Chapter 35

GOLL

"I've brought you something to eat," said Dalya.

My tent was dim in the light of a single lantern. I'd been sitting vigil at Una's side. I didn't lift my gaze at Dalya's approach, still holding Una's hand and willing her to wake. "I'm not hungry."

The naiads had attacked us for half an hour then suddenly disappeared. I'd heard Una scream and followed the sound down a narrow path, finding her unconscious and alone. The sight had crippled me with fear, that I hadn't been able to protect her.

For a moment, I'd actually wondered if Grindolvek was the one Dalya had warned me of. But when we'd brought her back to the encampment, Dalya ensured me Una was only sleeping and all her vitals were normal.

Dalya sighed then rounded to the other side of our bed of furs. She knelt next to Una and placed a hand on her heart.

"Well?" I snapped, unable to control my distemper.

"She's still fine, my king."

"If she was fine, she would be awake."

"She is resting from her ordeal. She came in contact with the god-touched. That would cause anyone to lose consciousness."

"For this long?" That had been yesterday.

I'd carried her back to the encampment, assuming she would awaken by nightfall. But she hadn't. We were now well into the following morning.

"She is not harmed in any way," Dalya assured me, though it did no good. "She simply needs to rest."

I turned Una's hand in mine so that I could see the new runes the gods had etched into her skin. I trailed my finger over the delicate markings that meant guardian but in the female form. Nurturer and protector in one.

She bore the same symbols on the other wrist, the runes now encircling both. I could see now that once she ingested the final text, the runes would complete the circle around her wrist.

The markings were a blessing of the gods and a blessing to me. Lumera didn't mark the moon fae. As far as I knew, Elska had never marked the wood fae. It was Vix and Solzkin and the lesser gods of the demon fae who marked us with rites of passage.

What rite of passage was my dear Una crossing?

And the fact that her first marking had etched into her skin after I'd taken her as my mizrah, as my mate, had not slipped past me. It wasn't only these words that were sealing Una with dark fae magick. It was our union.

It was us.

I reached out and cupped her cheek, stroking her silky skin with my thumb. I needed her to come back to me or this ceaseless worrying would never go away.

"You love her." Dalya's whispered words filled the space between us.

I glanced up to find tears in her eyes, emotions of wonder and a touch of fear shining back at me. I didn't understand why Dalya would be frightened. Perhaps some vision of hers that I didn't want to hear right now. I didn't care what the gods said through her at the moment. I simply wanted Una back.

I refused to respond. When I admitted as much, it would be to Una herself first.

"I'm sure you will love the child as well."

I glanced up sharply at Dalya. She smiled.

I'd noticed the change in Una's scent before we'd left N?kt Mir. Or rather, the additional scent—a woodsy spice beneath her own summer floral aroma. Apparently, Redvyr had as well. Thankfully, he hadn't mentioned it when I shook him off at our meeting in Vanglosa.

We were now camped a short span away. Redvyr had given us permission to stay within his lands while Una recovered.

"Does she know yet?" Dalya asked.

The light fae weren't born with the same heightened senses as us. But Una might already be aware of subtle changes in her body. I'd noticed she hadn't been eating as much, and she was sleepier than usual.

"I'm not sure. I was waiting for her to tell me."

The truth of it was that I was terrified. Would Una no longer want me in her bed if she knew she was with child? I knew she cared for me, but I'd been adamant that my goal in getting her here was to bear my heir. Would she reject my attentions, my affection, my company, now that I'd put a child in her womb?

For most wraith fae, and especially for kings, the mizrah typically left the king's bed and went away to have their child. That was because many wraith kings did not bond with their mizrahs beyond making wraithlings. The thought of Una being anywhere but close to my side turned my insides to acid.

Dalya reached out to place a hand on Una's forehead. That's when I noticed some bruising on Dalya's wrist.

"What is that from?" I nodded at her arm.

She quickly pulled her hand back and tucked the sleeve longer to cover it up. "My own silly mishap. I hit it against the coal stove in my tent."

I frowned. "How—?"

Then Una mumbled something, stealing my attention back to her. Her eyes fluttered open and landed on me.

"Thank the gods," I muttered. " Finally. "

She smiled. "Goll." Her voice was hoarse from disuse.

