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His finger hooked behind my ear and pushed the hair away, tickling the edge of my ear as he trailed his finger toward my neck.
“As you pointed out, Drysden and Nolcola couldn’t be together because of their kingdom’s fierce feud, but they met in the forest often, taking the hidden trails and relying on the spirits that haunted the woods to protect them.” His chest bounced once with a light laugh. “Like my mother, Nolcola believed in the unseen. She felt that the war would be won not with battle cries, but with the strength of something beyond our realm.”
Fitz ceased his movement and set his open palm between my shoulder blades as if to hold me closer.
“Legend says, it was the final night before the greatest battle that he snuck away to spend his last moments with his love, cradled beneath a silver willow tree, resting much like we are right now. Drysden knew the next day would be his end and he wanted every second of freedom to be spent with her.”
The story paused, leaving nothing but our joined breathing to fill the air. It was as though he wanted to know what it felt like, how his predecessor had survived that night knowing what would come with the morning light. The air chilled as if those spirits from his ancestry had been summoned by his words.
To be with him, reliving the past, cradled in his arms like his ancestors had once been… I couldn’t put words to it. The reverence, the peace, the chills that ran up my spine as his palm rubbed the length of my back again, it was a moment I knew I would never forget.
“According to our lore,” he started again, though his voice had dropped to something shy of a whisper, “Nolcola’s grief became so strong, knowing she would lose her one true love, that her heartache split the realm between our world and the world of the spirits, causing a rift beneath the tree that worked as a doorway for the mystical and supernatural. Forever indebted to her for their freedom, the spirits pledged their service to their new queen as she slumbered in her lover’s arms.”
I drew closer, feeling a connection to Nolcola even if I’d never met her before. The fierce need to protect the ones I loved resonated with me. That was why I came to Nolcovia in the first place, to keep Fitz safe, ensure his happiness, and protect him from potential heartache.
The faint touch of his trailing fingers followed the curve of my shoulder blade, slid along the edge of my shoulder, then traced the length of my arm until Fitz cupped my hand in his. “When Drysden woke the next morning, Nolcola was gone. He assumed she had fled, not eager to face their fate or see his demise at the hands of her king. He took his place at the head of the army that had once been thousands but had dwindled to a few hundred. They knew their end drew near, but he faced it with courage. As the trumpets sounded,” Fitz pressed my palm against his chest, warmed by the strength of his own hand that covered it, “they charged.”
Fear almost kept my voice silenced, but I needed a happy ending. “And true love triumphed and saved them all?”
“No.” A weight came to rest against the top of my head, as if Fitz had pressed his cheek against my hair. “It was a bloodbath. King Sagure fought with the savagery of fifty men, ruthless and unyielding. Drysden’s final hope of survival hung by a thread as King Sagure took him by the hair and pulled his sword back to lop off the head of the one who dared to defy him. Drysden’s army faced extinction at the hands of the ones they were trying to liberate. All had been lost.”
“This is a dark turn, Fitz.” I opened my palm enough that his fingers slipped between mine and locked together. “How did he escape?”
“Love,” Fitz whispered. “Because, back at the wall, Nolcola watched in horror, unable to help. She cried out for her true love with every fiber of her being and the spirits were summoned in full force.” His grip on my hand tightened. “They took control of her herd, entering the sheep to give them unworldly strength—“
“Like the Eonix and the snoods,” I answered quickly, excited I knew something.
“No,” he corrected gently. “Eonix are built from the evil deeds of mankind, but the Limadith, they were created from the best of the world and they took possession of Nolcola’s herd.” I felt his head shake as if he knew how crazy this sounded. “The rams at the head of the herd ran full force at the gates, splintering them in the process, and then fought valiantly to save Drysden’s men.”
“But he was about to be headless, how did he—“
“I told you.” Fitz squeezed my hand tighter. “Love.” He drew in a slow breath and tightened his opposite arm around me. “There is one last type of spirit that was loosed from the other realm. One that can only be called by an act of selfless love. Because as Nolcola charged into battle, unarmed, untrained, but determined to save Drysden, the Aoger were released. The souls of the most valiant warriors who’d ever lived. The army of King Sagure was wiped out in minutes, leaving Drysden in the arms of his one true love while his army shouted her praises—“
“Haishee,” I finished for him. “She is mighty.”
“Haishee. Yes,” Fitz whispered against my hair, “she is.”
“So, all these goat heads around the palace and in the city…”
“Ram heads,” Fitz corrected as he finished my thought. “They’re all in tribute to Nolcola and her sacrifice for the kingdom. Even the name of our country speaks of her and the power she brought to the crown.”
My head started to shake. “She was a commoner and she was an outsider, part of the old kingdom.”
I felt his muscles tense. “But she saved everyone and unified the new country under Drysden Fitzborough.”
In that context, I understood why his mother was fighting for her right to the crown. There was precedence and history.
Using our joined hands, I pressed against Fitz’s chest to bring my head up to face him. “You don’t see the glaring contradictions? A woman saved all of them, but women aren’t allowed to rule. Your parents are freaking out about noble blood and whether or not the one you choose to marry will be from your kingdom…” My protest trailed off as I realized I was giving too much away. After all, I was the only foreign option. The argument would only benefit me.
Cold drifted in to fill the space as Fitz removed his other hand from my back. Gingerly, his fingers traced the outside of my face. “But it’s also why I am forced to marry. Drysden on his own was not complete. The king is nothing without his queen.” His touch curved around my chin, bringing his thumb to rest against my bottom lip. “I’m starting to understand why.”
“But she was common,” I said softly, watching his gaze drop to my lips, transfixed. “And she was foreign.”
“And she was smart,” Fitz agreed as he applied pressure, urging me closer. “And beautiful.” He swallowed hard, looking more desperate by the second. “And she saw things he never could. Understood the world in ways that normally left him blind.”
Our bodies shifted as he leaned toward me. The rustle of fabric fuzzed up the air as he tried to find a better position. On instinct, I slipped backward, moving to my knees, one on either side of his leg as I sank into the couch cushion. With my lips parted, breath shallow, and heart thudding like the uncontrolled beat of a horse at a dead run, I felt paralyzed between the choice of advancing or retreating. His lips called to me, but that direction would be laced with pain and heartache.
“All he saw was love, Coco.” He followed my movement, stealing back the space I put between us. “And it was worth the risk.” Grip firmly locked around my chin, Fitz moved to close the gap between us. Our lips brushed and the world went electric.
