Chapter
Fifteen
“Gods be damned,” Astra cursed under her breath as she tightened Riverion’s tack.
“What?” Ameera asked, slinging a satchel over her wyvern’s saddle. Astra groaned and pointed at the door to the roost as it flung open.
She might not drown in his heat any longer, but she knew the sound of the commander’s boots as they stomped down the palace halls and the strange tightening in the air in any room he entered.
“Good afternoon, Commander,” Astra said cheerily, stepping in front of Riverion as though she could hide the saddle and tack she’d just finished fastening. “I thought you were staying in Mercury for the day?”
Luxuros folded his arms. “I had the strangest feeling that I shouldn’t leave you two unsupervised for so long. Can’t imagine why.”
“We’re visiting Ellume for a poetry reading,” Astra said, the same lie she’d fed to Nayson an hour earlier.
“I don’t suppose you’re any better at lying?” Luxuros asked as he turned to Ameera.
“How—”
Luxuros tapped his temple, glaring. “Call it intuition.”
“You can’t come with us,” she declared, folding her arms. Luxuros stepped closer, staring at her over the bridge of his knotted nose.
“I’m not going to let my king’s fiancée traipse around a city with gods know how many Solarians in the court?—”
Astra stomped her foot. “You can’t forbid me from going!”
“If you would let me finish?—”
She threw out the only shred of control she could think of. “I am to be your queen, Commander, therefore you answer to me?—”
“Oh!” Luxuros laughed, a dark, murky thing. “That’s hilarious. Oh my gods,” he reached for the stable wall, bracing himself as Astra turned red with irritation.
“Please,” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “Let me know when you’re done.”
“My queen,” Luxuros dropped his head, kneeling before her, chuckling between breaths. “My queen, please, bestow upon your humble servant?—”
She’d had enough. “Commander.”
“Grant me this, Your Merciful Highness, Goddess Divine?—”
“Commander!”
A tear formed at the corner of his eye. “Would that I be fortunate enough to receive just a drop of your kindness?—”
“Luxuros!” Astra stomped her foot as she hissed his name, well and truly furious with him. “You’ve made your point!”
He rose from his stance, standing entirely too close to her as he reined in his laughter. “If you had let me finish, Princess, I am not trying to forbid you from going?—”
“Great! Thank you.” Astra turned to fling her leg over Riv’s saddle but a thick hand caught her belt, yanking her backward.
“But I am coming with you.”
“You’ll do no such thing!”
“As long as you have that ring on your finger, I’m responsible for your well-being, Astra!”
She held her hand between them, smirking as he saw it bore no such jewel. “Looks like you’ve got a free night, Commander.”
