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She sank to her knees across from me and, without a word, answered my plea to marry her. Grabbing my face with both hands, she kissed me until my fingers fisted in her hair. She kissed me until my cock twitched, and we both ran out of breath.

When we parted, I didn’t let go of her hair. Searching her eyes, I gave her what she wanted: a quick plan to address our present situation, and then I’d take what I needed. “Let me see nine more people, then we’ll break and prepare for tonight. You should rest.” I sucked in another breath as the ache pulsed down my arm. “We should both rest.”

“You want to keep helping them while you’re in pain?” she asked as she helped me back onto the throne.

“I want a moment alone with you without this guilt you feel for everyone waiting.”

“There’s a lot more than nine.”

I waved a lazy hand. “That’s all I can manage. I don’t have Stasia’s never-ending energy.”

She laughed. “She’s brilliant, isn’t she?”

“She’s the one who should be sitting on this throne,” I said. At that, we exchanged glances. We knew Stasia wanted to be queen, but would the throne accept her?

“Drak…what if she could?”

“It’s more of a curse than she knows.” I frowned. “You wouldn’t want to damn your friend to this fate.”

“You can let her decide.”

That sounded so fucking good. Freedom from the chains of Mjolnir, from this throne, and from this life I didn’t want. But Lux loved Stasia, and if this broke her friend, Lux would never forgive herself. She’d want to be sure Vylheim and Stasia—both—were secure.

Of course, this wasn’t her choice. It was Stasia’s, and mine; and left up to me, I’d choose Lux over this fucking kingdom every single time.

Serving the next nine villagers was excruciating. My shoulder ached and muscles flared with agony from the hours of sitting on solid bronze. The magic infused in the throne didn’t help. That constant humming left my nerves about as shot as Lux’s used to be. Being human made me feel weak and pathetic at times, but I wouldn’t trade it for bloodlust. Craving blood was a curse I never wanted back, even with the speed and strength that came with it. Nothing could take my focus from my wife now, not bloodlust and not compulsion now that Silver was gone.

Finan appeared at the door, his scarred mouth twisted down as he glanced between us. “Am I interrupting?”

A flash of Axel appeared in his place. I blinked and shook it away. Axel was dead, gone, no longer my advisor. Finan naturally filled the role without anyone having to ask, but he was no Axel despite his skills as a swordsman. He was there out of obligation, not affection for his loved ones. Finan bound himself to oaths—and even when he renounced his role—he still tried to fulfill it. Even now, he dressed like an executioner, with a weapon slung over his back and two at his hips. He served the crown because it was all he knew, and while I respected him for defecting and helping us build our army against Silver, I still didn’t know how much I trusted him. Or maybe it was my grief for Axel that twisted my view of Finan.

“No,” I finally answered. “You’re right on time.” He folded his arms, awaiting my instructions, always ready to serve and yet seemingly angry about it. “Let the Supplication guests know we’ll only see a few more today, but we invite all to return tonight.” He nodded once and turned. Before he could slip back through the double doors, I raised my voice. “Tell them to prepare for a celebration. A wedding.”

He shot us a look over his shoulder, and I thought I saw Finan smile. A true smile, not one that’d been carved onto his face from some unspoken trauma no doubt inflicted by those who forced him to become an executioner. Or maybe it was before that. Maybe a fight caused the scar, and this damned him to the Grimward. Finan’s past was a mystery, one that I didn’t have time to solve, and it wasn’t my business, anyway.

After addressing a few more villagers, we bid the rest goodbye and headed for our bedchambers—a room I’d never slept in before, and one as far away from my old bedchambers as possible. Memories haunted every hall and corner of the castle, mostly terrible, but I’d spent enough time here with Lux that glimpses of joy seeped into the darker moments too.

As I limped out of the throne room, I smirked. The more recent, pleasant memories surfaced. Our first dance after our fabricated marriage, when I saw Myrah for the first time in my mind’s eye. When she accidentally called me Rune that night, and when I carried her to the healing room to bandage her bitten throat. She’d fought so hard against my suggestion to marry her then, back when the gods twisted her every thought. I shuddered to think where I’d be if I’d given up. Likely still stupidly desperate to bend everything to my control, to show myself life had a purpose, and that purpose was power. But what good was power when I only wanted her?

“We could rest in the library,” I said, a wry smile crooking my mouth as I peered down at her.

Lux rolled her eyes up to meet mine. “On the floor?”

“We’ve done it before.” I drew a loose breath. “And something tells me we won’t be here for much longer. You should enjoy that library while you can.”

She said nothing as she led me to the highest point in Mara’s Keep. The small library stood as the only true piece of us in this whole damn building. Even my workshop felt like it belonged to a past life; one I hated. I didn’t want a life I had to escape from anymore.

I wanted to go home.

“This won’t be comfortable,” she said, spinning to face me.

I took her into my arms, refusing to wince as I wrapped her into me. “I don’t care as long as I’m with you.”

Hours later, I woke with my nose buried in her braids. Several small sections of hair were woven into tiny braids, hidden and scattered throughout the rest of her free-flowing waves. Her scent of fresh earth and juniper soothed me. My heart thumped heavily, pressing against the ache in my ribcage. The bandage there never stayed well, but the wound was healing quickly. The bruise around it, however, still painted my sternum violent shades of blue, violet, and scarlet.

I swore this was the last day I’d wake up with my heart pounding—of slamming my hand to my chest to slow the pounding beneath my ribs, and thinking nonexistence still trapped me, away from Lux, and incapable of ever reaching her.

I closed my eyes and snaked my arm around her hips, with my palm splayed on her stomach as I gently dragged her closer to me. Only then did my pulse slow, and I could breathe well enough to go on with the day.