Page 83 of The Sunbound Princess
“You’ll see,” Nikolas said over his shoulder. He led me through the palace’s sunlit halls, laughing when I grumbled about “assholes who start things they aren’t prepared to finish.” Servants dipped curtsies. Courtiers smiled and nodded as we passed.
When we turned down a narrow passageway painted with murals of flowers and curling vines, I realized we headed toward the Grove.
“Are we planting more flowers?” I asked. Ezabell had expanded the garden a great deal since she claimed her crown. New sections branched from the original walls. Rows of flowers and rare herbs lined the oldest paths, but as Ezabell’s powers had grown, so had her ambition. A crystal terrarium houseddelicate frostblossoms from the Winter Court. Oaks from the Autumn Court offered shade on sweltering days. Tanyl of the Spring Court had sent a marsh as a gift.
Nikolas flashed a mysterious smile. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“I hate you.”
He rushed ahead so he could beat me to the doors. Then he tossed me another wink over his shoulder. “You love me.”
I grunted, my gaze on his ass. “You’re right. I love you.” But I had plans for that ass later…
Ezabell wasn’t in the Grove, but her presence sparkled everywhere. Daisy chains dangled between the trees. Roses bloomed where they had no business growing—on tree trunks and statues and the watercolor murals she’d painted on the walls. Sunlight sparkled in glass orbs balanced on striped wooden poles, their glow chasing the evening shadows away.
But the waist-high stone pedestal in the center of a grassy clearing was new. Nikolas slowed as we approached it, his gaze returning to me again and again. A book sat atop the pedestal, its gilded edges catching the sunlight.
When I caught sight of the cover, my heart began to race. Beautiful golden script scrawled across the leather.
DAIN ZOSTAS, WARRIOR OF LIGHT
My hands shook as I reached for it. The leather was warm against my skin. When I opened the book, a handwritten note was tucked between the cover and the first page.
For the boy who loved listening to stories. For the man who believed I was worth following, even when I didn’t know where I was going. You are not just part of the sunstone. You are its heart. I can’t wait to read the stories you make.
—Ezabell Kasreneth, Queen of the Summer Court
Stunned, I could only stand frozen, my heart the only moving part of me.
“Do you like it?”
Ezabell stepped from behind a tree. Barefoot and breathtaking, she strode toward me with the skirts of her yellow gown billowing around her long legs. She stopped beside me and smoothed a warm palm up my arm.
“I had the court historians write a book about our battles during the Dokimasi,” she said. “But this one…” She stroked a finger down the book’s golden edges. “This one is yours.”
When I finally found my voice, it was little more than a whisper. “You gave me a whole book?”
She nodded. “There are a lot of blank pages. I guess you’ll have to get busy filling them up.”
Nikolas leaned in to peek at the book, then let out a low whistle. “If I don’t get one of these, I’m starting a rebellion.”
Ezabell grinned at him. “Yours is in the library. In the comedy section.”
I hugged the book to my chest, my throat painfully tight. “This means everything, Bel. Thank you.”
Her expression changed, and pink dusted her cheekbones. She ducked her head. “There’s, ah, something else I wanted to give you. Both of you.” She reached into one of her gown’s deep pockets and withdrew two rings.
My heart stopped. Beside me, Nikolas went completely still. The rings were simple golden bands of elven gold. They were perfect.
Ezabell held the rings on her palm, her voice suddenly shy. “I’d hoped that maybe you two would like to call me your wife.”
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Nikolas whooped and sprang forward, catching her around the waist and swinging her through the air.
“Does that mean yes?” she cried, laughing.
Nikolas set her on her feet. “Yes,” he said, voice thick with emotion. “Gods, yes.”
I went to them and pulled them both into my arms. The book got in the way, and we laughed as I stuffed it down the front of my jacket so I could draw them in more tightly.
