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Dueling emotions collided in my chest. Erik was cruel, he slaughtered men and strung them up by their innards. The man didn’t coddle, I wasn’t certain he knew how, yet his simple reminder of who I was left me sitting straighter, more empowered than before.
Now, he wouldn’t look at me. He buried the moment of tenderness beneath smug grins and indifference.
The feast was uneventful. Most folk kept a healthy distance from the lead table. Few came to wish Erik congratulations on the successful journey through the Chasm. They’d pause to sneer at me until the king shouted for them to keep moving.
I managed to eat a few bites of a strange, gray fish with a sweet glaze that reminded me of heated honey. Celine peered around Larsson more than once, as if to ensure I hadn’t trembled myself into a puddle of tears.
The twitch of concern on her face meant something. It meant a great deal.
At long last, Erik stood. The scrape of his chair over the polished stones on the floor silenced the hall. He studied his people with a narrowed look for a few breaths before he spoke. “For ten turns we’ve been locked away, prisoners in our own kingdom. Those days are at an end.”
Cheers echoed through the hall. Folk raised their goblets and shouted Erik’s name until he raised a hand.
“We have gone to the land of our enemies.” He looked back at me, a dark gleam in his eyes. “And returned with a way to heal our kingdom.”
I didn’t waver under his stare. He wanted a challenge, and I wouldn’t be the first to break.
“Fate is interesting in her games,” Erik went on. “Livia of House Ferus is no mere prize. I have witnessed the use of her ability to heal poisoned soil.” A few gasps followed. My pulse pounded in my skull. Erik silenced everyone once more. “Her worth to me and this kingdom is unmatched. She has become the mantle of the Ever King.”
Voices rose in a bit of stun and chaos. Chatter echoed over the long tables, gasps and murmurs pummeled against us in a frenzy.
Erik allowed it for a dozen heartbeats before lifting a palm to draw back the silence. “It is for this reason I make a deeper claim beyond the power in her veins. Tonight, I claim her as mine.”
I was spinning.
“Songbird.”
I startled. Erik took my hand and tilted his head toward a wizened man with milky eyes, and two black ribbons draped over his hands. Without a spare glance my way, the old man wrapped our clasped hands in the ribbon and hummed.
Sharp prickles of pain shot through the tips of my fingers, burning up my arm, until it reached my heart. I clenched my jaw to keep from doubling over. Erik’s eyes nearly looked black, and a muscle twitched in his jaw.
For a fleeting moment, I felt as though the king pulled me into an embrace. His smoke and rain scent surrounded me. The heat of his skin kissed mine even though we hadn’t moved any closer. As quickly as it began, the sensation faded.
The moment the ribbons were removed from our hands, Erik released me, and hurried to put distance between us.
He faced his people again, a new grit to his voice. “The woman is not to be touched, threatened, or harmed in any way. Those who try will die. You will be known to me through the mark of the claim, and you will be granted no mercy. As the claimed and mantle of your king, she will have your respect. Nothing less.”
Erik didn’t say more before returning to his seat. For the first time since he tore me from my land, I didn’t want to flee. I didn’t care if a hundred eyes were locked on me, I wanted the king to face me. I wanted to understand why the unease in my heart didn’t belong to me. The pressure, the burden of the unknowns, belonged wholly to him.
* * *
“Celine will take you back to my chambers,” Erik said after the feast had transformed into dancing and celebration. Tunes that reminded me of falling rain flowed through the room, but at the king’s movement, people came to a halt.
“You’re leaving?”
“Upset I won’t be beside you, love?”
I scoffed. “Not at all. I wondered how long I might be able to enjoy myself before I’m burdened by the sight of you again.”
Erik’s eyes brightened. “Afraid it won’t be long. Whenever we return from the land realms, we record the interactions. I’ll be aggravating you soon enough.”
Then he was gone. Swallowed up in a crowd of sea fae who wanted to speak to the king.
“Hurry.” Celine appeared at my side. “I’ve had all I can take of this damn dress.”
I followed her back toward the corridors, but when we slipped through the doors, we ran into a broad man with dark hair slicked back.
“Lord Gavyn,” Celine said, voice soft. The breathlessness of it was unnerving. The woman wore shaved teeth and attacked enemy ships. She was brisk and formidable, not meek and soft.
