Chapter Twelve

MAGNUS WAS SO caught up in everything he'd experienced since witnessing his wife and daughter's death in the Forest of Memories to realizing Zane had taken his deceased daughter to connecting with Zoey in dragon form that he was oblivious to his father approaching until Rafe said something.

He was not, however, oblivious to his father's emotions from afar.

"You are on my land, so protected by me and mine whether you can see them or not," Magnus assured the others. "Now, I ask that you toss down your weapons and remain where you are." He looked from cousin to cousin. From Athena to Quinn. "Can you do that? If you cannot do this, it will not go well from the onset." He shook his head and looked at them grimly. "Might not go well, still."

Everyone glanced at each other, some clearly sure, others not, before, thankfully, they seemed to come to a mutual decision and threw down their weapons. Even Athena, who rested her powerful shield on top of the pile, making clear even her unborn daughter and Odin himself stood by whatever was about to happen.

He nodded once in thanks, never so grateful for their solidarity because this was no small thing. Especially for Rafe because Magnus's father, King Knud, had long distrusted him despite being his uncle by marriage.

Yet still, the most difficult part lay ahead if Zoey said no to what he was about to ask her. If she denied him despite knowing how far they had come and how much they were meant for each other. How one they were. Because he knew she'd felt it every bit as much as he did when they'd locked eyes in dragon form for the first time. Knew she had felt the untouchable bond they shared.

Even so.

What he needed, wanted, craved, from her next would be a lot. More than she might be willing to give if her human half didn't see things like her stunning little black dragon did.

Nevertheless, he had to try.

Prayed she would respond as he hoped she would.

So he held out his hand and asked her what every side of him wanted, whether it was his dragon or human. The king or the friend. "Walk with me, Zoey. Walk with me, hand in hand, and greet my father as not just my friend but my mate. As my future queen and the Valkyrie I know you are." Then, to make things clear. "As the mother of my future children."

"I'm not Valkyrie," she whispered, without a doubt, caught unaware by his abrupt proposal.

"But you are." He lifted the back of her hand to his lips and murmured against her soft skin. "Just look. She made herself known when she helped Rafe stop me from going after Zane. From charging the Keep and fighting him to the death this very day. Kept me from acting on emotion rather than good sense."

Zoey's pupils flared, and her breath caught when her gaze fell to her hand and the soft golden light emanating from her skin before it faded. Saw how true his words were before her eyes rose to his face again and lingered. In that look, he saw much. Their deep connection. His emotions echoed back in hers. A past and future that became more transparent by the moment. Love he had never felt for another outside of his daughter. Not like this. Not so intensely.

Was it enough, though?

Would Zoey be willing to give up so much for him? A life in the twenty-first century? Work she so clearly adored? Amenities that were far superior to what existed here? Had to exist here, so the future progressed as it should.

Zoey could argue she would rather meet his father just as she was without all the extras, but they both knew her greeting his patriarch as Magnus's mate would smooth the way in what could prove a difficult if not catastrophic, reunion. She could also argue Magnus was putting her in a difficult position right now, and she would be right.

Yet he sensed, deep down in a place he'd just discovered when he looked into her dragon eyes and wrapped her up in his wings, that she wanted this every bit as much as him. A part of her knew she'd never be able to walk away from him. They were bonded eternally in the way of dragons. Bonded in a way her logical-minded diplomatic side might feel obligated to explore further but not her inner beast, and so he proposed now, in a small way, to satisfy both sides. Because it would appeal to her dragon's need for its mate and her human's need to work toward peace.

"You can say no, min lille droning," he said softly, despite how hard it was to say. He kept holding out his hand to her. "But know that everything in me, all sides, all facets, want you to say yes. Want you in my life always. By my side always." Then, to say words he had only ever said to his late wife. "Because I love you, Zoey." He fell to a knee, lowered his head, and kept holding out his hand. "Love you more than I thought possible of a stranger who I now realize is no stranger at all. Respect you in ways I am only beginning to understand. Want you by my side in all things because I value your insight."

"But will you listen to it?"she wondered softly into his mind, her voice as choppy as his when she made clear theirs would be an equal partnership in all things. She continued aloud. "Will you, at long last, listen to reason when it's presented? Because it will be presented again and soon. Have no doubt."

He bit back a smile at her ultimatum because it was that at the very least. But it was also promising. So he kept his head lowered, his hand held out, and prayed she would give him the answer he longed for even as he stayed true to the king he'd become. "Whether I ultimately choose to heed it, I will always listen to you and consider your advice, min lille droning." But to be clear because he meant it. "And I will listen to it because I sense through our connection it has always been sound, and I trust that."

