Page 86 of Fate of the Sun King

“You can certainly hope.”

Cedar and Elswyth are now watching all of us with bemused looks on their faces.

“I’m sorry,” I say, not entirely sure what I’m apologizing for, but this is the height of embarrassment. “He’s not fully housebroken yet.”

“I suppose,” Elswyth says, tipping her head with a coy tilt to her mouth, “congratulations are in order?”

My face scorches as Nadir’s hand lands on my thigh and squeezes it.

“Thank you,” he replies as I drop my face into my hands in mortification. Did he just accept a congratulations… for sex?

Nadir chuckles softly, leaning against me before he drops a kiss on my shoulder. I look up, planning to tell him to stop, but he’s staring at me with such adorable reverence that I don’t have the heart.

“Can we talk about something else, please?” I ask instead.

“You have a mark on your neck,” Tristan says, zeroing in on me, his eyes narrowing. “Like someone was sucking on you.”

I slap my hand over my skin, sure the tips of my ears are about to incinerate. Oh gods, we should have just stayed in my room. Mael snorts out a laugh, and even Etienne cracks a rare smile.

“Tris!” I hiss. “Stop it.” My eyes dart around the table, and I sit up straight, trying to pretend I have some control over what’s happening right now. “A gentleman wouldn’t draw attention to it.”

He rolls his eyes. “Then don’t let random dickheads suck on your neck, little sister.”

He raises a hand and bumps his fist with Mael’s as they both laugh.

“Seriously, though,” Tristan says, turning to Nadir, the smile dropping from his face. “Hurt her, and I’ll kill you. Just… absolutely destroy you, Aurora Prince.”

Nadir raises an eyebrow, and I expect him to say something cocky and irreverent, but instead, he dips his chin. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. You have my word that I will never, ever do anything to hurt her. I love her more than you can possibly understand.”

Their gazes meet, and some kind of testosterone-induced understanding passes between them. It would be nice if they got along better, though I’m not really caring for this overt display of male aggression.

“If you two are done acting like I’m a piece of furniture to be discussed, can we please talk about something else?”

I turn to Cedar, who’s studying me curiously.

“You two,” he says, his finger flicking between us. “The Aurora Prince and the Primary of Heart?”

Gods. Is this the only topic of conversation we can come up with this morning? Surely we have more important things to discuss?

“We’re…” I say, not sure how to continue that thought, when I’m temporarily rescued by a low rumble that shakes the table and the ground beneath us. We all reach out to steady our glasses as we wait for the quake to subside.

“Has that been happening a lot?” Nadir asks, and Cedar answers with a grim nod.

“More and more.”

“The trees,” I ask. “We saw them on our way in. How long have they been that way?”

“A few months,” the king replies.

“And you have no idea what’s causing this?” Nadir asks.

“None at all,” Cedar says. “Do you?”

“No,” Nadir replies. “At first, I’d hoped it was just the natural ebb and flow of the environment…”

He trails off, and it’s becoming obvious it’s more than that.

“Anyway,” Nadir says, picking up the thread of our previous conversation. “We’re mates.”