His smile returned, broader and full of devastating charm.
“And I love you, Narissa Seaborne Celestine.” Solarius nuzzled his nose against the hollow of her throat. “I suddenly have the strong desire to make good on our marriage vows again.”
A laugh bubbled out of Narissa, and she ran her fingers through his silky hair, enjoying the way his hand slipped beneath the velvet comforter to discover her bare thighs. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, but first, there’s something else that requires my attention.”
The dungeonbelow Queen Elowyn’s castle was cold and bleak. Serpentine corridors that looked more like caves snaked below the mountains of Terensel. Orbs of amber faerie fire glowed from sconces lining the damp walls, illuminating mysterious puddles along the uneven stone ground. In the distance, a steadyplop, plop, plopclashed with the occasional groan, and Narissa hoped it was merely the sound of rainwater and not that of dripping blood. Though if the rank smell was any indication, it was the latter, and that thought alone caused her stomach to turn.
It was a rare thing for any fae of Aeramere to be imprisoned, but if rules were broken, the queen did not hesitate to dole out retribution.
And since Lord Calfair Skyhelm had committed more than one atrocious offense, Narissa wanted to ensure his penance was paid for the length of his stay in the dungeon.
She did not bother to look at him when his raspy voice called her name through the steel bars, and she didn’t spare a glance toward the darkness engulfing him when she slipped a vial of terrifern into the hand of the guard who stood outside of his cell.
He offered her a stern, silent nod. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Though she winced slightly as the scrape of nails against rough stone grated her ears, she ignored Calfair’s desperate, choking pleas for forgiveness. Her footfalls echoed over his broken sobs until the guard’s callous voice silenced his weeping, and Calfair’s shouts of regret morphed into a subdued sniveling.
Narissa carried her head high, chin lifted in satisfaction as she walked toward the silhouette of the male waiting for her.
He lounged against the dark stone, arms crossed over his chest, one foot propped against the slippery stone behind him.
“So,” he drawled as she approached, shoving off the wall and offering her his arm. “Does the punishment suit the crime?”
She smiled up at her husband. “Every midnight hour, Calfair will be administered a dose of terrifern and be forced to endure his worst fear.”
“Which is?”
“Drowning, of course. For how could a fae of House Galefell survive without air?”
Solarius chuckled, but it was dark and humorless. “Mm, such a naughty midnight siren.”
Together, they left Queen Elowyn’s palace in comfortable silence, for which Narissa was grateful. Though he said nothing, Solarius’s presence calmed her mind, soothing the hardly recognizable ache inside of her. He was the peace she needed, and she supposed in some way, they saved one another. Rescued each other from a loveless fate of loneliness and broken promises.
It wasn’t until they were seated in the carriage beside each other, with Solarius’s arm wrapped snugly around her waist to quell her fear of flying, that he spoke.
“I have something for you.” With his free hand, he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a black velvet pouch.
“What’s this?” Narissa asked when he handed it to her.
She peeked inside and gasped, lifting a beautiful handcrafted pearl necklace, the one he wanted to have made from her tears. Her heart twinged and her nose tingled.
Solarius cleared his throat. “It’s a promise. To never make you cry again.”
Her bottom lip wobbled. “But what if they’re happy tears?”
He caught one as it slid down her cheek, turning into a delicate pink pearl.
“Then I suppose those will be the only ones allowed,” he murmured, tucking it safely into the pocket of his pants. “And I’ll have to make you a matching set.”
Narissa laughed then and their mouths met in a tortuously slow kiss, a glide of lips, a slip of tongue, as though they were tasting each other for the first time. It was tender and delicate, an intimate meshing of souls. Turquoise waves crashed into incandescent moonlight as their magic claimed one another again, the tides dancing on the swell of a lunarstorm. Fate wove around their hearts in a decadent display of power, across burning oceans and moon dappled nights.
“I love you,” Solarius murmured against her cheek, his mouth moving to the shell of her ear.
Narissa leaned into his touch, into a lifetime of love. “Do you promise?”
His words emblazoned themselves on her soul when he said, “I promise.”
EPILOGUE
