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But no matter how many I healed, the Healing Magic inside me never seemed to grow less. It was almost as though the Power my people had given me was circling in a loop between us—the more I pushed it out to them, the more they fed it back to me, and around and around it went.
In a way, it reminded me of the pleasure loop I’d had with Krynn during the Public Quenching—the way the pleasure he and I had been feeling had spilled out into the audience, giving them pleasure as well.
It took a long time but finally every one of my new people had greeted me—and I had healed many of them. I felt absolutely exhausted and yet still strangely exhilarated. I knew it was time to go, but I wasn’t quite ready yet.
“My Lady, you must be so tired,” Krynn murmured in my ear. “Are you ready to end the Coronation now?”
“No—not yet.” I motioned for Lady Nolana and she came to my side.
“Yes, my Queen?”
“I know you said I shouldn’t do this, but I can’t help it,” I told her. “I have to be honest with my new people—I have to go with my heart.”
She gave me a knowing look.
“You wish to name one of your servants as Consort, don’t you?”
“Not just one of them—both of them,” I said firmly. “And if the Court doesn’t like it, well—that’s just too bad.”
A smile spread over her face.
“My Queen, after the number of them that you have healed and all the good will you’ve built tonight, I think you could name a Bridge Troll as your Consort and they would support you.”
I felt a rush of relief. I didn’t need anyone’s permission for what I was about to do, but it was good to know that Lady Nolana agreed with me. She had been in the Midnight Court much longer than I had and I sensed that she had good instincts on how the people would react to my announcement.
“People of the Midnight Court—Fae both Lesser and High!” she called, stepping out into the clearing again. “I call on you all to listen—the Queen has decided that she will name her Consort tonight after all!”
A cheer went up and the crowd, which had been milling around, grew quiet as they waited.
I rose from the Silver Throne, very aware of the filigree crown on my head.
“My people,” I said and again, my voice seemed to magically amplify.
I wondered distantly if it was some kind of magic that came with having the Royal blood. Or maybe it was a function of the crown—I didn’t know, but it was useful.
“Since the moment I came back to you, two Fae have been always by my side. They have protected me and cared for me. They shielded me from assassination attempts and healed me when I was ill,” I said. “I have come to love and care for them very much and that is why I am choosing them both as my Royal Consorts. Their names are…”
I waited a beat and there was a tense pause—I could feel the whole clearing holding its breath. In that moment, I reached for my guys’ hands. With Sel on my left and Krynn on my right, I entwined my fingers with theirs and squeezed.
“Seldarin, the Captain of the Palace Guard and Krynn, the Royal Records Keeper and Historian,” I finished. “I love them both and they love me—they will stand by my side as I govern you and help me to rule the Dark Fae fairly and with compassion.”
As I spoke, I pushed my emotions outwards. All the love and desire and devotion between myself and Krynn and Sel…I willed the Power inside me to amplify it, the same way the magic somehow amplified my voice. I wanted the Dark Fae to feel what I felt—to understand in their bones that this was unequivocally the right choice both for me and for the kingdom.
There was another moment of silence…and then a roar went up. To my relief, the crowd wasn’t just accepting my announcement—they seemed excited about it!
“I can’t believe it,” Sel muttered beside me, his eyes wide with shock. “They’re not angry.”
“I can’t believe it either!” Krynn shook his head and looked at me. “You did well to name us Royal Consorts and not King Consorts, my Lady,” he said to me. “The people are happy that you’re keeping your power.”
“No, they’re happy because we love each other and they can feel it,” I said, smiling at both of them. “They’re happy because they know this is right.”
The cheering went on for some time and then Lady Nolana raised her hands and thanked everyone and said it was time to get back to the Palace.
“I think that went rather well,” she said to me, as they filed away from the clearing. “Certainly better than it would have if you hadn’t healed so many of your new subjects before you made your announcement.”
“It went a hell of a lot better than I would have expected.” Sel still looked stunned. “I can’t believe they’re not upset about having not one but two half-breeds as Royal Consorts!”
“No Queen has ever had more than one Royal Consort before,” Krynn agreed. “Except Lolth herself, of course.”
