He is quick to leave the room, happy to return to the wilderness now he doesn’t feel needed.
I’ll have to name him, one day.
I get up as quietly as I can. There’s much to do, but Drusk deserves all the sleep he can get.
I’ve only let myself slink into the warm bathing pool when he joins me.
We don’t talk. We could have lost each other a night ago. We could have lost everything.
But we’re here, we won.
We saved our kingdom.
Words are useless. I let myself drown in him, for a time.
Then I dress, brush my hair, and set my crown upon my brow.
There are dances and songs despite the terrible losses. We've burned an army of humans, but over a thousand folk are gone. Great folk, gentle folk, soft, sweet folk. Friends and foes. Every single one of them will be missed. We celebrate their lives and scream their true names to the stars.
I dance with my aunt, I dance with my seelie cousin, I dance with my friends, and of course I dance with my mate.
My Drusk.
"You knew," he accuses me, glaring, though there's little heat in his eyes.
I don't have to ask him what he means. "It's not my fault you were slow."
"When did you guess?"
I shrug. "Ten years ago."
Drusk and I sway to the beat of the drum Titus plays better than any unseelie I've ever heard.
"You're wretched. You could have told me."
I shrug. "You like wretched."
He pulls me till I'm plastered all over his hard, bloodstained shirt. "I like nothing about you, princess. I like sunset. I like starlight. I like diamonds and wine. You, I adore."
I get to my tiptoes, and he lifts me the rest of the way, to reach his mouth. I wrap my legs around him and let him carry me to our bed.
Though it isn't quite ours. Whitecroft was never our home. Hardrock could never be either. The Wicked Court of Morgana will be destroyed along with the entire Shadow Peaks, if I have my way.
And I shall. I am high queen.
For one night, I let myself forget about it. I forget about the survivors from the Court of Ash, that I will have to send to trial. I forget about the immortal rotting in my dungeon. Violet is having her fun, torturing him, but she doesn't want to take his life, and for that, I'm grateful.
The last thing we need is to destroy a Vikus and give Alfheimr reason to launch an open war with us. This time, they used humans as proxies, but if we were to kill Ceron and attack first, his father could come at us with all his might.
If war comes to our gates, I'll be there to wage it, but I don't want to risk my people's blood again so soon.
For one night, all that matters is feeling my mate inside me till neither of us can move. And we do just that.
We draghim to the border, bound and blindfolded, and let him go without any supplies. He can beg or barter for them beyond the border.
When we reach Mirthgrath, I kick Ceron to the ground, and remove his blindfold so he can watch me.
His eyes are a storm of fury.
