Page 118 of Enchanted Shadows
“We do,” Kessara agreed.
I ran my thumb over Kessara’s hand in support while I mentally rolled up my sleeves to get to work.
Only for her mother to say, “Rest up tonight. We can talk in the morning. You are home. That is all that matters.”
“Mother—” Damek began, rising to his feet.
The queen was not to be deterred, though. I noted she hadn’t introduced her husband or her son. But then again, the royal bloodline washers, so I wasn’t sure she had to. She held the most power in the room. “She has been gone for four months. She has returned safely. She is allowed one night of peace.”
Huh. How about that?
“But Your Majesty—” Calix began.
“No,” the queen snapped. “Two of my three children have been missing formonths. Do you think I am truly dense enough to not suspect the motivations behind that? She is home. That is what matters most.”
Kessara ignored Calix entirely. “I would also like you to meet the team I am training with in Wylan. They snuck on the Wylan ship which also came. And are here.”
This time the queen truly did smile. “Sneaking on ships? Getting married in three months?”
“I am efficient,” Kessara confirmed.
“So it would seem.” The queen turned her sharp stare onto me. “That team and an entire Wylan ship too. How many men did you bring with you, Commander?”
“Enough,” I answered. “Enough to ensure Kessara’s safety.”
She cocked her head. “You do not think she is safe in her own country?”
I didn’t hesitate but managed to refrain from looking at the two biggest deterrents to that very thing who were both right in this room. “No.”
“For God’s sake, can we just hug her already?” The king asked,finally rising. His brown bald head brought attention to the crown resting on it. Made it impossible not to notice. The Agrian castle might not rise and tower into the sky, but their crowns sure did. “We feared she might be dead for a while.”
He wasted no time, closing the distance. He was slightly shorter than his wife, unimposing in stature in the way he walked and laughed.
I let go of Kessara and stepped aside, allowing them all to have a moment.
“Sister,” Damek greeted but remained standing by his throne, arm over the back of the chair lazily.
“Brother,” Kessara said back in the same bored tone.
“Until tomorrow?” The queen said, patting Kessara’s cheek.
“Tomorrow,” she confirmed.
As we moved to leave, Calix did not. No doubt he needed to give a report on everything he had seen and heard while in Wylan.
Which was fine. Tomorrow was going to be far more interesting anyway. I was counting on it.
CHAPTER 37
Kessara led us to her room, and I was struck with how different things looked in Agria. Her room did not feel like one, instead it felt built into the forest itself. Long glass windows graced the walls with black framing between them, and curtains sat along the long sides of the room, but still overlooking the forest. She had a huge bed, a couch, a bookshelf, and fireplace, but all within the glass walls. She had a little balcony overlooking the trees too, but not as big as the ones in Dra Skor, which were of course designed for shifters flying in and out.
We’d passed a few houses on the way to the castle that were all the same way: either built onto the forest floor around the trees like fancy huts, or built a level into the trees like this room, like fancy treehouse outlooks.
“We like to be able to call on the shadows,” Kessara explained. “Be close to nightfall.”
“Aren’t you nervous someone will watch you?”
She moved to her nightstand and hit a button on a small remote, the heavy curtains starting to close. She stopped them about halfway. “No.”
