Page 85 of Enchanted Shadows
She gestured with both hands now toward the bed. “Which happens to be what I’m offering you. A better place to sleep.”
I reached for the whiskey, disappointed to find it empty. “I’m not sure I will want to. With a princess in my bed and all.”
Yep. I was half snockered. Had to be. Then again shameless flirting was a facet of my personality even in the soberest of times.
She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at my head, which I caught, before she used her shadows to grab it back and smack me in the back of the head with it. “That princess is your wife. So get over here. I’ll even tell you a bedtime story.”
“Fine.”
I changed into sweatpants, and crawled into my bed, shirtless as usual. It felt good to be in my room, but also entirely different. My bed was huge, but not huge enough to ignore the person in it next to me.
Kessara put out the light and sighed deeply.
I had to state the obvious as I stared toward the ceiling. “You are the opposite of afraid of the dark.”
She laughed. “Guilty. I love the shadows, the dark. They do not threaten me. Rather they envelop me. Nightfall reminds me that all things are possible. That I could do anything. That I am a blank slate. I am nothing, and I am everything. In the darkness, I believe I can rewrite my own story.”
“You just married a Wylan general, I’d say you are rewriting your own story.”
Though it was pitch black in the room, I felt her turn toward me. “I’m a little afraid that once I experience true freedom, I will be reckless. What does it even taste like?”
“Heavy and heady both. Because once you’ve experienced it, you’ll do anything to keep it. I see it in Warrick having a father who will teach him how to lead well. In Arden’s laughter. In Wren being on the team. And I’d do anything to make sure they keep ahold of it.”
“This got deep. It’s not the bedtime story I promised you,” she told me. “It’s just reminding you of work stress. Now. Do you want to hear about the time I dyed Artem and Damek’s hair blue, or the time a monkey took my crown?”
“The monkey.”
She launched into the story, explaining how dark and humid the forests of Agria are. “So one day, I’m just walking with my mother, and I feel as if my hair is being ripped out.”
“Wait. So it was an actual monkey? You didn’t just lose it and blame it on the monkey?”
“No. Anactualmonkey. I followed the little brat, but it was too fast. Also, it was laughing at me. I felt it.”
“Did you ever find it?”
“Well, yes. A week later, someone found my crown tossed to the forest floor like it finally just got tired of playing with it. I laughed for weeks. Imagining monkeys trying it on and taking turns wearing my crown.”
“You weren’t mad?”
“Goodness no.”
I yawned. Despite myself. This bed was comfy as hell, and I’d had a damn fine dinner that night. I wasn’t a complex man, just exceptionally good looking.
“See? Some wife I am. Boring you to sleep.”
I moved to face her and not the ceiling. “You make me feel many things, Kessara, but bored is not one of them.”
She took a deep breath. “Do I need to be nervous about the trial you’ve been so tight lipped about tomorrow?”
I didn’t hesitate. “No, but you will have to earn it.”
“Krew and Keir asked if they could be there. Said they usually come but they didn’t want to make me uncomfortable. They said you suggested they ask me.”
I was quiet a moment. “And? If it makes you nervous, they don’t have to.”
She rushed to add, “No. It’s not that. I’m not used to someone having my back like that. It felt... different.”
“Fast fact about me,” I told her. “If I am going to do something, I like to do it well. That includes husbandry.”
