Page 133 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

He lifted it from the box, and then set it on my head. “The announcement is spreading through the city right now. Loire finally has a queen again.”

Tears stung my eyes. “I can’t be the queen. What would I even do with my time?”

“Whatever you want. If the king fights on a battlefield, I think the queen can cook as many pastries as she likes.” He gestured to the room. “We needed a bigger living space, of course. One that’s not just mine, but ours. We can still stay in the house when you prefer it, but—”

I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him, hard.

He grabbed me, kissing me back without hesitation.

“This is perfect,” I said against his lips. “You’re perfect.”

He chuckled. “I’m certain you won’t feel that way next week.”

“I will. I might want to smack you, but I’ll still feel it.”

He laughed, his expression relaxed. “The closet is full of dresses, too. I measured you while you were sleeping a few weeks back. You haven’t been gaining weight for a while.”

My eyebrows shot upward. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. You needed new dresses that were actually made to fit this gorgeous human body, Lae.” He squeezed my thigh.

“Not so human anymore.” I gestured to the glowing handprint on my arm. It glowed bright and clear, declaring to us and the rest of the world that our souls had become one, permanently.

“Human in the ways that count.” He tucked my hair behind my ear, and then traced its curve with his fingertip. “And here. I love these little ears.”

I couldn’t fight my smile.

“We need to stop by the kitchen for breakfast, and then there’s something else I want to show you,” he told me, standing smoothly. “And you’re wearing one of your new dresses out. One without sleeves.”

“So you can show off my handprint?” I teased.

“So I can look at it anytime I want and remember that you’ll never be free of me again.”

I laughed, and he flashed me another grin before he disappeared into the closet.

We strolled out of the castle together, hand-in-hand, shortly afterward. Our bellies were full with food we’d found left over from the party, and we kept looking at each other and grinning.

At his insistence, I wore the delicate crown Ravv had made for me, and though I was self-conscious about it, I was also proud that he considered me worthy.

And glad that we’d figured out the weird power dynamic.

It would take time to really establish how things would work between us in the kingdom, but we would figure it out. I had no desire to start making any leadership decisions or to take any type of a queenly role, so it wasn’t as if I’d step on Ravv’s toes.

Unless he asked me to stop cooking.

I’d started enjoying it far too much.

We walked through the streets of our city, and the sounds of children laughing and playing floated through the air. They would spend all day outside after being locked in their rooms with books and snacks throughout the eclipse, Ravv told me. Like humans, the eclipse didn’t affect fae until they reached maturity.

It took a long time to reach the outer edge of the city, but I was so content that I didn’t mind. Ravv and I shared stories of our childhoods, laughing about how we had both come to understand what actually went on during an eclipse, and holding on to each other tightly. Coarse and Gleam would be resting and enjoying each other’s company, so we didn’t try to interrupt them.

When we finally slipped out of the city, we followed the river to the place where I’d burned myself out a few weeks earlier.

“This is what you wanted to show me?” I asked him curiously, as we approached the icy stones.

“Just wait. You’ll see.” He squeezed my hand lightly.

When we were close enough to see the rocks, surprise lifted my eyebrows. I had expected to find the river frozen over, since no one was there to break the ice.

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