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Caleb spun around to face me, bowed, and held his hand out. “May I have this dance, milady?”
I set my hand in it and nodded.
We spun around the dancefloor, smiling and laughing as we teased each other. Jolie and Nico joined us and halfway through the song, Nico and Caleb did a strange synchronized spin that ended with Caleb dancing with Jolie and Nico dancing with me.
“Having fun?” Nico asked.
I nodded, letting him lead me around the room. “It’s nice to not be worried about the H.E. and actually enjoy ourselves.”
“Yes, but now you have a new issue,” he said and then smiled. “Or should I say new blessing?”
Glancing in the direction he was looking; I saw Triston dancing with Lily.
“Yes,” I agreed. “Blessing.”
“Make sure you enjoy yourself thoroughly tonight as the next two days are going to be full of boring politics and arguments with the elders,” he warned, kissed my cheek, and spun me into Caleb’s arms.
“Hello, my queen,” he purred and kissed me lightly on the lips.
We danced to two more songs before all agreeing it was time to retire for the night. Lily asked to sleep in bed with us and there was no way I could deny her when she looked scared.
I spooned my body around hers while Caleb spooned his body behind mine. “Don’t worry, Lily. We will always protect you. You can rest safe with us.”
She sniffled and said, “I miss Mama.”
Petting her head, I nodded and said, “I know. I miss my mama, too.” Or at least the one I’d had when I was her age.
Cuddling closer to me, she rested her head against my chest and her sniffling slowed until she fell into a deep sleep.
Caleb kissed the back of my head and said, “Go to sleep, girls. I will keep you safe.”
“We will keep you safe,” Triston countered.
I nearly bolted upright, shocked to hear his voice, but didn’t so I wouldn’t disturb Lily. Instead, I slowly raised my head to find Triston, Branson, and Riddick on the floor around the bed in their animal forms.
Smiling, I rested my head back down and relaxed. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one feeling protective of our newest pack member.
Chapter
Nineteen
The two days of business meetings at the Summit were more boring than I had anticipated. Mainly because there weren’t any true disputes or arguments, just trade agreements, discussions of potential new business deals, and a few of the elders just glaring at Caleb and I.
Riddick was our guard for the two days while Triston and Branson stayed back to take care of Lily. Those three got to stay home and play together, something I was very jealous of.
As we exited the room on the second day, Jolie stretched her arms up over her head with a squeal and said, “Finally, sunshine!”
Emrys shook his head. “She speaks as though we’d locked her away for a month.”
“Might as well have been,” Jolie muttered. “The Summit meetings are somewhat useless now that we all actually communicate outside of it.”
“True,” Emrys acknowledged with a dip of his head. “These business meetings were really only necessary back when we were still at war with each other.”
“Perhaps we can convince Amos, or whoever runs it next time, to have a single business day and the rest can be the tournament or we can just shorten how long the Summit is,” Nico said.
“Let’s head to the arena for the beginning of the tournament,” Katar said. “I’m curious to see how many participants we will have this year since none of the royal family will be participating.”
“Depends on what the prize is,” Dan commented behind us.
