Tharon

THARON

T he mountain path wound down through the purple-needled pines as evening light painted long shadows across the valley. Two days of hard travel had done nothing to dim my awareness of Niam’s body pressed against mine. Each step of the villart brought another wave of her scent - herbs and sunlight mixing with traces of our shared passion.

The Crossroads Inn emerged around the final bend, its weathered stone walls built right into the mountainside. Three stories of terraced balconies overlooked a busy courtyard where merchant wagons and villarts crowded together.

Niam’s breath caught. “It’s enormous.”

“One of the largest trading posts in the northern passes.” A chill wind blew, and I wrapped the cloak more tightly around her. “I’ve stayed here often when avoiding court politics.”

“You prefer being out here?” She looked at me. “Among your people?”

“Hard to rule from inside palace walls.” The villart picked its way down the steep approach. “Better to see how policies affect real lives than argue abstractions with nobles.”

Merchants and traders filled the courtyard, their voices echoing off stone walls as they haggled over goods. The familiar bustle soothed something deep within me. Here, far from court intrigues, I could simply be a traveler with my mate.

A stable hand rushed to meet us, then froze mid-step. His eyes locked on Niam’s unveiled face, pale skin and close-cropped red hair marking her as something outside his experience.

I let my hand rest on my sword hilt. Not a threat, exactly, but a reminder of consequences.

Recognition flickered in the boy’s eyes. He dropped into a hasty bow. “My prince! We had no word of your coming.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” I swung down from the villart, then lifted Niam before she could protest. “Our mounts need care. Have someone bring the baggage inside.”

A girl of perhaps twelve summers darted past the stable hand, dark blue braids flying. She skidded to a stop before Niam, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Are you really a Frostling?” The words tumbled out. “From the old stories?”

The stable hand made a strangled sound. “Velina! Show respect to his highness’s companion!”

But Niam crouched to the girl’s level, a gentle smile softening her features. “I’m just a person, like you. Though I’d love to hear these stories sometime.”

Velina bounced on her toes. “I know lots! Grandmother tells them on winter nights. About ice palaces and snow queens and-”

“Enough.” The stable hand got the message. He hustled Velina away with muttered apologies.

Niam watched them go, something wistful in her expression. “You didn’t have to frighten them.”

“I didn’t.” I guided her toward the inn’s main entrance. “But word spreads fast in places like this. Better to establish boundaries early.”

The common room buzzed with conversation that stuttered into silence as we entered. Dorvin, the innkeeper, looked up from his ledger. I’d known him since my first solo journey through these passes, when his father had given shelter to a rain-soaked princeling without ceremony or fuss.

Now his weathered face showed the same shock as the stable hand, before decades of experience smoothed his expression.

“Prince .” He inclined his head. “Your usual room will be ready shortly, though I wish you’d sent word ahead. We could have prepared properly.”

“The lack of preparation suits me fine.” I led Niam to the broad wooden counter. “We’ll take dinner in the common room.”

Dorvin’s eyes flickered to Niam, careful assessment replacing initial surprise. “Of course. Though perhaps the lady would prefer private dining?”

“The lady can speak for herself.” Niam’s quiet words carried clearly. “And I’d rather see your famous hospitality firsthand.”

A smile creased Dorvin’s face. “Well said, my dear. Though I hope you’ll forgive an old man’s presumption.” He raised his voice to carry through the room. “The Crossroads welcomes all travelers who come in peace.”

The weight behind his words registered. Conversations gradually resumed, though I noted which faces showed hostility rather than curiosity.

“Your father would be proud,” I told him softly. “He taught you well.”

“High praise, coming from you.” Dorvin’s eyes crinkled. “Though I think he’d be more interested in how you found such an unusual companion.”

“A tale for another time.” I caught the gleam of interest in his expression. “For now, just a meal and a quiet night.”

“Of course.” He signaled a serving girl. “Show them to the corner table. And tell Cook to send up the roasted mountain hart - the good cuts, mind you.”

News of our arrival spread through the inn like wildfire. By the time our food arrived, the common room had filled with merchants and traders trying to catch a glimpse of the prince’s strange companion.

Whispered fragments reached my ears:

“...just like the stories say...”

“...but why would his highness...”

“...heard there were others in the capital...”

Niam ignored the attention, focusing on her plate with single-minded intensity. The roasted meat came with crusty bread and autumn vegetables, simple fare elevated by careful preparation.

“Good?” I asked as she sopped up juice with a piece of bread.

“Different from the Temple’s food.” She paused. “Better.”

The beast stirred at the reminder of her captivity, but I forced it down. This wasn’t the place for displays of temper.

After the meal, we climbed to our room where copper tubs of steaming water waited. I dismissed the serving girl who would have attended us.

“Let me take care of you.” I helped Niam out of her travel-stained clothes, each revealed inch of skin a fresh temptation.

She sank into the hot water with a sigh that sent heat straight to my groin. I stripped quickly and joined her, easing into the tub behind her.

“You handled yourself well today.” I dropped a kiss on her shoulder. “Though I know it wasn’t easy.”

“Easier than the Temple.” She relaxed back against me. “At least here the stares hold curiosity rather than calculation.”

I reached for the soap, working up a lather in my hands. “Still. You didn’t have to face them unveiled.”