He wouldn't give her Zane yet, refused to say he would make peace with his cousin when he was so incredibly conflicted about him right now, but he would give her the respect she deserved. Furthermore, he would listen to her advice going forward to the best of his ability.

Would it be enough, though?

Was she willing to take this step?

It became harder and harder to breathe as he waited for her answer. Harder to think clearly about anything but Zoey and her sweet scent so close to him. How she'd felt in both his human arms and wrapped in his dragon wings. How incredibly right she was for him in all ways possible.

Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like centuries as he waited, prayed, and hoped until, thankfully, her cool hand slipped into his, and she said the seven sweetest words he'd ever heard.

"Yes, Magnus. I will become your queen."

He knew his father and his warriors were drawing ever closer but nothing on Midgard could have stopped the elation he felt at her response. Nothing could have stopped him from standing, pulling her into his arms, and kissing her soundly. So soundly and passionately, he barely heard the clearing of an all-too-familiar voice when it eventually came.

"While I do not fault you kissing a beautiful woman on your own land, son," came his father's deep rumble, "I cannot say I am pleased to see the company you keep these days."

After all, King Knud might have a secret alliance with Ulrik and Tyr, but certainly not with Rafe.

Magnus kept Zoey's hand in his and turned his father's way. A good friend and devoted father always to Magnus and his brother J?rn, he knew Knud would hear him out from his perch atop his black horse flanked by several of his strongest warriors, dragons all. Where Magnus had inherited his mother's Sigdir genes when it came to his features, his hair was colored more like his father's.

As to be expected, Knud's eyes narrowed on Rafe in distrust borne of, quite frankly, prejudice. Even when Rafe was a boy, he'd been wary of him because he was not entirely Norse in all the ways that mattered most. Not them entirely, despite being Magnus's closest friend, and he'd always disliked that. Always hoped that someday he would see past the unfounded dislike of another because they weren't the same as him.

While he could explain things to Knud, it would be better translated through touch, so, keeping Zoey by his side, he went to his father and rested his hand on his forearm. Allowed Knud"s inner dragon to see all that had transpired in his absence. The vast changes and new alliances made, especially with Rafe. The bonds they had shared in their last life and how it had led them to forgive one another and reconnect.

Better still, how they had formed their own secret alliance.

Then, he showed his father Zoey and all they had shared. Let him see how deeply connected they were. How she was not just his mate but his Valkyrie.

"More than that," he said softly, looking his father in the eyes as he squeezed Zoey's hand. "She will soon be my queen." His gaze flickered from his kin and their mates back to his patriarch. "And my kin and their Valkyries will be family all, not just to me but to you and your people if you will have them."

His father's dragon eyes had ignited the moment Magnus touched him but now his skin sheened with his inner beast as well. In response, Magnus"s did the same as well as Zoey's and his kin's and their mates, as if they both welcomed and stood wary against the insight Magnus was allowing Knud. A look into all their stories that was deeply personal and a lot to take in, even for a dragon as mighty as his father.

To be expected, the horses his father's men were astride stirred as the warriors upon them sheened with their dragons too, without a doubt connecting with their king because he allowed it. He wanted them to see what he saw. Understand what he understood as it unfolded in the memories of those they had so recently considered their enemies.

The biggest hurdle, as Magnus knew it would be, was Rafe. Something his father didn't address straight away, but rather, he lowered his head to Zoey in respect before looking at Magnus with an expression that was impossible to read. "If everyone is willing to return to my kingdom with me, we will talk more then. Otherwise—" his gaze swept over the lot of them grimly— "we will not be speaking again."

With that, he barked at his men that they were returning to their land. If Magnus and his kin followed, so be it but guards should be put around Rafe until Knud had a chance to think through what they'd just learned.

"Wow," Athena said under her breath the moment Knud and his men were out of earshot. "How are we supposed to take that?" A small smile curled her mouth as she looked uncertainly at Magnus and Zoey. "And while a huge congratulations is in order, that whole transaction felt anything but celebratory."

"Give it time," Magnus assured. "Father wants to feel us out on his land where he holds more power and can think more clearly."

"What is there to think about?" ?se frowned. "He's looking at an alliance that strengthens his kingdom greatly. Not just four Valkyries on his side but one who will become his son's queen."

