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I step in front of Rami to address the room. “Thank you all for coming today. As many of you know, my father was a great man. A distinguished man of honor and a loving husband and father. He always put the wellbeing of IronHaven above everything. His dream was for the five realms to be united one day.”
I inhale deep before continuing. “He never wanted war with the other kingdoms. He wanted peace for all of us. King Rian fought for the safety of his people, and I’m grateful for his courage and bravery. My father may have lost this battle, but I’ll do my part in seeing his dreams come to fruition.” My eyes fall tothe people in the crowd. “I hope we all can see a better future for the next generations and work toward the same goals. It’s all my father ever wanted.”
I step back beside Rami as the crowd begins to cheer, and I feel satisfied with my words. Several officials step up to say kind words. I’m still riding my post orgasm high, feeling on top of the world. The rest of the service is a blur, and as we walk out to meet the people gathered outside the gates of Windemere, my heart is filled with so much joy.
People line up in every direction. This is what my father would have wanted. I take a deep breath and allow myself to be in this moment, surrounded by our people, showing respect to my father, and humbling ourselves as we mourn a great warrior and leader.
After the service is over, I tell the guys that I want to take a nap before the feast begins. Trying to contain all of my emotions is exhausting. No one took note of my appearance, and if they did, they didn’t speak of it out loud. Cyra made herself scarce during the service. Which if I’m being honest, stung a little bit.
She knew how much my father meant to me, and not being able to say goodbye to him was tearing me apart. Instead of putting her feelings aside, she tossed me aside to stand in the midst of the crowd. She never approached me after berating me, and I’m pretty sure she never even looked my way.
I lay my head down on the pillow and sleep before I have to face my brother and future husband again. I’m going to need all my energy for that.
I take a minute to freshen up, changing out of my dress that I wore to the service and into a more appropriate one for thisevening’s festivities. I braid my hair again to keep the majority of it out of my face. Once I feel better about the way I look, I make my exit.
When I walk out, Dom stands in the hall, waiting outside my door. I tilt my head to the side and raise a curious brow. “Well, did you find anything? You missed the entire service, so hopefully that means you have some information. I was beginning to think something happened to you,” I spout.
Dom rolls his eyes and sighs. “You thought something happened to me and you went to take a nap?” I chuckle, realizing how ridiculous that sounds, and he shakes his head at me.
“Well, that’s pretty shitty of me now that I think about it.” I give my best sad eyes and pouty lips. “I was wondering what took you so long, but I thought the guys would wake me if something was wrong. Where are they, anyway?”
“They should be back any minute. They went to the stables.” That’s code for making sure our one and only plan is ready if we need to make a break for it.
I turn back to him, rocking on my heels and waiting for him to tell me what he found out. “Sooo,” I say, waving my hands in the air.
“I couldn’t find her.” My brows shoot up. “I searched the castle, then went to her chambers. Her belongings were still there, and nothing looked out of place, but I think she left Windemere. I did, however, get you a surprise while I was out. Do you want to see it?”
I nod eagerly as he opens my chamber door, dragging me inside with him. He drops to his knees, lifting up my dress.
“Dom, what are you doing?” I’d happily take another orgasm or two, but we are already running late, and I’d rather not be scolded by my brother in a room full of people, especially King Naveen.
He unhooks something from his belt and ties it against my thigh. I pull my dress up further to get a good look at it. It’s a sheath.
He removes the dagger and holds it up for me.
“What is this? You are giving me your dagger?”
“No, Princess, I had this made for you a few days after we started training. With everything that’s been going on, I haven’t had time to return to the blacksmith to retrieve it. Do you like it?” His grin makes my heart flutter.
“You had this made... for me?” My eyes light up, darting curiously between his. He happily nods.
No one has ever given me a gift like this before. My father loved bringing me home presents that he picked up during his travels, but nothing was ever custom made for me.
It’s gorgeous. The iron blade has flames carved perfectly into it. I run my finger over the hilt where the sun is molded, and my breath hitches. I have never seen a weapon with more beauty than this.
I twirl it between my fingers to get a better feel for it. My hand wraps around it, feeling the lightness of its weight. I wiggle my brows at Dom who looks surprisingly pleased. “You like it?”
“No, I love it.” I place it back into the sheath wrapped around my thigh and drop my dress as he stands. My arms instantly wrap around his neck, pulling him to me. He leans down, giving me a chaste kiss.
“Good. That makes me happy. Come on, they’re waiting for us.” He kisses the side of my head before opening the door. The guys are at the end of the hall and heading straight for us when a light bulb goes off in my head.
“Dom, what about the secret passage Tristan and I found? Did you look there?” I ask.
“No. I didn’t know how to open the door and honestly was worried about someone catching me in her room if I stayed toolong. I can take Tristan and go back tonight if she still hasn’t turned up.”
“That might be a good idea. Let’s just play it by ear.”
“Play what by ear?” Greyson asks, being the last one to arrive.
