Page 143 of A Promise of Peridot
We sat in a content quiet, and I began to doze off before Arwen squirmed beside me.
“I can’t sleep now.”
I smiled. “Breakfast?”
She sat up to peer out at the balcony windows. “It’s not even morning.”
“Exactly.” I eased out of bed and threw on my breeches. “I’ll send for some food and we can eat as we watch the sun rise.”
“That sounds blissful,” she said, falling back into the plush pillows behind her. My bed was so large, the sheets and pillows nearly engulfed her.
“One thing,” I added as I headed for the door to my study, guilt already creeping in that it had taken me this long to remember. “Can I let Acorn in? He hates to sleep alone, and I haven’t seen him yet after being gone for months...”
“You’re kidding,” Arwen said, eyes wide. “The strix really is your pet?”
“Of course.” I frowned. “What do you think I keep him around for? His conversation skills?”
Arwen’s mouth lifted in a smile, but fear still flickered in her eyes.
“You said you trust me always. I would never let something happen to you. Especially not at the claws of my own strix.” I didn’tblame her entirely. Acorn’s glowing yellow eyes and owl wings paired with his goblin-like features and torso had the same effect on most people: terror. It was one of the many, many things I loved about him.
As soon as the door popped open, Acorn bounded inside like a tornado, long wings nearly slapping me in the face, claws scrambling to find a grip on the hardwood floor.
“Hello to you, too,” I cooed. But he flew past me and prowled onto the bed, sending Arwen wriggling away. Acorn only curled up beside her, screeching happily and rubbing his front claws together.
“See, he loves you.”
“He tried to eat me!”
“Now, how can I blame him for that?”
“Kane,” she said, still twined in blankets she must have believed would protect her. “He really did almost kill us.”
“If I recall correctly,youalmost killedhim. When youbroke into my study. Tostealfrom me.”
“Well, that was after you kept me in a dungeon.”
She said it with nothing but humor, but I felt my smile fall. I pulled the door open and asked the guards down the hall to fetch us breakfast before striding back into the room and opening the balcony windows.
A pleasant, chilly breeze caressed my face as I looked down on my keep. The barely peeking sunrise beyond the treetops had brought out the stablehands and landscapers, a young man washing the masonry, and various soldiers just waking up or shuffling through the barracks to take a piss.
All people whom we needed to protect.
As badly as I desired it, we couldn’t hide in this room forever.
When I turned back to face Arwen, the first rays of dawn light had just feathered across her face, highlighting that delicate nose and those full lips. She was tentatively petting Acorn—verytentatively—but he was thrilled, eyes half-closed and burrowing deeper into the duvet.
Her beauty made my heart twist.
No wonder she was the daughter of a God. That kind of regal, arresting splendor could never be found in a mere Fae. Even a full-blooded one. I crawled into bed beside her, tucking her warm body into mine. Acorn scooted to nestle at our feet.
“I was only joking about the dungeon,” she said after a while. “You can’t carry that with us the rest of our relationship.”
“I know.” She was right. It was no way to begin a life together. “When you do me the honor of becoming my—”
She pushed a finger to my lips. “Don’t.”
“All right,” I said, muffled.
