Page 86 of Cherished By the Gargoyle
When we finally pull apart, I see Ryllen rushing toward us, followed by Eldrin and my parents, their expressions full of joy.
“I’m glad you’re back, my friend,” Ryllen says, clasping his forearm. “You’ve been missed.”
Thalric’s father steps forward and wraps his massive arms around his son, embracing him warmly. “Thank the gods,” he murmurs. “My son, I’m so glad you’re alright.”
My father walks up to Thalric, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Our kingdom owes you a debt,” he says solemnly. “Whatever you wish for, it’s yours.”
Boldly, I step forward, looping my arm through Thalric’s. I’ve loved him for almost my entire life, and I thought I’d lost him forever. Now that he’s back and he’s whole, I don’t want to waste any more time. “Me.” A smile crests my lips as I look up at Thalric. “He wants me.”
Color rises in his cheeks, his expression caught between astonishment and tender amusement.
Ryllen snorts out a laugh but quickly covers his mouth, obviously amused by my decisiveness.
My father looks at Thalric. “Is this true?” he asks, but the smile tugging his mouth tells me he already knows the answer. “Do you wish to wed my daughter?”
Thalric turns to me, and I softly bite my lower lip, barely able to contain a smile as I nod.
A handsome grin curves his mouth before he turns his attention back to my father and straightens, tipping up his chin as he meets the king’s gaze evenly. “I would be honored to take Aurora as my mate.”
Father dips his chin in a firm nod. “Then it shall be done.”
CHAPTER 58
AURORA
It’s been five days since Thalric stirred from stone and took his first breath beside me again. Five days of sunlight spilling through castle windows, of laughter echoing where silence once reigned. And in less than a week, we’ll be wed.
If it were up to me, we would have been married the moment his heartbeat returned. But my parents insisted on ceremony and formality. On giving the royal courts of every neighboring kingdom time to send their envoys and gifts. I argued, of course. They wanted six months. I said a few weeks, at most. We compromised somewhere in the middle, though everyone knows I won the argument.
As Fiora likes to remind me, she raised me, and she’s fond of teasing that my parents have no idea just how stubborn their daughter can be. She calls it determination. And I believe I like that word better.
While I’ve been pacing the halls counting the days and being fitted for my dress and making decisions about our ceremony, Thalric and his father have spent the last few busy with mattersof the realm, specifically, selecting a new personal guard for me from among the king’s elite.
His father insists that a husband cannot serve as his mate’s guard, and Thalric and my parents agree.
Their first choice, a courteous Gargoyle named Kaen, is stationed just outside my chambers even now. He bowed when I passed him earlier, wings folded neatly, his expression as unreadable as carved granite. He’s kind, though. Gentle in that way Gargoyles often are. They are stone on the outside but warm and friendly beneath the tough exterior.
I know Kaen’s shift ends soon, but the thought of waiting even that long makes my chest ache.
I woke again tonight from the same dream… the one where Thalric is still trapped, motionless and gray, covered in stone. I reached for him, screaming his name, but he never moved.
That was enough to decide things for me.
I’m done waiting. I want to be his mate now.
Quietly, I slip from bed, the marble floor cool beneath my bare feet. The moonlight drapes my balcony in silver, and the night air carries the faint scent of rain. From beneath the chest at the foot of my bed, I pull the coiled rope I hid days ago in anticipation of something like this.
My pulse flutters as I tie the rope to the railing and peer over the edge. The wind rises, ruffling my hair. I swallow hard. It’s a long way down, but I’ve done this before. And I’m confident in my abilities.
Tonight, nothing… not fear, not protocol, not even propriety will keep me from Thalric.
The night air is cool against my skin, scented faintly with jasmine and roses from the gardens below. I’m halfway down when powerful arms suddenly scoop me from the rope, cradling me tightly against the solid warmth of his chest.
“What are you doing, Aurora?” Thalric demands, but there’s not truly any anger in his tone, only concern. “This is not safe.”
I smile, pressing my cheek into his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “I knew you’d catch me. You always come when I need you, Thalric. You would never let me fall.”
His expression softens as he tightens his arms around me and nuzzles my temple. “You are my heart.”
