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But how could it be? After what she’d endured at the hands of men? They had raped her. They had undoubtedly struck her with no measure. Choked her, probably.
Fuck like it’s spring.Well, Sebian, what if fucking her like spring meant that I would do all these things to her? Sully our lovemaking with the memories of these men, hmm?
“We are desperately late,” I said and rose, letting her slip off me before I strode toward the door in something that felt too much like panic. “We’ve delayed this for weeks. The least we owe the people out there—”
I stopped short of the doors and glanced back. There she stood, my beautiful little dove, beside the chair where I’d left her. Looking at me. Confused. Maybe even hurt, as if I’d botched this all over again, achieving exactly what I’d wanted to avoid. What if she thought I rejected her because she appalled me?
I hurried back, took her into my arms, and kissed her. I was not good with words, not when it came to things too close to my past. So I poured everything unsaid into this one kiss.I desire you. You are not filthy to me. You are not sullied, or tainted, or worth any less of my love and admiration. Perhaps even more.
When my lips parted from hers, my chest heaving, I took her hand into mine. I stared at her for just a second too long, my skin pulling taut at the way she looked at me, into me, right through me. As if she knew.
“Shame and hate are heavy burdens, Malyr. I won’t let them drag me down,”her voice resonated my thoughts. “And neither should you.”
My jaws clenched. I was letting go of my hate, slowly, making room for more love and joy in my life each day. But the shame…
A knock sounded on the door, followed by Asker poking his head through the gap. “The crowd is drunk and merry, but the lords are growing rather restless.”
Finally, a worthwhile interruption.
“We are coming,” I assured him with a nod, then took Galantia’s hand into mine, brushing a white feather back into place on the collar from which it swayed. “Are you ready for this?”
She wiped a fine sheen of sweat from her temple, her neck so wonderfully flushed by the effects of spring. “No. But I’ll do it anyway.”
That statement resonated like no other as I led her out of our personal rooms, along the silent corridor, and toward the gate. For nearly eleven years, I’d struggled to avenge my family, make a home for my people, and take my rightful place as king. Now that it was near, fear, doubt, and anxiety framed my every step out onto the plateau.
My boots met the black flagstone of the Winged Keep’s outer expanse, where two makeshift thrones waited for us. Raven and human aristocrats lined our sides, including Lord Taradur—presume I had to call himKingTaradur now. After all, King Barat had decided to die weeks before our attack on Ammarett, as I’d later been informed.
After much discussion, my advisors and I had agreed that placing Taradur at the head of what remained of the kingdom of Dranada was in our best interest. Fewer chances at revolts and quarrels among humans for power, which would only have destabilized the lands further. Not to mention that it put an official end to the decade-old war.
Considering that Taradur had stood by his word and helped me take Tidestone, he had proven trustworthy enough. As a precaution, his son was given Hanneling Hold—as a bannerman of mine, obligated to wed a Raven lady—which lay too far south, should he ever grow too ambitious. Lady, or rather, Princess Cecilia, was ordered to marry Lord Thalios, a pathfinder with no living mate…
… until Galantia had insisted to allow her to choose among the Raven lords available, undermining my decision. Something that would take some getting used to, but the end result was the same, ensuring peace.
I took a moment to let my gaze sweep over the scene below, a sea of Ravens, though I could spot the occasional blond, copper, or brown shroud. Murmurs, whispers, and merry guffaws blended into a chorus of collective anticipation that thrummed the air. In the gaps between it all, ravens perched on ladder towers, gathered in flocks on rooftops, and clung to the stone parapets.
I led Galantia to the edge of the stairs, and that was all it took for the masses to explode into a roar of cheers and excited caws. Not a single colorful thread on my black outfit distracted from her white dress as I positioned myself behind her. Like that, I became darkness that framed her, extending through the night that slowly settled on Valtaris.
Above us, stars sparkled.
But none brighter than my little white dove.
ChapterFifty-One
Galantia
Present Day, Valtaris
Fanning a hand at my face, I strode along the red-carpeted corridor that led to our personal rooms. It did little to alleviate that cursed heat that followed me, getting worse with every emerging bud outside on the few trees that came back to life. How could I make Malyr understand that—
Giggles.
My steps slowed, attention going to one of the rooms where servants kept goblets, the door ajar. Beyond the gap, a guard’s naked buttocks clenched, his breeches lowered halfway down his thighs. With each thrust, he pinned a giggling maid to the wall, both so engulfed in their lovemaking that they didn’t even notice my hushing by.
I continued, my fingers turning clammy. Sebian hadn’t exaggerated, given that this was the third couple I’d spotted in the throes of passion today. Everyone in this keep was under the spell of spring, spending their free time making love.
Everyone but me.
I stepped into our sleeping chamber, finding it empty, but the scent of lemongrass and rose told me that Malyr was nearby. Moisture clung to the air, so easily distinguished with my amplified senses. He’d had Tjema draw him a bath, hadn’t he?
