Magic.
I can feel it wafting off the newcomers. It reminds me of Maxine’s glamour, only infinitely more powerful. The scent of roses fills the air.
“You’ll have to excuse our entrance. When we heard the news, I had to see for myself. Horses don’t exactly stay around Thorn Mountain.” The blond brushes past Alistair, giving him a cool, sidelong glance before giving me a curious once-over. “You must be Elinor.”
I bob a curtsey, feeling self-conscious. Briar Rose, the lost princess of Isanthia, is so much more stunning in real life than any picture could possibly portray. I can’t find my tongue until the baby in her arms lets loose a small cry.
“I know, darling, that was a lot of flying for one morning,” she says, shifting the infant to her chest.
“May I see?” I ask.
I’m smitten when she graciously places her child in my arms. Instantly, the baby stops fussing and stares into my eyes.
Wonder steals over me. I want a tiny human of my own. I’m drowning in those pure green depths as she stares into my very soul.
“Boy or girl?” asks Alistair gruffly.
“A girl. Her name is Alina,” Killian answers. I barely hear them. Alina’s tiny rosebud lips and chubby cheeks are so enchantingly plump, her black lashes a gentle sweep against the curve of her pale cheeks, and her hair a shock of sable like her father’s.
“She’s beautiful,” I breathe.
Briar smiles at that. “I hope babies are allowed at the wedding. I couldn’t leave her at Thorn Mountain alone.” She brushes a strand of hair away from her baby’s face.
“They are now,” I say. “You must be Princess Aurora.”
She makes a face. “My name is Briar. I don’t use my birth name or title. But I just had to meet the woman who tamed the wicked prince. What on earth possessed a darling like you to marry a selfish cad like him?”
I bristle.
“He’s not a cad. He rescued me from a bad situation. I will be forever grateful to him for that alone.” I shift the baby onto my shoulder. Alina makes a tiny gurgling sound.
“Sorry. I’m no fan of Alistair’s.”
The dark knight moves to her side. I edge back a step. Goodness, the man is imposing. A wall of unsmiling muscle. The only softness he displays is an occasional relaxing of his lips when he’s near his wife. His eyes follow Briar wherever she moves. When he holds out his hands to indicate he wants his daughter back, I hastily oblige him. A rose blossoms on his exposed forearm as I’m passing little Alina into his arms. I stare at it in fascination.
“Shall we allow the men to speak privately?” Briar says, gesturing for me to follow her. I cast a backward glance at Alistair, who is standing with his feet wide, arms crossed. I smile as hope wells within me.
This wedding is really happening. Everything I dreamed of is within my grasp.
23
ALISTAIR
Killianand I stare one another down, daring the other to speak first. The damned man could win a staring contest with a rock. Flinty fucker. Hasn’t softened for Briar one bit.
“You look happy,” I lie. A moment later, I realize that an unwitting truth has fallen from my lips. He does look happy. It’s in the bright gleam of his gray eyes, like sunlight reflecting on steel. A bone-deep satisfaction radiates from him in a way that never did when he was serving as my knight.
I hold out one hand for him to shake. He instead pulls me in for a one-armed embrace—no doubt checking me for weapons—while propping his infant daughter in the crook of his free arm.
“Whereas you look like a man about to walk down the aisle. Half hope, half heartsick.” Releasing me, he pulls back, keeping one hand on my shoulder and the other clasped between our chests, lest I attempt to stab him, probably. “Finally found a woman worth chasing, didn’t you?”
“I found a woman worth winning,” I tell him.
“Good. Briar hasn’t forgiven you for the way you acted. She probably never will.”
“And you?”
“I can be persuaded.” He punches me lightly in the bicep. “How’s your father?”
