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Chapter 4
Kai
Ifuckinglovewalkinginto the room with my nereid’s arm in the crook of my elbow while we’re both wearing our wedding bands. It might seem like a small thing, but it means the world to me to share this moment with everyone here.
Would I love it more if she wasn’t wearing a fake as fuck smile? Sure. But I won’t let that deter me.
As we walk through the double-doors, all eyes turn to us. Lupa, Morgana, and Gwenda curtsy while Arthur and Remus bow. The formal reaction that has me smiling causes my wife to tense, and I feel her fingers clamp harder onto my arm.
“Please don’t,” she says. “Tonight, you’re our guests and friends. Not our council.” Even though I can feel her nerves, she doesn’t let them show. Her voice is steady as she speaks with a conviction I’m sure we all feel.
“But—”
Liam interrupts Gwenda. “It’s best not to argue with her.” Then he walks over to join us, positioning himself at Acacia’s back.
Gus chuckles before walking over to stand next to Liam behind us.
Something about the moment feels wrong. I remove Nereid’s hand from my arm and kiss the palm before letting go. Then I join her other two men at her back, making it clear who’s in charge. When her cousin and consort both slap my back with matching grins, I feel like I’ve unwittingly passed a test I didn’t know I was taking.
“Well, this is interesting,” Remus muses, and Arthur is quick to agree.
“Indeed, indeed. Though, not entirely surprising,” the Hatt Leader muses.
I love the hints of a blush ghosting across my wife’s neck, showing that she’s touched by our gesture.
“Isn’t it?” she says before brushing some imaginary lint from her dress. The movement is another show of her nerves, and as I study her, I realize just how well I know her.
While I haven’t known her for all that long, I know her body doesn’t lie. Even with the extensive training she’s been through, her body betrays her more often than I think even she knows. I love it. Love watching the ways her composure slips, revealing tidbits she isn’t sharing otherwise.
My heart swells as I recall what she said in the library.“I promised not to hold anything back, and I won’t.”I know it’s taken a lot for all of us to get to this place, and I’m sure as fuck not going to rush it by being impatient. It makes me feel something I haven’t felt in a long time, something I’ve felt since Acacia came into my life.Hope.Now, if I can just make her understand her role as the Female Ruler, then things might actually work out.
“Is that why we were asked not to dress in our Society finest?” Remus asks.
Despite not having talked ahead of time, all the men are wearing dark suits, and the women look pretty in the modern and colorful cocktail dresses.
“Yes,” Nereid answers. “It feels less formal this way, doesn’t it?”
I stiffen at her back when Remus shrugs. “If you say so. You’re still the one calling the shots, and we still have to obey.” There’s no menace in his words, yet it feels like a reminder.
“You can change the location and the outfits, but it’s still a Kronos gathering,” Arthur says, and there’s a confused lilt to his tone. “I guess we’re all a little confused about what’s going on here.”
I resist the urge to speak. This isn’t my shindig, it’s Nereid’s. She was adamant this was what she wanted, so now she has to prove she really knows what she’s doing.
“Why is Lupa here?” Remus asks as he looks towards his cousin at Morgana’s side. “Flavio wasn’t invited. Arthur, were you allowed to bring Isolde and Mordred?”
Gus shuffles closer to my wife and whispers, “You need to say something.”
He isn’t wrong, far from it. She needs to shut down this conversation and take her power back.
“Just as Gwenda wasn’t invited to get ready here with the rest,” Arthur continues. His tone is pleasant enough to make it sound like an observation rather than a challenge, though I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.
Gesturing at the table in the middle of the room, Nereid says, “Why don’t you take a seat? There are a few things we need to talk about.”
When Arthur takes Gwenda’s hand and pulls her over to the seats with their names on the place-card, she turns to look at my wife. “Is it okay for me to be here?”
I don’t think I’ve ever truly appreciated how fucked up all our rules and traditions regarding the hierarchy are until this very moment. All Acacia wants is to celebrate with people she considers friends—or maybe just allies—and no one seems to be able to fully relax. Our guests are clearly on edge, even if they’re trying to hide it, and now Gwenda is questioning her right to be here.
Turning her head, Nereid looks at me, Gus, and Liam. “Go sit down as well please.”
