Page 127 of The King’s Queen

When Noctus straightened up I pulled my hand free and hugged him, my heart singing. “Thank you for explaining it to me,” I said.

“Naturally,” Noctus said. “When you think of it, it was quite hilarious: I would call you Amalourne in front of others who understood the implication, but you—the object of my adoration—were clueless.”

“It’s not funny, it’s romantic,” I said. “Let me have this moment.”

“So you favor romantic things? That’s useful to know,” Noctus said.

I lost some of the reverence for the moment as I suspiciously peered up at him. “Why would that normally sound like a sweet observation from most people, but closer to a declaration of war from you?”

“Perhaps because most people wouldn’t know how to use such a fact to the greatest advantage, whereas I will make full use of it for the sake of your happiness,” Noctus suggested.

“Yeah, no, it’s because youwilluse it to your advantage when you want something,” I grumbled. “I can see it now.”

“That’s just your paranoid shadow instincts,” Noctus said. “I don’t want much. Just you, and maybe some additional training sessions.”

A noise of aggravation escaped me as we officially left the romance behind—run over and dead. I pointed myself in the direction of the elevators and broke out of Noctus’s grasp with the plan of rejoining civilization. “Why would you want me to get more of those?”

Noctus took my hand in his and followed me as I marched toward the elevators. “Because once we find a royal weapon or heirloom of mine that you can use, we can have personal matches.”

“Does it have to be personal? Why not impersonal?”

“It would be fun.”

“It would be terrifying,” I countered.

“It would improve our relationship!”

I stopped to look up at him. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“I haven’t met another elf capable of wielding an heirloom in centuries. Forgive me for my excitement.”

I heaved a sigh, and my shoulders drooped as I gave up. “Fine. I can try sticking my hand in the pocket realm again, but I don’t think any of your weapons intend to.”

“If they don’t, then that will merely be a good excuse for us tolookfor one that will,” Noctus said. “There are still a few elven strongholds that are hidden—abandoned and teeming with trap spells and the like. But surely we could plunder something from one of them that would be interested in a shadow.”

“They’d have to like you, too,” I reminded him as I started for the elevators again. “Because I can only wield weapons using your magic.”

“True,” Noctus said. “In that case maybe time would be better spent appealing to the weapons I already have.”

“Get Charon to make them a PowerPoint presentation,” I suggested.

“You think they’d listen?”

“I don’t think anyone would dare not listen to Charon, including nearly sentient weapons,” I said.

Noctus didn’t laugh like I assumed he would, instead he stopped—our linked hands pulling me to a halt, too.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No,” Noctus said. “But there is one more thing I should tell you—something important.”

I gulped. “Oh?”

“I know where the elf princess—the one the Paragon seeks—lives,” Noctus said.

I was going to give him a simple okay—that fact wasn’t too surprising given how stubborn the Paragon had been in approaching him—when the thought struck me.

It’s Noctus. There’s no way he’d just keep tabs on someone he believes needs protection, which means she must be nearby, and there’s one person who fits that description.“Is she…Shiloh?”

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