Page 63 of Songs of Retribution

A kelpie butted its nose into my shoulder, and we both looked up at the creature. Its fur shimmered like the water, as though the animal wasn't quite a solid mass.

"They've taken to you," Lennox said, walking around to my side.

"They're enchanting." I smoothed my hand down the animal's coat again and the creature shifted back to a more solid form.

"I'd love to see you paint them sometime." Lennox's gaze went wistful, as though he longed for a simpler time before the world had fallen apart.

"When you take the Seelie throne," I said, "I plan to spend a great deal of time in the stables."

His lips parted, their thick forms sending a pool of warmth into my stomach, and his eyes widened. "You'll… you'll come with me then, if I'm crowned king?"

There was something so exposed in his expression. I hadn't seen that on him in a while, despite his vulnerabilities lingering. He just fought them. I'd never realized how much of a fighter this man was. He surprised me every day and the only thing it did was make me love him more. I could imagine him changing a thousand times over the course of our lifetimes and getting to fall in love with the new version of him every time. It made me feel so blessed to get this, to know this man and love him and see him like no one else did.

I let my voice turn teasing. "Perhaps you won't want me, after all, once you're crowned. Maybe an artist who’s prone to being moody and contrary won't grab your attention anymore."

I slipped around a kelpie, but Lennox caught me, grabbing me by the waist and turning me towards him so our hips brushed and he spoke against my lips. "I would want you on the highest planes of heaven or in the lowest realm of hell."

I'd been joking, and I knew he was aware of it, but there was something so heavy in his eyes, a seriousness to his words that stopped me from teasing him further. "Of course I'll go with you, Lennox."

"It would be difficult, being together in the Seelie world."

"We've proven that we can do difficult things."

His eyes swirled with so many emotions and magic crackled at my awareness. I opened myself to it, but he didn't speak, just let the flood of his gratitude and love crash into me. I found his mouth and sucked his lip between mine. He groaned and backed us up until I nearly pressed into a creature. His hands tangled into my hair, and I kissed him like this was our final touch, the last embrace. It might be close, depending how things went.

Someone cleared their throat and Lennox jumped as though an arrow had hit him. Ishir held the leads to the kelpie, his kurta dripping with water. "The group has packed up."

"Right." Lennox said, his voice high and almost frantic. He smoothed down his vest and grabbed the hem, despite it not needing adjusting in the first place. Lennox always looked the part of a prince. Since he'd stopped wearing the glamour, I thought he appeared even more regal. There was a sharpness to his features his magic used to soften that I loved. If he started wearing a glamour again, I might beg him to remove it. He was naturally beautiful, perfect just as he was.

"Well," Lennox said, his voice still high-pitched. "I'll just…" He turned towards me and chuckled breathily before pointing towards the woods above us. "I'll see if Lira needs anything before we go."

Ishir watched him leave then turned towards me, his expression bewildered.

I shrugged. "He needs time to get used to us being in public together. It's not how he was raised." That made me think of what he'd said. If we won this war, he and I wouldn't return home to my court where we could comfortably be ourselves and revel in each other. We'd move to his, where we'd start a second, possibly more difficult fight. A mix of dread and hope curled through me. I'd face it with him, though. I would deal with anything if it meant I'd do so at his side.

"A pity," Ishir said. He didn't understand the Seelie court’s hatred. I didn't either, were I honest, but it existed whether it made sense to me or not.

I gathered the kelpies’ leads and guided them up the hill alongside Ishir's horses. He kept his face down, watching the uneven trail, but there was something heavy in his eyes.

"You seem glum," I said.

"Ah." He offered me a smile. "Dhriti wrote to me this morning."

"Oh. Is she all right?"

"She's fine, but she's volunteered to stay on in the camp to guard the royals instead of returning with the group that left today."

I tried to imagine what bothered Ishir about that. After all, he and Dhriti were both guards. They'd gone through their training together. "You wish she wouldn't join us?"

"I wish she'd return to the palace. It's safer."

"You wouldn't like her if she was a coward. She wouldn't be your type then."

He groaned. Ishir was loyal to a flaw. If he grew distracted, worried about what might happen to Dhriti in the war, he might get himself killed. I let my magic hum to the surface until I knew it flooded my eyes, making them glittering and dark. "I'll ask to have her assigned to me. Nothing will happen to her under my watch."

Ishir's eyebrows raised, and he bobbed his head. "That's generous of you. Perhaps it was selfish of me to bring the matter up at all, but I appreciate it."

The magic drifted back into my body. A kelpie butted its snout into me again. They seemed drawn to my magic, pulled by it in some manner. It was a strange reaction considering what my magic did. Then again, I couldn't use it on the kelpies even if I wished. The creatures didn't have the same magical weight fairies and humans did. My powers couldn't touch their majestic spirits which I was grateful for. Killing soldiers who'd signed up for war was one thing I was still attempting to reconcile with, but I'd never want to take some creature's life who'd had no choice.

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