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The cozy tavern bustled with Fae from both the Iron and Night Realms. The tiny town on the border between them was not large enough to be marked on any official map, and its inhabitants cared not which Fae sat beside them as they drank from tankards of ale after long days of working in nearby mines or fields. In a corner, four muscled Night Fae nursed their glasses, scanning the crowd as they waited for her to appear.
A bell chimed as a newcomer pushed into the fray. No one paid her any attention as she ambled to the counter and ordered a glass of wine. The barkeep handed it to her, and only then did she push back her hood and scan the crowded room. The four males perked up at the sight of her, one nearly rising to his feet before his companion pushed him back into his seat.
The crowd did not part as she pushed her way through it, angling her approach to the back corner and sliding into a chair beside the male with a thick beard and a pile of hair atop his head. “You didn’t hear this from me,” she began, her voice low and fast. “My sister has been disappearing deep into the mountains for a week at a time for years. At first, I pressed her forwhere she went during her extended absence, since I would have to care for her farm while she was gone. The last time she went, I snooped in her late husband’s office, only to find a piece of correspondence that indicated her services would no longer be needed in three months’ time. It included instructions and mentions of a contract she had signed years ago preventing her from speaking on her activities, lest she wish a slow and painful death.”
The female sipped her wine, a shudder wracking her as if the memories were haunting enough. The four males barely breathed as she spoke, hanging onto every word with their hearts pounding. They knew they were close to finding the lost princess.
“Being the nosy sister that I am, I kept searching until I came across a handful of old papers tucked into a book, hidden among old almanacs and farming tables. They detailed specific instructions for caring for a child in Vasvain. But there’s no way that’s possible, right? The highest mountain in the center of our continent is inaccessible. So I thought nothing of it until my friend overheard you all asking questions about new tunnels in the mountains a few days ago.”
Surreptitiously, the scruffy male pulled out a leather sack of coin from beneath the table and slid it to the female. “Your information has been most helpful. We’d appreciate it if you kept this conversation, and the information you found, to yourself.”
The female’s hands were quick, sweeping the payment into her lap and beneath her cloak and covering her action with a sip of wine. “My lips are sealed.” She nodded to them, then tossed her cloak over her dark hair and swept from the tavern without a backward glance.
The nearly identical males slumped back in their seats, releasing whooshes of air. The fourth one with shoulder-lengthsandy hair spoke first, the awe in his voice audible despite his low tone and the dim roar around them, “We fucking found her.”
“We need to send word to the others. Immediately,” the shaggy-haired one said, disregarding his half-full drink and the pretty females whose eyes swept over his muscled form as he bolted to the stairs that led to their temporary accommodations. The other three threw back their ales and followed him, hearts pounding with excitement. After all this time, all the years spent riding across the continent, the lost princess had been in the heart of it the entire time.
And they were about to finally save her.
IV
22
Isat in front of the hearth, watching the flames undulate over the burning wood, flakes of ash falling away and collecting beneath it. The smoke filling my nostrils was calming, for my pocket was heavy and my patience nonexistent as I waited for Izidora to finish dressing for the evening.
My thoughts turned to what had transpired since our arrival in the Iron Realm, and I sipped from the glass hanging lazily in my hand, welcoming the burn of the alcohol down my throat.
Unfortunately, my father had been correct in his assessment that I did not need leverage to coerce Izidora into doing what I wanted; she simply needed hope. Her light was both her strength and weakness, one that I was only partially okay with exploiting.
When she bounded to me, filled with brightness after her first lesson with the Angel, the opening I needed exposed itself, and I immediately took advantage. By mimicking her energy, I showed her the potential for me, for us, and what our future could look like, together. Slowly, she fell into the carefully laid trap, and when she let me take her, fuck, it was better than anydream I conjured during the twenty-one years I spent waiting for her.
The only downside to this new plan was that I had been falling deeper into her halo instead of lifting her into my darkness.
Watching as Izidora bloomed into the exquisite female whose fire captivated me at every turn was nothing short of glorious. She had changed me too, as much as I was loath to admit that. In front of her, I was able to keep my temper in check, though I snuck off during her sessions with Zuriel to beat the feelings from my body, either on training bags or the unfortunate soul who sparred with me. The last of my plans had yet to come to pass, and I still struggled to bite my tongue and bide my time. Soon, though, everything would fall into place.
It was not only me who noticed these changes; Drazen pulled me aside while Izidora sparred with some of my soldiers to ask if I was falling ill. I could not admit to him, or to anyone, that my mate’s light called to me from the depths of my depravity. I barely admitted to myself that I liked when she eased my pain. I vacillated between denial and acknowledgement, depending on whether I was between my mate’s silky legs.
There was no one else for me, and from the moment our bodies joined for the first time, I knew, deep down, that I was forever hers. The thread that tied us together hummed in agreement, and even two rooms away, her floral scent heightened, mixing with the woodsmoke before me.
Downing the last of the whisky, I hissed out the burn, then set the glass aside. Izidora appeared a moment later, the light pad of her feet against the floor discernable to my Dragon senses.
I rose to greet her, grinning wildly. “You look incredible,” I told her, gaze raking over the blue dress I had bought her from a shop we passed daily on our ride to Ryza Citadel.
“Thank you,” she blushed, and the rosy color only accentuated her radiance.
Securing her hand in the crook of my arm, I steered her toward the stairs that led to the roof, trying to breathe normally.
Our wedding had been a tricky subject the last time I brought it up, which was why I had yet to speak of it again, knowing it would break the tenuous peace that stretched between us. But Béke would start in a few days’ time, and I could no longer wait. I wanted to make a grand gesture for Izidora, giving my mate hope and a semblance of choice in the matter. That was all she ever wanted, and had said so many times.
Izidora wanted to be loved, but more than that, she wanted to be shown that she was loved. Words were not enough with her; I had to show her that she was safe with me, that I wanted her more than I wanted to breathe, and that she could be her truest self with me.
We were so alike in our desire to be loved that I knew exactly what I wanted to do for her the moment I decided to make the grand gesture.
Dropping her arm, I climbed the ladder and threw open the door, lifting myself onto the roof. Cedomir had prepared the space for a romantic dinner, setting up a small, intimate table ringed by magic-powered hearths, warming the area so Izidora could wear the beautiful off-the-shoulder dress without the need for a cloak. Rose petals of the purest white and bloodiest red scattered across the table spilled onto the ground, and the sky chose that night to display a rainbow of red, purple, and gold hues, admittedly one of the best sunsets I had ever seen. It was as if the Goddess herself had wished this moment to be perfect.
Izidora gasped at the arrangement when I hauled her through the hatch and onto the roof. My chest was tight, anticipation making it hard to breathe, but I managed to smile downat her as she whipped her head around, aquamarine eyes filled with excitement.
“This is the best date yet,” she beamed, and I swooped in, bending her backward as I kissed her deeply.
