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I considered it an honor when Eryka asked if I would present her to Gunnar. She’d insisted it was good luck to have a king of her homeland guide her way. She was right and wrong about one thing. I was happy—happy my folk were here, happy Saga was amongst them. But I wouldn’t say I was free from unease.
I slept little during the night. Every few tolls I’d wake just to ensure the door to our bed chamber was locked and the windows bolted.
I missed Hodag. She would love to be here for her little starling. I mourned for Sofia’s fate, and wondered if she was with Bracken now.
Beneath every laugh, every moment of wit, hidden in plain sight, was a suffocating fear Davorin would step back into my new, gilded existence and plunge it into his darkness. With Gorm, we’d already begun building new barriers, new protections on the isles.
The other kingdoms were doing the same.
He was not here, he was out there somewhere, hopefully suffering, yet the bastard still had a bit of control over us.
There was no telling what our world would look like in the coming turns.
I forced the dreary thoughts to the back for now, and pulled back the sheer fabric draped over two arched branches of twin golden oaks. Every eye turned our way, but the star princess only looked ahead.
Gunnar had been polished nicely. His messy, auburn hair was tamed, and he’d traded out his typical simple tunics with a forest green top, knee-high boots, and a polished belt. Common folk and nobles alike beamed at the young royals. Strange how a simple belief, Eryka’s insistence she would help unite three kingdoms, was coming to pass.
Stranger still, in a way, she’d united all four.
Calista smirked over her shoulder. The heir to a throne of fate. To me, it meant Calista was the heir to every vein of magic. A missing piece we’d had all along.
Eryka squeezed my arm with every step we took. I absorbed the happiness of the setting. Yarrow said little, but she’d helped arrange the satins and silks. She bounced her tiniest daughter in her arms, and the rest of her brood took up an entire bench. Magus dipped his chin. He’d been a feckless boy weeks ago, now he was training in Gorm’s army. He was learning to lead the forest fae to restore a new serpent court.
Bo and Rune sat next to Stieg, Frey, and Axel, Frey’s brother. Rune grinned when Bo whispered something as we strode past, likely mocking me in some way like they used to before Davorin. I didn’t miss the way Bo’s little finger had curled around Rune’s on the bench.
Niklas, Junius, and many of their Fallen Guild nestled with the Guild of Kryv in three benches. More than one Falkyn had inspected the golden rings tethering the satin sashes to the benches.
Junie and Nik weren’t royal, they would be offended if I called them entirely honest, yet they were sitting in our council later that day. From Etta, to the Black Palace, to the isles, they’d fought for us. They’d protected us. They’d always be welcome at any king’s table.
Halvar held his infant daughter beside Kari who battled their son, Aesir.
“’Bassador Ari!” Aesir shouted, drawing more than one look. “I’m free turns now!”
He held up three fingers, and Kari looked ready to melt into the ground when she clapped a gentle hand over his mouth. I winked at the boy and muttered to Halvar that his son loved me best, then left before he could reply.
The moment we reached the end, Gunnar eagerly snatched Eryka’s hand from mine, and I took my place beside Saga.
She fiddled with the black stone pierced in my lobe and kissed the hinge of my jaw. “You look delicious enough to take a bite, My King.”
I kissed her palm. “Taste me all you want the moment we’re alone.”
Saga chuckled when Calista groaned and complained under her breath to Sol that we were ridiculous with the amount of time we spent in our bed chamber.
Arvad had been asked to lead the vows with the help of Hagen for the Alver bonds.
Saga’s fingers tickled the back of my neck as the vows proceeded. While Gunnar and Eryka linked hands and promised to share each other’s power into the Otherworld, Saga pressed her lips to my ear. “Your mind is with him.”
I stared at her hand on my thigh, then covered it with my own.
“It is with you,” I said. “He is the greatest threat to you, that is the only thought I spare him.”
She smiled, understanding, and unashamed of the fears we both shared. “Our fight is at rest for now, Ari. If it ever rises again, I am grateful it is you I will fight beside. Because of that, I choose to be happy with you and live outside of fear. Should someone come to take it, they will rue the day. Our dream of a dull life in the longhouse is too wonderful not to protect.”
The crowd cheered when Gunnar crushed Eryka’s mouth to his.
I smiled, but the young couple would need to forgive me. My eyes were only on my wife.
* * *
