Krew gently grabbed the other ring and then slid it down my finger. I noticed his band was already on his hand.
I fought off a shiver as it slid perfectly into place. “It fits!”
He turned my hand to kiss my palm. “I am already having a plethora of feelings about you finally being able to wear this.”
I looked at the ring on his finger and then up to his eyes. We weren’t only about to walk into that throne room as the bonded and powerful Enchanted couple that we were, we were also walking in there as husband and wife. “I completely understand. Let’s get this over with first, shall we?”
“Hang on,” Krew grinned. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
He reached down and picked up the box holding the crown.
In my awe of the ring, I had completely forgotten all about it.
He reached in and grabbed the crown, gently placing it on my head. “The jeweler will be in next week to discuss a set of crowns that will be made just for you. For now, my aunt’s old crown will have to do.”
That seemed a bit wasteful, but I was too stunned at what was happening to argue in that moment. It was the same crown I’d tried on yesterday. It was more basic than the one Krew was currently wearing, but I didn’t mind. The sentiment remained... I was about to weara crown.
I was from Nerede. I was a baker. And here I stood. About to wear a crown. A crown of Wylan.
I took a deep breath as Krew fixed it into proper position, his eyes on mine.
“No matter if you are queen for only this day or queen for the rest of our long lives, you will always be my queen, love.Always.”
* * *
Twenty minutesin and I was already bored. Parliament began the session discussing the section of Savaryn estates which would be torn down and built new. I found it entirely wasteful and tried my best to zone them out.
I was next to and slightly behind the king’s throne in a chair that matched Krew’s and Keir’s. Krew was to my left and slightly behind me, and Keir sat on his left. We were dressed like royals. We were all crowned. And it looked as if we’d done this a thousand times.
Yet we hadn’t. In ten years there hadn’t been a woman on this dais for these joint sessions. I was doing my best not to hyperventilate.
“But the streets will be hard to navigate if more than one house is built at a time. It could affect the supply cart’s deliveries from running on time.”
House? Mansion is more accurate. Also I’m cold.
The only thing about this day that was getting me by was that Krew and I were carrying on full conversations with each other while parliament bickered. But I had wished I hadn’t forgotten the jacket Silvia had laid out for me back in our wing.
“But the families will then be displaced for a longer period of time.”
Some of the families for the new estates were apparently going to have to live with other families within Savaryn while their new estates were built. I wanted to feel bad for those families, but the truth was that most of those estates had plenty of room for one or more families. They’d be fine. It wasn’t like there had been, oh, say, a fire, and these people had no homes or belongings.
Also the castle was plenty big, but apparently the king did not like extended stays for guests.
“It is more important we get those deliveries on time,” someone else argued.
I turned toward the king and he gave me a look like he was also annoyed.
“Are they always this inefficient, Your Majesty?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” the king said without hesitation. “Always.”
“Why can’t they displace one family at a time while they rebuild the estates?” I asked.
The king leaned toward me to say quietly. “The neighboring estates do not want to deal with the noise and toil of ongoing construction right next door.”
“That’s...” I tried to make my face not show the disgust I felt. Surely if they didn’t want the inconvenience of the noise of construction, the builders could just go to Nerede instead. The people of Nerede would gladly take the noise of construction if it meant their homes could be rebuilt. I wasn’t sure I had a nice thing to say about this. “Do they not even realize how spoiled they are?”
The king let out a guffaw that had some of the members of parliament looking in our direction. “No. No, they do not. You don’t know the half of it.” The king paused. “I have given my army of Enchanted everything they could ever need as payment for using their gifts to protect Wylan.Everythingthey could ever need.” He shook his head. “Yet they continue to want and want and want.”