“Yes, I did.” Steel threaded through her words. “I won’t hide anymore.”

Pride and possession surged through me as I washed her, learning each curve and hollow of her body. My mate was no cowering victim, but a warrior in her own right.

When my hands slipped lower, her breath hitched. “...”

“Let me please you.” I nipped at her ear. “Let me show you how precious you are.”

She turned in my arms, water sloshing over the tub’s rim. “Show me.”

Niam’s skin glowed in the lamplight as she turned to face me, water droplets trailing down her throat. My hands slid to her waist, steadying her as small waves lapped at the tub’s copper sides.

“How do you want me to show you?” I nuzzled the sensitive spot behind her ear.

She pressed closer, hands sliding up my chest. “However you like.”

Wrong answer. My mate needed to learn to voice her desires. “Tell me what you desire, little one.”

A blush crept across her cheeks. “I...” She bit her lip.

“Yes?” I caught her chin between thumb and forefinger. “Say it.”

“Your mouth.” She spoke the words in a rush. “Like...like before.”

Shy mate, finding her voice at last. “Stand up.”

Water streamed down her body as she rose. I steadied her with hands at her hips, drinking in the sight of her. Scars marked her pale skin - remnants of the Temple’s cruelty that made my beast snarl. But she was here now. Safe. Mine.

I lifted her from the tub, settling her on the wide rim. The metal must have felt cold against her skin, but she didn’t complain as I spread her thighs.

“Beautiful.” I pressed kisses up her inner thigh, savoring her shiver. “Every inch of you.”

Her fingers twisted in my wet hair as I tasted her. Sweet and salt mixed on my tongue as I explored her folds, learning what made her breath catch and her thighs tremble.

When I found her clit, she bucked against my mouth. “!”

I growled my approval, the vibration making her cry out again. This was what I wanted - my mate wild and desperate for my touch.

Her peak built slowly this time, pleasure coiling tighter with each stroke of my tongue. When she finally shattered, my name a broken sob on her lips, I pulled her trembling body into my arms.

“I’ve got you.” I carried her to the bed, laying her on sheets warmed by braziers beneath the floor. “Rest now.”

But she caught my wrist as I moved to step away. “Stay.”

As if I could deny her anything. I stretched out beside her, pulling the furs over us both. She curled into my side, head pillowed on my shoulder.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“For what?”

“For making me feel...” She paused. “Real. Like a person, not just a vessel for the Temple’s will.”

I tightened my arms around her. “You’ve always been real. They just couldn’t see it.”

She traced idle patterns on my chest. “Sometimes I wonder if I am. The Temple changed so much inside me. Added things. Took things away.”

“You’re you.” I guided her wandering hand, pressed it over my heart. “Everything else is just...decoration.”

A small smile curved her lips. “Decoration?”

“Mm.” I nuzzled her hair. “Like jewelry. It adorns, but doesn’t change what lies beneath.”

She went quiet, considering this. Outside our window, voices drifted up from the courtyard - merchants finishing their day’s business, stable hands calling to each other as they settled the animals for the night.

“Will your people accept me?” The question came soft, hesitant. “Once they know what I am?”

“They’ll accept you because you’re my mate.” I stroked her back. “The rest doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” She pushed up on one elbow to look at me. “I won’t hide what was done to me. What’s still being done to others.”

The fierce light in her eyes made my chest ache. My warrior queen, ready to take on the world for justice.

“Then we’ll face it together.” I brushed my thumb across her cheek. “But not tonight. Tonight is just for us.”

She studied my face for a long moment before nodding. “Just for us.”

I pulled her down for a kiss that started gentle but quickly blazed into heat. Her body melted against mine as I rolled her beneath me, skin still damp from our bath.

“Speak aloud what you want.” I nipped at her throat. “Say it.”

This time she didn’t hesitate. “You. Inside me.”

My control frayed at her words. The beast urged me to take, to claim, to mark. But I made myself go slow, to savor every gasp and whimper as I prepared her.

When I finally slid home, her legs wrapped around my waist, we both groaned at the sensation. Perfect. Right.

“My queen,” I nipped lightly at her throat, then licked at the red marks. “My goddess.”

“Then you must belong to me.” She met my thrusts, nails scoring my shoulders. “Only me.”

The joining of our bodies felt like completion, like coming home. Each roll of my hips drew us closer, deeper, until I couldn’t tell where I ended and she began.

Her second peak took her by surprise, inner walls clenching around me as she cried out. Seeing her pleasure triggered my own release, vision whiting out as I spilled inside her.

We lay tangled together afterward, sweat cooling on our skin. She traced my jaw with gentle fingers.

“I never thought I’d have this,” she whispered. “Never thought I’d be free to choose.”

Taking her hand, I kissed the center of her palm. “You'll always have choices with me.”

“Even if I choose wrong?”

“Even then.” I gathered her closer. “Though I reserve the right to argue if those choices put you in danger.”

She huffed a laugh. “Of course you do.”

Outside, night settled over the mountains. The sounds from the courtyard had faded to occasional murmurs and the stamp of restless mounts.

I should have risen to check our supplies, to plan our next move. But with Niam’s warmth pressed against me, her breathing growing slow and even, I couldn’t bring myself to move.