King Philip glanced between the two of them. “I see both of you are done in. Let’s all get some sleep. I’ll send a messenger back to the front to alert the Kelvernese that their queen is well. Hopefully they’ll trust my word enough for that. In the morning, we can reconvene and hash out both a peace treaty and some of the complications caused by your marriage.”
Adeline nodded and leaned more heavily against Lorne. She was more than ready for sleep. They could deal with politics in the morning.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When Lorne woke, Adeline was still deeply asleep beside him with the fleech dragon curled up on her other side, still giving that little rumbling purr even in sleep.
Reaching over, Lorne brushed a strand of her hair from her face, his touch so light that she didn’t even stir.
He’d come so close to losing her. A part of him—a large part—wanted to whisk her away to the heart of Lalsacia where she would be safe and happy. Hang the consequences of war and political fallout for Kelverny if their queen never returned.
She’d never agree to it. As much as her grandfather tried to break her, she had a determination he’d never been able to steal. No matter how hard it was, she’d rule Kelverny with a hand that, while not the oppressive one of her grandfather, would still be strong and courageous.
As her prince consort, he would be there at herside, supporting her every step of the way. And on a day in what he hoped was a future a long, long time off, she would stand at his side as his queen consort when he became the king of Lalsacia.
After easing out of the bed and dressing, Lorne made his way out of the room he and Adeline had been given and down the hall to the sitting room where they’d met with his father the night before. The rumble of talking echoed up the stairs from the taproom below, and he thought he caught a few Kelvernese accented voices in the hubbub. Likely some of the Kelvernese guards had arrived during the night after receiving his father’s note.
Once he stepped inside, he found his father already there, perusing a few messages while he ate his breakfast. A tray with a few covered dishes waited on a side table for other early risers.
“Good morn—” Lorne began, but his father was on his feet, crossing the room, and pulling Lorne into a crushing hug before Lorne even managed to get the full greeting out. Lorneoofed out a breath and returned the hug, just with somewhat less force than his father. “I’m all right. Nothing happened to me overnight.”
“Indulge me another moment.” His father’s grip didn’t loosen. “I spent weeks not knowing what was happening to you or if you were even still alive.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get word to you sooner.” Lorne patted his father’s back. He’d known those months had to have been hard on his father. After losing Lorne’s mother, all they had were each other. “I didn’t want to give away who I was, so I had to becareful how I asked for information and how much I pushed.”
“No, you were wise in that. Especially with things so unsettled in the Kelverny court and between our kingdoms.” His father finally released him, but he didn’t take a step back. His gaze searched Lorne’s face. “I spoke with Godwin. He told me about…what happened in the dungeon.”
Lorne didn’t miss the hesitation, as if his father couldn’t bring himself to saytortureout loud when it came to his son.
An irrational irritation stirred in his chest. He had hoped to keep the full truth of what had happened to him from his father. Surely there had been no reason to burden his father like that. It was over and done. And with Adeline on the throne, it wouldn’t happen again.
But of course, Godwin wouldn’t prevaricate when confronted by his king. He might have even felt compelled to relay the whole of it since he’d known that Lorne wouldn’t.
Lorne sighed, glancing away. “I’m fine. It was hard.” He’d come so very close to breaking, down there in the dungeon. He’d been one torture session away from collapsing into a sobbing, begging mess. “But then Adeline came, and…well, she saved me. I married her out of sheer desperation at first, but then she became so much more to me.”
“You’ve grown.” His father’s gaze still searched his face, but his expression held a smile, a note of pride in his voice.
Lorne nodded. His father didn’t just mean that he’dtoughened after experiencing a harsher reality than anything he’d known before. But it was more than that. He was more able to face the harder things with compassion and gentleness. He’d left a brash boy filled with the overconfidence that he could end this war, and he’d returned a man prepared to give of himself in a way he hadn’t been before. “I have.”
Father nodded and took a step back. “I look forward to getting to know your wife better.”
“You’ll like her. She’s nothing like her grandfather.” Lorne flexed his fingers at his sides. “She needs family in her life. I might have suffered for a few weeks under her grandfather, but she suffered for years. It’s telling that the fleech dragon is bonding with her, not me.”
There were many theories on why some fleech dragons bonded with a person. But most often, the bonding occurred with a person who needed healing in some way.
While Adeline had been physically healed, she would battle the effects of her grandfather’s manipulation and degradation for the rest of her life. That wasn’t something that would go away quickly, even with a fleech dragon’s soothing magic.
“I will do my best.” His father turned and strolled back to his seat. “I will gladly provide any support or mentoring she wishes as a new monarch, but it will be tricky. Kelverny will not be comfortable with the Lalsacian king having too much influence over their queen.”
“They’ll have to get used to it, considering their prince consort also happens to be the heir to the Lalsacian throne.” Lorne shrugged as he headed for the sidetable. After grabbing an empty plate, he lifted the covers on the dishes and helped himself to the sausages, eggs, and toast provided. The savory scents of the breakfast set his stomach to rumbling.
“A problem we’ll need to discuss during the official diplomatic meeting.” His father sat, picked up a mug, and took a sip of his coffee. “While it was a rather brilliant move on your part, marrying the Kelvernese queen, it does leave us in a rather interesting political pickle.”
“Yes.” Lorne re-covered the dishes, crossed the room, and took the seat across from his father. “But I don’t regret it.”
There was a reason heirs to thrones—especially sole heirs—didn’t marry each other, leaving that duty to younger siblings or daughters of high-ranking nobles. Kingdoms didn’t just merge because their royalty had done so, and Kelverny and Lalsacia weren’t even starting from a position of peace but from the bitterness of five years of war.
But once they had his father, Adeline, Thaddeus, and Lorne all in the same room, he trusted that they’d figure something out.
