Page 44 of The Nymph King

“The one from the posters⁠—”

“She closed it⁠—”

“Did you see what she did?”

Their tone was surprisingly conversational for a group of bloodied soldiers as they dissected what she meant to the kingdom. Their voices dropped under Ellisar’s warning glare, though, because she was no longer just a passenger in their world. She was a weapon to watch.

The High Sentinel remained close enough that Imani could feel the pressure of his signature beside her, but he no longer guided her with a hand at her back or directed where she should stand. The difference registered inside Imani immediately.

He had just named her queen in front of his men, and now he was giving her room to look like one.

Imani appreciated the respect more than she wanted to admit. But respect did not mean she wanted distance between them. She had power, yet Ellisar had years of experience commanding soldiers, navigating Norn politics, and governing the same people she might soon have to rule. If she intended to reclaim Essenheim, she needed him near enough to advise her, argue with her, and tell her when she was about to make a mistake.

She wanted an ally beside her, not another man deciding her path from several steps away.

The boats finally ground into the shallows beneath the same cliffs from which Imani had first seen the battle. Soldiers jumped over the sides into knee-deep water to secure the vessels while planks were thrown down for the wounded.

Imani followed Ellisar ashore. Together they crossed the wet sand and began ascending the narrow stone stairs etched into the cliff, the wind cutting sharply off the water.

As they reached the upper landing, the return column was already forming along the coastal road. Wounded soldiers were being loaded into wagons while those able to walk assembled behind officers and standard-bearers. Farther inland, the road curved away from the sea toward Vathis.

One inclined his head and said softly, “My queen,” his eyes briefly moving to the crown before returning to her face.

Another stepped closer, his tone dangerously light. “You return alone?” he asked. “Or is there… someone who claims the place beside you?”

Imani narrowed her eyes at the implication.

A queen would eventually be expected to choose someone to stand beside her, and the moment Ellisar publicly recognized her claim, every unattached male with political ambition had acquired a reason to consider himself.

Ellisar was not her mate. She had chosen no one.

But with the High Sentinel already standing at her side, people were apparently willing to imagine possibilities before either of them had spoken them aloud.

A third didn’t speak at all, but his assessment was thorough. It was the first time she felt the weight of the male gaze not as a threat but as a political maneuver. This was positioning. Alliances were forged not through loyalty but through proximity to her power.

Before the exchange could deepen, Ellisar stepped in. The movement was deadly in its elegance. He placed his larger form between her and the officers, altering the impact of the landing. He glanced at the general who had spoken. Though his voice wasn’t loud, it carried finality.

“That won’t be necessary,” Ellisar said. “Her position is not a subject for casual discussion. Anyone seeking a political audience with the queen will do so formally.” He dismissed them with a careless wave. “Return to your duties.”

Just like that, the iron cage closed around her. Access to her was not theirs to negotiate. But other people were already treating the vacant position beside a newly proven queen as political territory. Ellisar’s instinct to control access to her might protect her from opportunists, but she had no intention of allowing protection to become authority over her choices.

Protection was one thing. Deciding for her was another, and Ellisar would learn the distinction.

Imani touched his arm, forcing him to look at her. “I don’t need you deciding who gets to speak to me. I can handle myself just fine.”

“It isn’t about what you can handle,” Ellisar said, his tone bordering on boredom. “It’s about what I will allow.” He looked out toward the city as he added, “And that isn’t changing.”

Tension followed them as they moved away from the officers. As they continued their march, the pattern began to form in Imani’s mind. Proving herself hadn’t gained her freedom, but it had made her noticeable. Visibility became an opportunity, provided she knew how to use it well. More power attracted more power, and as she grew more valuable, her space to move shrank.

The returning column began moving inland. As Imani fell into step beside Ellisar near its front, she glanced back toward the sea. “You knew I could do it,” she said.

Ellisar continued upward beside her. “I thought you could.”

“That isn’t the same thing,” she shot back, hotly.

“No.”

She waited for more, but he gave her none. Frustration flared, cutting through the dregs of her adrenaline. “You’re infuriating.”