I shifted, rolling her beneath me in one smooth motion. Laughter burst from her lips as strands of hair fell across her face. I brushed them aside, pressing my weight into the cradle of her hips.
Exactly where I belonged.
“Do your best, my king.”
Greaves found us knotted together, limbs entwined, calling out that Nereus demanded we return to the ship. Sand clung to our damp skin, buried in every crease, and we made our way back like two young lovers caught in the throes of passion.
Nienna lent me youth. I wasn’t blind to my years—my joints refused to let me forget—but her presence woke a piece of me long buried. She moved withradiance, and her brightness inspired me. It hinted the world didn’t have to be so bitter, so bleak.
The moment our boots hit the dock, a sound cut through the night.
A scream. High, shrill, strangled. It split the air with jagged force and ended in a sharp snap.
We both turned to the sky. I’d heard dragons before—but this call didn’t match any creature from Draconia.
“In the ship, Nienna.” Nereus stood at the rail, arms folded behind him, eyes locked on the stars. “You too, King of Radaan. These shores do not welcome wanderers after sundown.”
No protest rose. Exhaustion pulled at me, and I followed it to our cramped berth. Sand gritted in the sheets, clinging to sweat-damp limbs, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I lay on my side, and Nienna pressed in close, tucking herself against me, guiding my arm around her waist. I nestled my chin into her hair, breathing in her scent, her warmth.
She endured more talk the next morning, sat through another round of tree assessments without protest. Ludwig, once a logger, made himself useful among the Draconis—but Nienna’s eyes wandered toward the forest. When her gaze turned pleading, I claimed fatigue and excused us from the talks.
Someone passed around Traveler’s Tea, something about salt and sweat, but I politely refused the cup of minty fish water and followed Nienna, who offered to pick more herbs for the tea. Basket in one hand, my arm in the other, she tugged me toward an overgrown stretch of beach. Greaves stayed behind. His slow blink and reluctant step back said it all—he knew why I dismissed him and wasn’t happy about it.
Thick foliage spilled across pale shore, wild and tangled. My chest ached, longing for Radaan. The sun’s quiet warmth on my face. The soft roll of hills draped in forest. A hollow ache stretched inside my soul—one only my kingdom could fill.
Our boots struck dark soil where grit gave way beneath a canopy of palms, shifting into thicker trunks. Shade pressed down, and my mantle cooled against my shoulders.
Nienna stared up at the treetops, her eyes wide.
I smirked. “Mint grows on the ground.”
She laughed and bent to cup a red bloom, fingers careful around the thorns lining its stem. Her cheeks flushed with heat and the trek’s exertion.
Sweat trickled down my spine; the forest air pressed against my skin—humid, heavy. The scent of crushed blossoms, rich soil, and the faint sweetness of waterlilies clung to her clothes.
“If you weren’t a king, what would you be?” she asked.
“Dead,” I snorted. I’d never had another option. The throne had always been my destiny.
She rolled her eyes and wandered deeper, one hand gliding along the bark of a gnarled tree. “I think I would’ve liked to explore. There’s so much no one’s ever seen.”
Sunlight broke through the canopy, striking her scaled mantle and scattering it in prisms. She knelt by a patch of mint, brushing the leaves with a delicate touch. When she looked back, her eyes stole my breath. She belonged in wide-open spaces. Draconia would never be enough.
“Someone might’ve seen it,” I said, resting a shoulder against the tree. The gold chain of my mantle dug into my joint. “Whatever made that noise last night might have eaten them.”
She pointed at me. “You’re not wrong.”
“As thrilling as it is, most explorers die before they return. And those that do come back bring more scars than stories.”
With a sigh, she plucked a sprig of mint, twirling it between her fingers. The gray sleeve of her dress slipped off one shoulder, skin gleaming like marble in the shade. A beautiful temptation.
“But still—imagine the adventure.”
I cocked my head. “Is your life not thrilling enough, my queen?”
She purred, letting her gaze trail over my body. “Oh, things have been plenty exciting lately.”
Heat flared beneath my skin. I squatted beside her, plucking the sprig from her hand. “That’s not spearmint.”
