Page 97 of Enchanted Shadows
And then he stunned me by turning towardme. “General Owen Raikes, now both prince and general in title. You have trained over half of the men in this room. You have been loyal to Wylan through the darkest of times.” He paused, his eyes on me. I didn’t have a brother. And yet in Krew and Keir, I always had. Krew’s throat bobbed. “You have done the hard jobs, the underappreciated and dirty jobs for far too long. As of this moment forward, you have one more title to add. You are promoted to Commander of Wylan’s forces and are, from this moment on, an honorary heir of Wylan.”
Arden’s scream of joy in my ear was enough to shake the shock off me. The entire room cheered. For me. And none louder or harder than the team of women. The Slay Sisters.
Krew added, “Those of us who love you know you’d hate a prince title, so I think ‘Commander’ in place of ‘prince’ will do nicely, don’t you?” He moved to hug me and pinned a fancy new large pin to my gear.
“Had to do it publicly?” I said quietly enough that only he could hear.
He cut off his magic amplifying his voice and responded, “It was the only way to ensure you’d accept, you stubborn ass.”
Jorah grabbed Arden off my back and hugs were doled out all around.
Krew moved back to the front. “Now. The real reason we gather tonight is to celebrate a group of women who have defied the odds. Who are breaking history right before our very eyes.”
A server quickly passed us all drinks.
Jorah took over. “To you women, we thank you. We thank you for proving to Wylan that her daughters are not only safe now, but can dare to dream. Wylan is less limited because of you. We are all the better because ofyou. Take this moment in. Lean in together. You are not done, but what you have done, you have donewell. To Wylan’s first team of women.”
The entire room drank and cheered for the women. By the time we got back down to the ballroom floor, the dancing had started up. Team One was taking it upon themselves to pair up, dance with, and protect the women. I wasn’t sure from what, but I was going to back off and let both enjoy themselves for this night.
I moved through the crowd for the team. This team of women who had annoyed me at every turn. I was finally about to have a break from them, and I found myself wanting to do nothing other than be with them for one last night.
I moved to stand next to my wife, my hand going to the small of her back.
“Commander,” she greeted, her smile full of mockery.
“Princess,” I responded back sweetly.
I should’ve been more surprised by the fact that I had walked into a conversation about bosoms. Sam, Molly, and Wren were in a heated debate about which design of their black gowns was most comfortable for their top portions.
“Neverstrapless,” Molly said vehemently.
“That’s only because you have enough to topple out of,” Sam argued. “Mine hugs me just fine with no risk of exposure.” She pinned her eyes on me. “What about you?”
“My bosom is decidedly different.”
Emric walked up to talk to me, but also soon found what the argument was over and looked like he wanted to back away.
“You could bounce a coin off those pecs,” Sam muttered to Molly.
“Ladies,” I warned.
“Your bosom is top notch, Commander,” Sam said. “That’s all.”
“Sam!” Kessara exclaimed.
Sam turned toward her and gave her a smart look. “Tell me I’m wrong, Kessara.”
Kessara took that opportunity to take a long pull from her drink.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” Sam repeated.
“You aren’t wrong,” Kessara whisper yelled. “Just not sure we should really talk about our commander like that. I’m married to him, and I don’t even talk about him like that.”
“You legally can gawk all you want, though,” Sam offered.
“Ladies,” I groaned.
“You,” Sam snapped, changing her attention immediately and pointing at Emric.
