Page 69 of The Wolf and Her Shadows

“We?” My mother lowers the parchment, giving her a curious look. The same reaction I’d had when I’d first heard Vannaria use plural pronouns in reference to ‘herself’.

Vannaria slowly nods, briefly darting her eyes back to me before holding my mother’s gaze as she says, “Yes. I share my mind and body with two other individuals. According to your daughter, I’m apparently what you call a Fragmented Soul.”

“By the Gods.”

Grinning, I reach over and snatch the bounty notice out of the stunned woman’s hands. “She’s also stretching the truth a bit in regard to her original intentions with me. She’d been after the reward, same as all the other mercenaries who met my blades over the years.” I needlessly nod towards the elf. “This one just so happened to be rather beautiful and was kind enough to help me escape the town I’d been hiding in after I slit a man’s throat.”

“Well, the bounty demanded for you to be alive and unharmed.” Vannaria shrugs, leaning back in her chair with a grin of her own. “If you’d ended up swinging from the end of a rope, that would’ve made collecting the reward a bit difficult, would it not?”

Shaking my head, I hand the notice back to her, enjoying the way her fingers caress mine as she takes it from me. “I suppose it would have. You’re lucky I’ve grown to trust you or I’d think this entire relationship was a ruse to–”

“You doubt my loyalties, Your Majesty?” Her eyes slowly trail from my face down to my lap and back.

“Of course not.” I shake my head again, doing my best not to squirm in my seat from the intensity in her gaze. “You are my most devoted subject after all,”

Having nearly forgotten her presence momentarily, my mother startles me a bit when she mutters, “I will ask the both of you to please contain yourselves while I’m in the room.”

Vannaria immediately sits up straighter in her chair, face beginning to glow again. “My sincerest apologies, Sera. Please forgive me for my lack of propriety.”

Barking out a laugh at her overly formal response, I return my attention to my mother and shrug. “I’m sorry, Mother. But as you see, the answer to your question is simple. How could I not fall in love with her?”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Vannaria

My heart soars upon hearing those words pass through Mariane’s lips, yet I curse myself for not having the courage to have been the one to say them first. Ignoring Sera’s request, I grab hold of her daughter’s face with both hands and pull her into a kiss. However, I’m careful to pull away just as quickly when I feel myself attempting to deepen it, knowing it would be all too easy to lose myself in this glorious woman and forget we have an audience.

One who most definitely does not need to see me falling to my knees and…

I shake my head and my lips gently brush against Mariane’s as I whisper, “In case it wasn’t clear, I’ve fallen in love with you as well, Mariane.” Forcing myself to release her from my grasp, I pull away to send her mother an apologetic smile. “Ah, and my answer is the same. As I’ve said, your daughter is a truly remarkable woman. Each day that passes my feelings for her grow ever stronger.”

Tears of a different sort glisten in Sera’s eyes as she nods, reaching across the table to grasp my hand. “It fills my heart with joy knowing Mariane has found someone so clearly willing to show her the love she deserves. And someone equally deserving of her love as well. Are…” She glances between Mariane and I, her grip on my hand tightening. “Are the two of you not already married?”

My brows furrow at the unexpected question. “No, we’re not. As a matter of fact, we only just met not even a week ago.”

“Has it truly only been that long?” Mariane asks in a hushed tone. “It feels as if it’s been much longer than that, with all we’ve already faced together.”

Sera lets out what sounds like a relieved sigh, some of the tenseness in her shoulders releasing with it. “Oh good. I’d feared I’d missed the wedding, considering the fact you’re already referring to Mariane as Your Majesty.”

The woman beside me barks out a laugh. “Oh, no Mother. You have the wrong idea entirely. It’s merely a nickname Vannaria has bestowed upon me.” She glances back at me, her amused expression replaced by a look of concern. “I have no interest in ever being true royalty. At least none of the obligations that come with ruling over a kingdom.”

I snort a laugh of my own, reaching over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I assure you, neither do I. I’m much more suited to the task of serving my queen in any way she should see fit.”

“Wait, so your intention to overthrow King Warvin isn’t to take over the kingdom yourself?” Sera asks, shock evident in her tone. “I had assumed that was why–”

“King Warvin is going to die for what he did to my people. Nothing more,” I snap, unable to hold back my sudden surge of anger.

Mariane places a hand on my knee, squeezing it gently. “And he will. But that does beg the question of who will take his place once he’s no longer in power.”

*He has a daughter, does he not?* Aren asks, their presence unnoticed until this moment.

An image of a young woman around Mariane’s age flashes in our mind. While we’d only ever seen her once, and from a distance, it was enough to recognize she’d also had the same fire in her eyes as well. Even though she’d dutifully followed along behind her brother while the royal family had paraded through town during a celebration of some sort, she hadn’t seemed at all pleased to be in his shadow.

“The princess,” I blurt out, looking between the two women. “With the king and his son out of the way, it would be the perfect opportunity for her to claim the throne. She would already be the true heir, if her kingdom allowed women to rule as was the case in Amzarath.”

“Oh, I had assumed that was why your father had given you those runes,” Mariane mutters, her eyes trailing over said runes now visible on my skin.

“No.” I shake my head, resisting the ridiculous urge to activate our glamour in an attempt to hide the blush that’s seemingly taken permanent residence on my face throughout this conversation. “My need to take on the appearance of a boy, and the title of prince, had nothing to do with my ability to be named as heir to my kingdom. It was for my own safety. He’d known how unjustly women in positions of power are treated by their male counterparts.”