I fell onto my knees and cupped her face in my hands, pressing my forehead to hers. I sensed more than heard Dalya leaving the tent.

"What's wrong?" she muttered, lifting a hand to my shoulder.

"I've been so worried," I admitted freely, my heart pounded as the relief coursed through my veins. I lifted away to look at her, to drink in her beautiful face. "How do you feel?"

She smiled brighter. "I feel amazing. There's more magick living inside me." There was pure joy in her voice.

"Yes, I can sense it," I told her, my voice shaking with emotion. With relief. "Just as I did at Dragul Falls."

She struggled to sit up.

"You need to rest." I tried to urge her back down to the bed.

"I don't want to rest."

"Una—" I pulled her into my arms and hugged her close, breathing in her lovely scent.

I couldn't tell her how afraid I was that she'd never wake, that I'd allowed her to come near to deathly harm.

She pulled me down to the bed. I gave in and spread out beside her, holding her to me, kissing the crown of her head.

"It's all right," she said soothingly, brushing her small hand along my back.

I huffed out a laugh. "Only you, Una." I kissed the crown of her pretty head again, inhaling that drugging scent that was all her own. "Only you would try to soothe me after you were the one injured."

"I'm not injured. I felt pain at first. But now, I feel wonderful."

She lifted up on top of my body, propping herself up on hands she'd placed on my shoulders, and stared down at me. She was wearing a winter nightgown, but it still revealed her beautiful figure beneath. The feyfire I'd lit in a brazier, wanting my own flame to give her warmth instead of the blue-coal, gilded her in golden light, limning the slender slope of her neck and perfectly carved face in such heartbreaking beauty that I lost my breath. My heart leaped at the sight of her, thinking of that old tale of N?kt and Lumera.

"What are you thinking right now?" she asked, her hair sliding over her shoulder to drape across my chest. Her nightgown slipped off one shoulder, revealing my bite mark.

"I was thinking of the old demon myth about the god N?kt and Zarrah and Lumera."

Her pretty brow pursed into a frown. "The one where N?kt betrayed Zarrah and slept with Lumera?"

My hands roamed to her hips, loving the feel of her warm flesh beneath my fingertips, ensuring me she was truly all right.

"No," I answered. "The one where N?kt refused the advances of Lumera. I was looking at you and wondering how in the world he had the willpower to deny her." I stroked a clawed hand through her tousled hair.

She laughed, dragging my attention back to her face. She sat up on my abdomen, her palms on my chest. "That is not how the story goes. N?kt seduced Lumera when his mate Zarrah had gone to seek a blessing for her unborn child. He fell so in love with Lumera that he kept her in the meadow bed he once shared with Zarrah. Then Zarrah returned and died of a broken heart, scattering her body into the night sky. In his shame, N?kt followed her there, betraying Lumera and leaving her broken-hearted as well."

I grinned, roaming my hands from her hips to her ribcage, then back down to rest on her hips. "Our story is different. It was Lumera who was in the wrong. Not N?kt."

"Of course not." She rolled her eyes, and I had the sudden urge to kiss her. But I felt the need to be extraordinarily gentle with her after her ordeal with Grindolvek.

She added softly, "It would never be the man's fault that he slept with two women, betrayed his mate, then betrayed his new lover and lost both of them."

I laughed, wondering whose version was more accurate. Likely, somewhere in between.

"But you know, our story ends there," she said, brow pursing like she was puzzled. "At Zarrah's death and the birth of her daughter, Mizrah. We have no tales of her." Her curiosity shone on her face. "Will you tell me the next part? Why your people revere Mizrah so much that her name has become a title for the king's…" When she paused, excitement pulsed in my blood as I wondered if she'd come to the same conclusion I recently had. Then she licked her lips and added, "The king's companion."

"Mizrah was the child Zarrah bore right before her death."

She slid down to sit on my thighs, listening, her gaze on me while she toyed with the lacings of my trousers.

Frowning, I continued. "Mizrah fled into the mountains to find solace in the night, to mourn the loss of her parents alone."

"Then what happened?" she asked, no longer toying but actually unlacing my trousers.

"Una," I warned. "You need to rest."

