52. Fifty-Two

Fifty-Two

Landers’s arms slid out from under me. I turned with the movement, trying to chase their warmth as he slid out of bed.

“Where are you going?” I groaned, sliding my fingers around his forearm and pulling him back toward me.

“I’ve been called to the throne room.”

“Can’t you tell them no? I thought kings had power.”

Landers chuckled quietly, kissing my forehead before pulling on his leathers. “I will be back in time to join you for breakfast.” He stole a kiss, then tethered out of the room.

I waited an hour for Landers to show up, but he never came. I sipped my coffee as my fingers tapped anxiously against the parlor table. Remnants of my second helping of meats and eggs were strewn about my plate, and I pushed them around with my fork. I glanced at the door . . . It was not like him to not come.

I stood, pushing the mahogany chair away from the table as I took one last look at the door. He was fine. He was just busy. He had duties here that he couldn’t brush aside, not even for me.

He was fine .

I washed and dressed myself in my leathers, trying my hardest to fill up each minute that passed without him here.

He was fine .

I pulled a book off the shelf that lined the entire wall of the sitting room and sat on the floor against the balcony’s pillar. Hundreds and hundreds of books rested on this floor to ceiling bookcase, all without a single spec of dust on them. I wondered if Ata had a library like this, before she had torn her quarters to the ground.

Jumping to my feet at the sound of tethering in the next room, I rushed to the archway to greet Landers, but it wasn’t him.

“We need you in the throne room,” Pri said, examining the space like she had never seen it before.

“What’s happened?” I tossed the book onto the desk.

“You will just have to come find out.” Pri stretched her hand out toward me with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. I stood there, staring at it.

I didn’t like surprises.

A lump formed in my throat as I finally reached for her. I slid my fingers across her palm and we stepped into oblivion.

I hadn’t been to the throne room. I hadn’t seen Landers in his role as a king, and as we landed before the white marble doors, I realized I was afraid; scared that seeing him that way might change something for us. That he would finally realize I was not the kind of woman that could lead a kingdom. Not the kind of woman a king could love.

I took in a deep breath, straightening out my leathers as his guards pulled open the double doors.

The brightness of the room momentarily blinded me. It looked like it had been carved from a single block of white marble. Locdragoon’s insignia, the doe, with flowers blooming from her antlers, was inlaid in gold across the floor. Moss green curtains flowed at the open archways leading to verandas that flanked both sides of the wide hall, looking down on the city below. Chandeliers of vines and moss and flowers hung from the ceiling. The sweet fragrance of wildflowers and grasses flowed in on the breeze.

My eyes met with Landers from across the room and for a moment, my heart stopped. His emerald tunic was woven with black and gold threads that shimmered in the sunlight, the doe embroidered across his heart. And on his head, sat a golden crown, shining against the blackness of his raven hair.

As he rose from his golden throne of antlers I saw it then; I saw what I had missed for so many months. The regal air that flowed around him, the way that he held himself. The way that he commanded a room, demanded your respect without saying a word. I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it before. This man, this loving, kind and vicious man was a king.

A king .

My heart pounded against my ribcage as he walked toward me, those gorgeous green eyes glittering at the sight of me. His lips spread into that breathtaking smile and the sensation of tiny wings fluttered against the insides of my stomach.

The crowd dipped into low bows, like moving waves as he passed in front of them. Pri snorted as I dropped to my knee, bowing my head in respect as a cascade of curls fell over my shoulders. Stopping in front of me, he slid a finger under my jaw and rested his thumb on my chin. He lowered himself to the ground, pulling my chin up to meet his gaze.

Landers slipped his lips against my ear, his breath on my skin making those butterflies take flight. “The only time I want to see you on your knees,” he whispered with a low rumble, “is when those beautiful lips are wrapped around me.” My core burst into flames at his words, and my thighs tightened as I willed my face to stay neutral. He pulled his lips away, leaving a light kiss on my cheek as he uncoiled me from the ground.

A mischievous gleam sparkled in his eyes, knowing what those words did to me.

If we weren’t in a room full of people . . .

Intertwining his fingers with mine, he gestured towards the front of the room. Hand in hand he walked me through his court. Eyes watched us with curiosity as I tucked a strand of hair nervously behind my ear.

“They have never seen me with a woman,” he whispered.

“Oh your highness, it is truly an honor.”

He smirked at the sarcasm in my voice as he led me up the stairs to his throne. Landers motioned his hand towards the golden chair, and my eyes shot to his.

“I can’t sit there,” I hissed, taking a step back. He tightened his grip on my hand, pulling me forward, gently.

“You may not be my queen, yet , but I have every intention of making sure every being in this realm knows that even without the title, you are my equal.”

Equal . The word reverberated loudly in my head. He saw me as his equal.

He held my gaze as the sound of my gulp echoed between my ears.

Landers gave me a reassuring nod as I sucked in a deep breath, then lowered myself into the throne. Small gasps sounded throughout the large room, and from where I sat I could see the grin that spread across Pri’s face.

Landers leaned against the throne, placing an elbow on a golden antler and pushing his other hand into his pocket. He gestured his head to Pri and she began her walk towards us. Andrues, Ata, and Wren appeared out of the crowd to walk by her side. Ata beamed up at me as she approached, forcing a smile from her face as the four of them sat casually on the steps up to the throne. So informal.

“Elric,” Landers said nonchalantly over his shoulder. A straight backed guard appeared in front of us, one hand sitting leisurely on his sword, the other clenched behind his back. His black leather uniform was woven with green and gold threads, marked with the same insignia upon his chest.

His eyes lingered on me with apprehension as he said, “My King,” and bowed his head towards us.

“I will rely on you to oversee the security of our new guests.” Elric nodded and I rolled my eyes. I did not need security. “You will need to find homes that will take in the children, then make sure each of them are seen by a healer.” I looked up at Landers with furrowed brows, wrinkles forming on my forehead.

What children?

“Of course, your grace,” Elric bowed his head again, his eyes flashing over me one last time before he stepped back into his position at Landers’s side. Landers’s gaze didn’t fall on me as he motioned his hand to the guards at the entrance of the grand hall. The corners of his lips tilted up as the doors swung open. A sea of children flooded the throne room and my heart skidded to a stop.

Those faces.

I recognized those faces.

I stood slowly, as emotion flooded my body. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the hand that Ata had raised to her mouth.

They were alive. They had survived.

A solitary tear fell from my eye as I saw a head of fire making its way through the crowd toward us. My stomach tightened, flipping in my chest as she stepped into view.

“Your majesty,” she drawled, her eyes locking on Landers and bowing her head. Shock held me in my place as I stared at her.

Asrai was alive.