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I snorted and watched him go. When I faced the hall again, heated crimson eyes locked with mine.
“Mira released you,” I said, slipping my fingers through Erik’s once he was at my side.
“I fled, like a coward.”
I kissed the top of his shoulder. “It is not cowardly. She is a force that no man can truly tame.”
Erik took a sip from my horn. “What was all that about with Tavish?”
“Merely your queen being rather protective of her king.”
Erik tugged me against his chest, lips close. “Is that so?”
I sighed when he dipped his face, nose dragging along my throat. “Yes.” Hells, my voice was hardly more than a gasp.
“Songbird?”
“Serpent.”
“I’ve grown tired of this revel.”
My stomach backflipped. “Same.”
With a touch of fire in his eyes, the Ever King took my hand and led me from the hall, not pausing until his arms and legs were tangled around mine, and the new peace we’d claimed truly felt within reach.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
THE SERPENT
On the morrowwe would sail, once again, through the Chasm, but there were final alterations to make in the threads that once kept the Ever a dreary, vicious land.
A week after the coronation, the courtyard in front of the palace was packed with folk from the township, curious, no doubt, why the king and queen summoned the noble houses and the crew of the Ever.
One mention of my plans to Livia after we’d abandoned her own celebration and were breathless and tangled in our bed, she’d practically split through her skin with anticipation. There was no turning back, and in midnight conversations with my songbird, we’d added more to our upheaval.
I would never let on, but a strange disquiet prickled through my insides. I’d crowned a queen, fought a war, gave refuge to a stoic elven princess—but these changes would impact each house. Every isle, every edge of the Ever Sea.
As if she sensed the unease, Livia leaned in and whispered, “You are making the right moves, Erik. I think your father would be wholly enraged.”
A grin, sincere and wide, broke over my mouth. “Your words help, Songbird.”
The crowds hushed when I rose at the head of the courtyard. “At sunrise we return our new allies to the earth realms with gratitude and an alliance that ought never have been broken.”
Applause and grunts of approval rippled through the crowd.
“Before we bid farewell, we have boons to grant and titles to bestow. First, the crew of the Ever Ship.”
Men, gruff and stern, wove through the crowd until more than three dozen men were aligned below me. I didn’t know how my words would be received.
“I have thought a great deal about the notion of loyalty in these trying weeks. In my life, I have witnessed a king demand the death of a noble family to prove loyalty. I have witnessed forced bonds to demand it.” I hesitated. No one moved. No one seemed to breathe. “I am honored to sail amongst such a crew as you, but blood bonds have secured the crew thus far. I offer to end those bonds.”
A few murmurs rose at that. Some of the crew shifted about, uncomfortable.
“It would be my honor to sail with you, not from a bond, but from loyalty from us all.” I swallowed. “I do not want to be a king like Thorvald.”
A few startled looks were expected. I didn’t stop.
“You each have a place on the Ever Ship, but of your own will. I would be honored to have your fealty on those decks, but I will not force it any longer.”