"And I told you," she said, reaching into the open fall of my pants and wrapping her slender fingers around my cock. "I'm not tired."

I grunted, unable to keep from rocking up into her gentle stroke.

I splayed my hands at the top of her thighs. "We shouldn't do this right now," I said, even while I slid my palms higher up her thighs, hiking the hem of her gown higher.

"What happened next?" she asked, stroking my cock which was blocking my view of her cunt.

"Vix heard Mizrah's cries and he found her alone in the mountains."

Though I could only see the seductive stroke of her hand around my girth, I slid one hand higher up her thigh. Finding her slickness with my thumb, I spread it in a soft circle around her clitoris.

She made a low moan and rocked against my slow strokes. My cock hardened at the sight and sound of her, so lush and needy. My willpower to be good and not ravish her vanished.

"Vix fell instantly in love with the maiden," I told her. "He cared for her, fed her, bathed her, held her."

I paused to lick the pad of my thumb before returning it to its purpose, her mouth falling open in silent pleasure. Reaching up with my free hand, I untied the shoulder ribbon of her gown till it fell away, revealing one pink-tipped breast. Mounding it gently, I rubbed my thumb gently around her nipple till it hardened.

"Vix made her his lover. He marked her with his bite and kept her as his mate, siring four sons on her."

She writhed sweetly on top of me, her scent hardening my cock even more, her breath coming faster at her desire rose.

"Each of their sons became the first of the dark fae." I reached up, gripped her gown with my clawed hands and ripped it apart, flinging the scrap off the bed. I wrapped my hands around her full hips. "They had the shadow fae first, then the wraith fae, then the beast, then the earth."

"What happened to the earth fae?"

"They died out long ago," I murmured, hypnotized by her delicate hand handling me with tortuous tenderness.

To my complete surprise, and delight, she lifted onto her knees, giving me a glorious view of her slick quim then she guided my tip to the entrance of her dripping cunt. "Lastly, they had the first of the wraith fae," she said on a sigh as she lowered her body over mine, impaling herself so sweetly on my cock I saw stars.

"Yes," I confirmed, planting my feet wide and gripping her hips tighter to guide her in the perfect, slow rhythm. I couldn't think straight after that.

"And then Vix decided she wasn't enough and collected more concubines," she added mockingly, even arching a brow in taunting censure as she ground her hips on top of me and splayed her hands on my chest.

"No." I lifted her hips and fucked her sweetly, her breasts bouncing with each downward stroke. "He took no other."

"No?" she questioned with that same sarcasm in her voice. Her hands coasted up to my two larger horns where she gripped and held me hard, raising her hips and meeting each of my deep thrusts.

"Fuck, Una," I growled, my eyes rolling back in my head as she held my head down and rode me exactly as hard as I wanted.

Then her voice was close, making me open my eyes. "Vix took no other because his Mizrah was enough."

She leaned in, still gripping my horns in a dominant fashion that had my cock hard as steel, swelling bigger.

"Because they were partners, mates in all ways." Her violet eyes brightened, her black wings glittering in the firelight. "Because their love would have broken into a million shards just like Zarrah. Is that not right, my king?"

"Yes, Una." I groaned miserably, so insanely aroused and enraptured I could barely form words. I thrust up inside her. "You are right— fuck —so right."

Then she lowered one breast to my mouth, still holding my horns, her own mouth parted as she panted, her sex soaking my cock. I needed no further encouragement and lifted my head just enough to suck on her taut nipple.

She moaned, her cunny pulsing instantly with an orgasm. I groaned, still suckling her while I pumped deep, trying to drive my emotions into her, and the words I hadn't said but felt suturing themselves into my heart and soul.

It didn't take long before I felt that familiar ecstasy shooting up my spine, locking my limbs as I speared one last time, my head falling back to the pillow as I emptied my seed inside her.

" Gods , Una." I grunted, still grinding and spilling inside her.

I had to force myself not to curl my claws into her soft flesh, the tips pricking her generous hips. "I needed you," I confessed only that which I had the courage to tell her at the moment.

I stared in complete bafflement at the fae female I loved.

She leaned close and pressed her elbows on either side of my head, dipping her face to give me a soft kiss. "I know," she whispered against my lips, trailing her tongue along my bottom lip. "I needed you too."

