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Confused, I sat up, wondering if one of the servants had barged into my room in my sleep. Then I realized I wasn’t in my oversized palace room at all.
Right. Everything came rushing back to me, and I remembered our shoddy escape in the boat, and our borderline torturous meeting at the Verdanian tavern. It was crazy to think that so much had happened in such a short amount of time, but the past week felt more like a full year of political intrigue.
The events we’d both intentionally and inadvertently set into action were going to shape the landscape of Camdaria and much of the continent for generations to come. If we failed, if we succeeded… there was so much riding on it, it was hard not to be intimidated.
The sheer weight had me reaching out for Kai in bed, only for my palm to end up flopping around, searching for a body that wasn’t there. It was like my brain was slowly returning to life, and I realized that if I were smelling delicious food, and I wasn’t cooking, there was only one option for who could be in the kitchen.
Oh, and I was absolutely ravenous: stomach eating itself, head starting to spin, hands shaking. I’d eaten plenty at the tavern, yet it felt like I hadn’t ingested anything at all. It was because I finally felt safe enough to get out of survival mode… or I was spoiled by how often I could pig out to my heart’s content at the palace.
Letting out a huge yawn, I got out of bed and went down the stairs. I did have to pause about halfway to extend my arms and legs out, and it was a good stretch, but only a few moments later, I was in the kitchen.
I’d been planning on going up behind Kai, wrapping my arms around him, and pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades, since it wasn’t like I was tall enough to reach the back of his neck. But I had to stop in the doorway and take in the sight awaiting me.
Kai was in the kitchen all right, shirtless, with the same pants he’d been wearing since we escaped the capital. I was in the same boat, with only the clothes we’d snuck into Lambert with. I was excited to get a change in outfit so I’d feel less scummy, but I figured that would be for later in the day.
Because now, my handsome, charming mate was studiously frying eggs, with a look of pure concentration on those features I’d gotten to know so well. It was just so… domestic, lovely, and adorable.
It was incongruent to think of my alpha mate and captain as adorable, but that’s the only way I could describe how his tongue was sticking out slightly, his dark brows furrowed, and it was while I was drinking all that in that I felt so incredibly loved.
True, Kai was cooking because he was hungry, but he was also cooking for me. He was being an alpha through and through, providing for me because I was precious to him. Because he cared.
He didn’t complain about the effort he was going through, and didn’t resent that I had needs. No, it was clear by his expression he was taking joy in every step of the process.
Naturally, I couldn’t be so moved without Kai feeling it through our bond, and he turned to me with such a beaming grin that my breath caught in my throat.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he said, voice full of so much tenderness, I wanted to cry.
“Hey there, handsome,” I said, finally closing the distance between us and wrapping my arms around him just like I wanted to. However, I was facing his front rather than his back, so I let my head rest against one of his pecs.
His pecs were nice.
“It smell delicious in here.”
“Does it? It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to cook anything.” Kai turned to the stove, and I saw two other skillets pushed onto the back burners, set to warm. It was interesting to see such modern technology in a house that felt like it was from a bygone era. The pace certainly seemed slower than anything on Camdaria.
“It does, and I’m starving!”
“Well, why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll serve you up?”
I flushed deeply, struck by the idea of my mate serving me food like we were a real couple, in our own home, living our actual lives rather than ricocheting from one crisis to another. There was no curse, no tyrannical father, no war. Just a man who loved his witch of a partner, and a witch who loved him in return.
When Kai got the food in front of me, it wasn’t the most beautiful, but it didn’t need to be. It was a plate heaped with runny eggs—my favorite way to eat them outside of deviled eggs—some salty meat, and fried potatoes.
The two of us sat across from each other and dug in. There wasn’t a ton of talking at first, but once we eased the sharp edge of hunger, the conversation began to flow.
For once, it wasn’t about my curse, the crown, or some conflict we were trying to survive. It was about the beautiful garden outside. About how we slept. It was simple, easy, and oh so perfect.
“So, do you have an idea for what we should do today?” Kai asked eventually when we were down to the last bits of food on our plates.
“Well, I think we should check in on the others, show them our place, and have them show us theirs.”
“Makes sense.”
“Then we should talk to Aodin about getting some fresh clothes.”
“Oh, I found a few robes when I was searching around this morning. They’re not, say, appropriate for the market, but should be fine for lounging about and visiting our friends.”
“Lounging,” I said, knowing I had a dry grin on my face. “When’s the last time we’ve done something like that?”
