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Kai must’ve learned that crude gesture from Quinn, the Night Realm queen. When she came to Valora, most citizens of the kingdom had never met a human before, and they were unfamiliar with many human customs.
The first time Quinn met the gnomes, she gave them a thumbs-up and they adopted it as their own personal salute for her. I remember hearing it had spread to the gnome districts in the Day Realm, and they always give a thumbs-up to the royals as a sign of respect.
How adorable is that?
I wish I could’ve seen it for myself.
I never should’ve left Valora. If I’d stayed and stuck it out, maybe I could’ve had a chance at happiness. Maybe I could’ve met someone like Kai and had a love story of my own. I could’ve traveled and been a true explorer of the magical world I wasn’t allowed to experience.
That’s a lot ofwhat-ifsfor a past I can’t change, and I tell myself to quit it.
Wallowing in the hole I’m in won’t get me out of it.
“What are you thinking about?” Kai asks. “You became very sullen.”
“Possibilities.” I flick my hand flippantly like it doesn’t matter. “Ones I missed out on.”
“Well, you don’t want to miss out on this.” Sweeping his arm over the table, he uses a proper tone when he asks, “Won’t you please join me for this meal, milady?”
Nibbling my lip, I step away from the stove and closer to the food.
Now that I’m letting myself believe I can have it, I’m filled with giddy anticipation.
Kai rotates to the counter behind him and grabs a cake knife from a large ceramic jar of utensils. Then he cuts into the chocolate dessert, sinking through the thick layers.
After placing the slice on a plate, Kai comes around to my side of the table with a fork in his other hand. Instead of handing me the food, he scoops a gooey chunk onto the utensil.
Extending the fork to me, he holds the cake just a few inches away from my face.
“You’re going to feed it to me?” I ask, thinking he’s joking around because the action feels so intimate.
“Why not?” Kai responds seriously, his voice a bit huskier than normal. “I live to serve you because you are my queen.”
My queen.
I’ve hated that title for so long, but coming from Kai, it sounds like possessiveness.
Like belonging. Not to a kingdom, but tosomeone.
ToKai.
I like it.
Flips of excitement join the hunger pangs in my stomach.
I want Kai. I want the cake. I want Kai and the cake at the same time. In a perfect world, I could eat it off his abs, but I’ll settle for this.
Swaying forward, I take the bite.
The sugar explosion hits my tongue. Closing my eyes, I chew slowly, savoring it.
I’d almost forgotten what good food tastes like. In Armand’s captivity, I was occasionally given crumbs. Literal crumbs. Whatever was left of the broken crackers at the bottom of the empty crate was mine. The chalky pieces were dry and too salty, and they always made me hungrier and thirstier than I was before.
But this cake… it’s so moist I could probably inhale it with a straw.
Once I swallow, I look at Kai, expecting him to have the fork loaded a second time, but he’s just standing there with the empty utensil suspended in the air.
The way he’s staring at me sends a white-hot chill through my body.