Her eyes told me she might feel the same, but both of us simply stared in wonder, the warmth of our bodies binding us closer, the threads of the moon-binding glowing by the feyfire.

When she lifted her body off of mine, I hissed at the sensation then hauled her into my arms, both of us on our sides to face each other.

We stared in silence for some time. I pushed a stray lock of her hair back off of her cheek.

"Your wraith fae customs," she started quietly, "don't seem to come from Vix. Likely from some greedy king who fancied a younger lover after he became bored with his mizrah." She shrugged, the tip of her wing on that side fluttering. "I'm well aware that not all moon fae kings were faithful to their queens, but we don't hold a tradition where infidelity is expected. It's an odd custom."

"Indeed," I agreed. "Good thing I'm a king and can change customs if I so choose."

She smiled wide, burrowing deeper into my heart. Her words were light while the meaning was not. "Your people might not like you changing customs with a mizrah they don't truly believe in."

It reminded me of the travesty at that dinner back in N?kt Mir. "You let me worry about them." Then I teased her to lighten the mood. "I can promise I'll never get bored if you continue to climb on top of me and ride my cock like that."

She laughed while playfully slapping my shoulder, her blush returning. "Goll!"

"Don't play timid. You weren't so shy a few moments ago."

Her gaze had fallen away from mine. "I was caught in the moment."

"What a moment." I pressed my lips to her forehead. "I want many more like that."

"Be a good king, and you shall have them."

"Be a good king," I repeated, chuckling at her admonishment. "I'll do my best. For you."

Then she snuggled closer, pressing her cheek upon my sternum and wrapping an arm over my waist. For a long while, we simply held one another, her fingers lazily stroking my back while I did the same beneath her wings.

It was like we were in the cave, and I rejoiced in the fact that it had not been a fleeting feeling of the moment. This binding between us was not only still there but growing and tightening like the threads of the most beautiful web.

"You know," she said sleepily, "I don't think she meant any harm, but Dalya offered to help me leave the palace the night of the Rite of Servium."

I sat up and frowned down at her. "She did?"

Una pushed me back down and put her cheek to my chest, patting me. "Like I said, I don't think she meant harm. I think she was just trying to be kind to me."

Rather than anger me, it made me sad. I heaved a sigh. "Dalya did not like that I forced you to be my mizrah. She believed I should've given you a choice."

"You did."

I chuckled. "One that didn't include me pillaging and burning Issos if you refused. She wasn't sure you were the one mentioned in a vision she had for me."

"One about me?" She lifted her head to at me.

"Yes. The one that told me my mizrah would be marked by Vix, and she would help me bring Northgall into an era of power. Of great power."

"Above the moon fae?" There was a spark of sadness in her eyes.

Clenching my jaw, I spoke with honesty, "There is more to that story about Vix and Mizrah. When she was dying, he carried her into the heavens on the back of Silvantis. He promised her that one day she would be avenged for Lumera's betrayal. Lumera's people would pay for it and the dark fae would rise to their rightful place."

"And you believe this? That I am a key to trampling down my own people?"

"I believe you are meant to stand beside me," I answered honestly. "It is not my intention to harm the moon fae. Rather, I'd like us all to live in communion and peace with one another."

For the first time, I felt this to be the truth.

"You'd defy your god?" she asked, quirking her brow.

"You've defied yours." I cupped her jaw and brushed my thumb along the lovely slant of her cheek. "You defied Lumera, coming to Northgall to be my mizrah. And I am not a king with vengeance bearing down on my heart."

No, there was only one force wrapping itself— herself —around my heart.

She relaxed in my arms, the tip of her mouth quirking with a smile. "That is good to know." She brushed a hand over my jaw, stroking my cheek, mirroring my touch. Then she pressed a gentle kiss to my mouth before settling her head into the crook of my neck.

I wrapped her tight against me.

"Now, if anyone should try to harm you," I said, thinking of the ending of the feast again, "my wrath would be unstoppable."

Devastation wouldn't begin to describe what I would do to anyone who dared to hurt my Una.

"Quiet now," she beckoned on a yawn. "Sleep, my king."

For once, someone was giving me orders. Because it was her, I happily obeyed.