Page 3 of House of Embers
“What a party trick,” she whispered.
“Ollivier trick,” he said with a wink. Then he opened the box to reveal a ring.
Her ears were ringing as she realized what he meant—that he had not been talking about his throne or his people or the upcoming war at all. He had been talking about her.
“I’ve loved you since the tournament. I loved you as a rider. I loved you in another world, among the gods, as a gladiator. You were the only thing that kept me going all those long months. I promised you that I would do this the right way, that I would court you properly.” He smirked with a small shrug. “But nothing with you has ever been proper, and I have found that is just the way I want it to be. Here with you, my mate, in my arms, in my life, as my queen. So will you, Kerrigan Felicity Argon, do me the honor of being my wife?”
“Yes.”
The word flew out of her mouth before conscious thought returned.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she gasped.
She jumped into his arms, and he twirled her in place. When he finally put her back on her feet, he removed the ring from the box and slid it onto her ring finger. It fit as if it were made for her. At the center of a gold-filigree band was a large diamond with smaller diamonds on either side. It looked like an antique.
Well,thisjewelry she would wear.
“It was my mother’s,” Fordham explained.
Kerrigan’s heart clenched. “I love it.”
Fordham’s fingers moved to her chin, lifting her head to look up at him. “I love you.”
Then his lips were on her, hungry and inviting. A promise of what was to come. A cleared throat was the only thing that kept them from indulging.
“Your Majesty,” Adelaide said behind them, “they’re ready for you.”
“Of course,” Fordham said.
He turned to face the double doors. Kerrigan slid her hand into the crook of his arm, putting the royal engagement ring on full display. They both straightened as the doors slid open, and displayed before them was the House of Shadows court.
Fordham moved first, walking them down the aisle toward the waiting throne cast in solid black granite that towered over the rest of the room. A smaller black-and-white marble throne was positioned next to the first throne. A queen’s throne. Kerrigan resisted thinking about that just yet. There would be more time to consider the implications after their positions were more secure.
A gasp rang up from the assembled peerage as they got a good look at Kerrigan. The House of Shadows had notoriously hated humans and half-Fae, and seeing her on the arm of their king had to be a shock. An engagement ring on her finger must have made them enraged. The murmuring grew louder as they continued down the bloodred carpet to the dais.
Neither of them said or did anything about it. They let the news spread like wildfire until all assembled knew what was before them. Their king and his half-Fae queen—soon-to-be at least.
Fordham assisted her up the steps to the dais and let her sink into the queen’s throne. Fordham’s sister, Wynter, was resplendent in black and silver, the Ollivier colors. She was seated next to his cousin Prescott in a place of prominence. He shot Kerrigan a reassuring smile—one of the only friendly faces in the room.
A choked gasp came from the woman next to them. Kerrigan got her first look at Viviana, the former queen, who had negotiated such a poor treaty for her subjects after being defeated in battle by theSociety. The woman looked askance at Kerrigan sitting in what she must have considered her place.
Kerrigan had better things to do than flaunt herself on a throne. In fact, this was the last place she wanted to be, but it made the most logical strategic sense. A handful of rogue resisters weren’t going to win against the Society full of dragon riders, not even with Kerrigan and Fordham and their new powers at the helm. They needed power, and the House of Shadows had a standing army—not to mention a hatred for the Society.
It was something she had in common with Fordham’s subjects, as the Society was currently being run by Kerrigan’s former mentor, Bastian, a power-hungry dictator who despised humans and half-Fae and had seized control of the government by murdering all dissenters…and stealing Kerrigan’s magic.
Now she was back in Alandria with magic to spare, and it was time to end this thing once and for all.
Fordham took a seat on the black throne.
“I, Fordham Ollivier, king of the House of Shadows, head of the Dark Court, leader of House Charbonnet, the rightful ruler of all of Alandria, hereby declare war against the Society.”
Chapter Two
The War Council
The king’s advisers were flapping their arms like wings, pointing fingers, and gesturing dramatically. And it was all about her.
Kerrigan had to fight back a smirk. As if being upset with their king was going to get him to throw Kerrigan aside for someone more acceptable to the general populace. They had no idea what she and Fordham had been through or what it would take to end the curse on his family. There was only one option forward. They would get to it eventually.
