Page 112 of Feral Guardian
“Under this glass canopy through which I’m sure the gods can see, by witness of these plants, Spiders, and the citizens looking in the windows,” Gareth snaps as he glares at some of the Spiders who were supposed to be guarding said windows. “I now pronounce you husband and wi—”
Alastair’s kiss descends on me before Gareth has finished his proclamation. He devours me, ravenous and hungry for everything I can give him. I open my mouth and slide my tongue along his as I push onto my tiptoes, trying to get closer. Alastair dips down and puts his unbound arm under my ass, making me yelp as he hauls me up. I wrap my legs around his waist, and he walks from the dais, still kissing me.
Scarlett whoops and claps loudly. “Enjoy your honeymoon!”
There’s hardly time for air when kissing Alastair, and so the best I can give Scarlett is a wave goodbye over his shoulder. She laughs and many of the stoic Spiders join in.
Alastair ducks under the opening to the greenhouse and throws his leg over Kor’Tar, who once again kneeled for me. It’s a little more of a struggle for the horse to get his footing with both of us on him, and we chuckle at Kor’Tar’s valiant effort.
Alastair smiles at me, and rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, wife.”
“I love you,sir.” I smirk as he groans and his cock flexes. “Now, take me home and fuck me so loud the queen will hear me coming.”
Epilogue: Lily
One week later.
Life has fallen into a comfortable, albeit high-stakes rhythm. Battle training with Scarlett and Zane in the early morning, breakfast at the Nest, merchant management for lunch, propaganda debunking before dusk, and then Illyan negotiations over dinner. The days are full to the brim with things to do, but we’re making progress.
The people are turning against her.
“This just came for you and Alastair,” Scarlett says, passing me a letter over the buttered toast.
I accept the parchment and scowl at the curiously elegant green script on the front. I flip it over to see the seal. It’s a large “B” in glimmering green and silver wax with two birds in each corner. One holds a flower, and the other, a dagger. Alastair leans in to look and I can tell by the way he goes rigid that he recognizes the sender.
“It’s from my mother,” he whispers.
I hand him the letter and he gapes at it.
Scarlett stands and runs her fingers along Zane’s shoulder to his neck. “My love, I need to show you something upstairs.”
Zane gets up in a hurry, abandoning his half-eaten egg sandwich without a word. The other Spiders move out of earshot, leaving Alastair and I alone in the corner of the dining hall.
I set my toast aside and turn to Alastair, then offer him my little dagger I’d stolen from the headmistress. He takes the blade and runs it under the wax seal. There’s a brief spark of ward magic that settles on Alastair’s hand up to his arm, then drifts over me as well. When nothing happens, we both sigh in relief.
“She set it to combust if I hadn’t been nearby when it was opened,” he says with a smirk. “I taught her that one.”
Alastair takes a deep breath and flips the top of the envelope open, then slides out the letter. It unfolds and the magic that had settled on Alastair’s skin sinks into the parchment. Like ink rippling through water, his mother’s delicate script reveals itself.
My dearest son,
Thank the gods for those pirates. I thought I was going to have to march up to Fynren myself to open your eyes. It has been unending torture to watch you from afar, praying that Eyzanth would overcome your sense of duty and set you on the right path to ensure our future.
“Fuck,” Alastair grumbles as he rubs his eyes. “It was always meant to be this, and she couldn’t tell me…She couldn’t risk changing it.”
“I can’t imagine your mother intended for you to woo me when I was eleven, though I was already smitten with you from the moment I saw you,” I say, planting a gentle kiss on the back of his hand before I continue reading.
Two of four sisters are together now, and the third is well on her way to joining you. The time of prophetic calamity draws near—
A heavy bang from the atrium pulls my attention from the letter. There’s shouting and sounds of a scuffle. I glance at Alastair withconcern, and he rises from his seat, stuffing the letter in his pocket. I follow behind him out into the atrium where several Spiders are standing with weapons drawn.
“Let me see him!” shouts a man with shockingly blond hair and dark clothes at the center of the commotion.
“Kazimir,” Alastair says, his booming voice carrying over the noise.
The man with stark white hair turns, his gaze landing on us. He scowls, looking between the two of us. “What areyoudoing here?” he asks, his voice just slightly off from normal. There’s a metallic huskiness to it that sends a shiver down my spine.
Alastair crosses his arms. “I live here. What areyoudoing here?”
