Page 22 of Their Princess

“You literally turned into a goddess,” he argued with a raised brow.

“Did you call Third to Reign, Goddess?” I asked and put my hands on my hips.

He scowled. “No.”

“Well, then why would you call me that?”

“But … you haven’t reigned, so …”

“If you wish to keep a title with my name, you may call me princess as that’s the highest position I shall ever hold in either world.”

He scowled, but Great Uncle Silverowl set his hand on Jol’s shoulder and said, “You won’t win this argument, friend. Best to accept what our precious Lily wants.”

Jol exhaled and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a more stubborn female.”

“No doubt,” Kayden agreed.

I elbowed him in the stomach, knocking his breath from him.

Azgon squeezed my hand to get my attention again. “The females are asking for you to visit the village. Can you spare time?”

Jol waved me away as soon as I looked at him. “I still have business to discuss with Prince Silverowl. Go.”

Azgon released my hand and leapt back up atop the wall. “Come on!”

Jol let out a long sigh. “Females,” he mumbled.

Mason grabbed me around the waist and threw me up and over the wall. I managed to land on my feet without wobbling and jogged after Azgon, who had run off ahead.

Mason flew in his raven form beside me, his wings tinged slightly blue in the sunlight.

“Pretty bird,” I crooned.

He made a strangled croak that I was fairly certain was a grunt of disapproval, which made me laugh as I continued running.

I could feel Kayden and Trey’s amusement through our bond as well as they ran behind me.

Demons we passed bowed to me or made a symbol with their hands over their hearts.

I smiled at them all and as we ran across the open fields, I felt the freest I had in my entire life. I felt … complete.

We arrived at the village and I greeted the females and children who I’d spent time with the last time I had been here. The children were much more welcoming, no longer scared of me, and huddled around with at least one of their hands clutching at my clothes or my arms and hands.

Druth hobbled out of her house and took my hands in hers, tears in her eyes. “Well done, Princess. You are a merit to the royal line. Third to Reign would be very proud of the woman you’ve become.”

Tears built and I blinked them away. “Thank you, Druth.”

“We requested your presence so you could tell us what happened,” Druth explained. “So we can record it properly in our books. To ensure the truth will be recorded and never altered.”

Following her, we headed to the logs around the fire and with my mates’ help, we filled them in on the entire battle.

ChapterNine

We spent so long talking to Druth and the other females that we opted to spend the night in the village instead of traveling back to the portal and home.

Plus, I wanted to spend more time here.

Talrinir had a stone and let Jol know our decision. It piqued my interest that she was communicating directly with the lonely king. Perhaps he wasn’t so lonely now?

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