Page 145 of Enchanted Crown
Emric looked to me at the foot of the bed, the food, and where she was sitting on the other side of it as if to imply shewas also in the path. “I’ll go ahead and take the long way, I should think. Might get lost for a bit too. It’s a big castle, after all.”
“A wise man,” I muttered. As the door clicked shut, I added, “I’m a deprived man.”
“You need food,” Esta demanded.
“I watched a dagger put to your throat yesterday. Come here,” I demanded right back. I could see a small red mark on her neck from where it had happened.
We sat there in a stare down for a moment, and I released a tendril of warmth to chase along the floor and then race up her spine. She could have stopped it with her own but didn’t. It pleased me far more than it should have.
“Come here,” I repeated with a grin.
“Always so demanding.” She stood and grabbed a plate of food and glass of water, bringing both over to the nightstand.
As much as I did need food and water, the need to touch my wife and confirm every inch of her was unharmed by recent events overwhelmed everything else. Was it all truly over? Was it all going to turn out okay? We hadn’t had a moment to ourselves since Lennix’s death. Not a single damn moment.
I gladly drank the water she handed me, pulling her closer until she was on my lap as I did so. “Do we have anywhere to be today?”
“No,” she responded as she sat the now empty glass on the nightstand. “I’ve given us the day off.”
“Good.”
“Oh. And our wedding has been planned for a month from now. I’ve demanded a weeklong honeymoon following the elaborate Dra Skor ceremony.”
A week of you to myself?I asked impressed.
Hopefully your wing will be healed so we can do some flying.She moved to run a finger down the veins of my good wing.
It felt like the breeze kissing my skin. I was somewhat worriedif she did it in the space between where my wings met, I might just start kicking my leg like a damn dog.
I need food, but I also need you,I told her as I rolled us, careful to keep my hurt wing free of everything.
“Keir, your wings,” she gasped, eyes wide.
“Will be fine,” I finished for her.
“You always were stubborn. From the very start.” Her lips pulled into a smile. “The only man in a decade with the courage to touch me.”
“I’ll always have the courage to touch you,” I whispered. “In fact, I am feeling quite courageous at the moment.”
She laughed, her lone dimple springing into action. “Insufferable prince.” But instead of sounding like an insult, it came out with an air of reverence.
“Dragon queen,” I said the same exact way. I trailed my fingers slowly down her neck until I could feel her beating heart beneath my palm. The rhythm as strong and true as ever.
Forever my annoying moon,she added.
Forever yours,I promised as I began trailing kisses along her skin.Your insufferable prince. Your fool. Your love. Your moon.
CHAPTER 48
How long would it take, how many years, before my eyes would quit darting to Morana’s lair in The Drak to make sure it was caved in and gone? The fact that she had tainted this sanctuary at all made me want to hurt something. Multiple bonfires hadn’t been enough to make me forget all that had happened in Dra Skor. I was convinced the answer to that question was likely years.
When Nana had demanded no more of the dragon shifters get healed, they’d had to skip their turns in the draft. Now that Morana was dealt with, Oziel as well, the rest of the Mallicks were beyond due to be healed. They would miss the final bonfire at Halikaara tonight, but when asked, they had jumped at the chance to be healed. All of them had been present for the other bonfires anyway, so they’d only be missing the one. Even Jagen and Charlotte had come to be here with Esta. It was a family affair, after all.
Nyra, Nana Mallick, Amaya, and Lennix’s wife Vashti stood close to the water. Reyald was already in the deep purple water waiting to be healed. It was a family torn apart by greed for the throne. A family not all that different from my own, the differencebeing that Krew and I, though rivals, were never enemies. And in the strangest of ways, I supposed we had our poor excuse of a father to thank for that.
Nana had demanded all children be healed first, however Emric’s team had already healed the younger shifters, the second stage of the draft designed to get through the women and children fast. Samori’s younger siblings had already been healed in that stage.
I had personally volunteered to heal Nana. The Mallick family, the royal bloodline, all being healed before our bonfire tonight somehow felt right. And though Amaya and Vashti were not going to talk much any time soon, they were both here. Together. And that said something.
