbren has only one midwife and she’s an older woman whose practices are out of touch and out of date. A real midwifery practice in Winterbren would make it a very attractive destination to visit for those who live in neighboring villages and on the outskirts of Wrath.

She grips my wrist and points off into the crowd. “Do you see that!”

I nod, my face scrunching up. “I don’t know what it is…”

“It’s a mammoth,” Hilde says from the row of women warriors who’ve assumed the position behind me. “A spoiled creature, there are six who live near Ithanuir. They are harmless creatures and the children love them. They wander as they please.”

A shaggy, four-legged creature with massive tusks, it wanders lazily through the square, sucking water from the fountains it passes and spraying itself as well as passersby. It draws nearly as much attention as the king does and makes me laugh loudly and freely. I have never felt so unburdened in my entire life.

I stand now at the mouth of Ghabari’s temple, surrounded by Ebanora’s family, the female warriors closest to Calai, Moira and her two daughters. Wind whips through my curls, which have been twisted into intricate braided patterns atop my head, only a few curls falling down my spine and around my ears. I inhale deeply, the scents as foreign to me as the sights of Ithanuir. Spices and sunshine, honey and unfamiliar trees.

The temple is open to the elements, wooden beams draped in white and red fabrics that catch even the slightest breeze. It’s beautiful today. The sun is shining. Even though it is entering the cold season, I feel nothing but warmth in my white dress, the color of pearls, shrouded in one of the king’s furs that is just as white. I clutch a bouquet of blood-red lilies in my hands.

The mammoth meanders past the town square and the people who’d been distracted by it crowd back into the temple just in time for the priest to call me forth. Calai has completed his part of the ceremony and waits for me now at Ghabari’s altar in the center of the space.

I walk confidently, my head held high. I am no longer the woman I was in her entirety. Calai and I spoke at length and he made me promises that I no longer feel such fear he will keep. I learned in myself that I would do terrible things to keep Calai safe and that helped me understand a little more how he must have felt seeing others do terrible things to me.

I know better than to think him a tender man. Yet, I now have every faith that he will always be tender with me.

I take soft steps down a green petal-lined path. Hundreds of villagers crowd the atrium steps that rise up on my either side. It is enough to make my fear spike, but I look up at Calai, groomed and washed, wearing white trousers and a white fur draped over one shoulder. My pulse settles. I exhale and smile.

He had me braid his hair today and right now, the red looks wild and vibrant. He looks beautiful, if a man so savage ever could. I smile. He returns my smile with one that is blinding and I ignore all of the hundreds of people who’ve come out to watch their king take a queen today — even if he did take me and wed me in the wrong order.

“Little bird,” he mouths as I ascend the final steps to the dais and come close enough to touch him. He takes my hands in his and yanks me into his chest, causing a ripple of laughter to move through the crowd.

The priest begins his ceremony and I accept the bloody chalice when offered. This is not a tender life, but a violent one, I think as I sweep a stroke of blood down Calai’s right cheek. I hand him the chalice and he does the same to mine. But I know better now than to think myself powerless against it. I can be a warrior too, when required.

The ceremony is over in a blink. I can scarcely believe it when the priest finally binds our wrists together with white silk and has us step over Ghabari’s pulpit together, as one. The priest says in a booming voice that somehow manages to carry over the increasingly boisterous crowd, “And I present to you all, people of Wrath, the king’s new bride, your new queen.”

The cheer that goes up is deafening, a call to the gods to show me favor. I cast my gaze around and see my people cheering loudest of all, and laugh alongside them. Calai sweeps me off my feet and kisses me deeply enough I can feel it in my toes. As hecarries me away, I wrap my arms around his neck, feeling for the first time in my life truly safe, treasured and powerful.

And loved most of all.

MY WIFE

“My lady looks so beautiful in white. It makes the color of your skin look even more vibrant.” I prowl over her body, covered in that scandalous dress. “Some unholy combination of sunlight and starlight.”

She smiles up at me and smooths her hands over the sides of my face. She tucks my hair behind my ears. “I love you, Calai.”

My heart nearly bursts at the seams. I flip up her skirts and kick off my trousers and I waste no time in breaking in the marital bed of our new home. Now that she is well healed, I enter her dripping heat roughly, unable to escape the range of emotions raging through me. Her body yields to my cock, making space for me to take her how I like. It’s incredible. Sensational. Tenderness and violence at the same time.

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