"Even so," Zoey said softly, seeming to understand his father well in little time. "He just learned a great deal in a split second. Not just about Rafe, who he most certainly must look at in a different light now, but Zane and the memory we just witnessed." She looked at Magnus and squeezed his hand. "I believe, as it did you, that hit him the hardest because he can't make sense of it any more than you can." She pressed her lips together, biting back emotion before she went on. "It wasn't easy for him to see your wife and his granddaughter slain. Yet there was light in the darkness, wasn't there?"

He didn't need to ask to know what she meant. Whatever his reasons, Zane had been furious at his dragons for harming them. Especially upset over Magnus's daughter being cut down because dragons couldn't pretend to have the kind of emotion Zane had displayed over that. It had been real.

As had him flying off with her dead body.

That had been terribly, heartbreakingly real. Why do such a thing? Why let Magnus think a scavenger had gotten to his precious Aada when all he'd found was her bloody fur cloak that fateful day? Why not leave her so she could be properly sent off to Odin?

Whatever Zane"s reasons, in the end, despite his display of emotion, taking her like that was blasphemous for their kind. The worst possible thing you could do to a fellow dragon was deny them a proper burial for their child. Deny them a chance to say goodbye and send them to the gods.

So now Zane was more an enemy than ever.

A cold, hard, but predictable truth he tried to put to the back of his mind as they followed his father onto his land. As it happened, all were allowed to carry their weapons again except Rafe. Something that didn"t seem to bother his mystical cousin despite the long line of warriors waiting to escort them down into Knud's kingdom by the sea.

It appeared Rafe"s lack of concern for his own safety was with good reason. Their presence was more of a royal escort than anything else because as they passed, each and every dragon warrior fell to a knee and lowered their heads in respect to Athena, Quinn, and Zoey. It seemed they understood it, too, because their skin shimmered gold with their inner goddess, whether they fully knew how to control it or not. In response, more people fell to their knees and lowered their heads the deeper they traveled into his father's kingdom.

So many, Magnus knew word had traveled fast that enemies were no longer enemies. All were welcome save Rafe, who still had a cautious circle of warriors around him despite his mate being a Valkyrie.

"Why, Father?"he said into Knud's mind. "Why, when you watched Rafe grow up? Know now from our memories that Rafe stood by me always? That we were good friends in multiple lives?"

He didn't answer, but Magnus hadn't really expected him to. Bias and prejudice were hard things to get over, no matter the century. Truthfully, looking back, his father had been wary of Rafe from the beginning. They weren't blood-related, so they didn't share that unique tie, and Rafe was half Celt—a nationality that had killed many of Knud's friends and family during the Great War a generation ago.

His father led them to his lodging, where he turned to his people and called out in a voice loud enough to carry. "I will spend the night catching up with long lost kin then we will commence in the morn for good things only, my fine folk." Knud's steady gaze went from person to person in the immediate vicinity, locking eyes with all. "I promise you that, good things only." He gestured at Athena, Quinn, and Zoey. "How else could it be when we have the gods among us, allies and kin all? My son, the Dragon Prince, along with his very own Valkyrie?"

No using her name. No introduction. But then, that wasn't what this was about. Not yet. Not right now.

When everybody roared in approval, Knud grinned and urged Magnus and his fellow travelers to enter his lodge before the door was shut behind them, and his demeanor shifted entirely. While not bad, it wasn't exactly cordial either, as he looked at everyone but Magnus and Zoey.

"I connected enough with all of you via my dragon and gathered all I need to know." He gestured at the few warriors who had joined them. "My men will see you to well-stocked lodgings for the night. I bid you a good eve. We will talk more in the morn after I have spent time with my son and his new queen." His eyes narrowed on them, his warning clear. "Might we all find common ground when the time comes, no matter what that might be?"

While vague and a smidge threatening, everyone seemed to understand it needed to be said because they left after giving Magnus and Zoey a reassuring look. A look that told them they would be there for them in a heartbeat if they sensed things going wrong.

"And do you anticipate as much?"Zoey said into Magnus"s mind, her voice remarkably calm, all things considered.

"As you well know, I learned years ago not to trust anything that has to do with my father and Zane,"he replied. "And make no mistake, at the root of everything you see right now simmers my father's anger at Zane. His long distrust of our troublemaking cousin. More so now than ever given what he just gleaned from us...from what the Forest showed us of my wife and daughter."

"Just as I suspected, that impacted him the most,"she murmured.

"Ja,"he confirmed.

Yet Zane wasn"t the first thing his father addressed when they were alone.

Rather, he surprised them when he targeted Zoey first.