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It spilled across my torso like silk, hugging my curves without being restrictive. When my arms dropped to my sides, I found that the metal moved and flexed with me, not inhibiting my dexterity in the slightest. “What about my wings?” I questioned, glancing over my shoulder in hopes of seeing holes in the back.
“Magically enhanced to allow them to burst through,” Ruslan smirked, eyes glittering as he drank in my form. “Unfortunately, I can’t do anything to protect them against attack, so you’ll haveto pay attention to them. I know you are more than capable of doing that, but I will always be watching them too. ”
I nodded, then tapped into the crystal wrapped in white flame and moonlight in my chest, bringing the white, feathery wings into existence. My muscles didn’t even protest as they settled behind me, and I strode to the full-length mirror, fluffing them proudly as I admired my new armor. The tips of the largest feathers arced toward the ceiling above us, and the light that filtered through the windows caught and reflected off their diamond-like surface. Then the light caught on the new chest plate, and I took a step closer, squinting at the small pieces of metal hammered together. “Are those roses?” I asked, my mouth falling open in awe.
“For my insidious bloom,” Ruslan hummed, coming to stand behind me. Warmth filled my chest from the certainty that everything he’d done for me was to help me blossom into the strong, powerful female I was becoming.
Ruslan reached around my waist, finding leather straps along my hips and pulling them taught before tying them and tucking them away. I turned to the side, still absorbed in the fine details of the metalwork, causing him to duck out of the way of my wings. He chuckled and strode to the bed, where more unopened cases sat.
“There’s more,” he said, and I waited patiently for him to produce the next surprise.
When he returned to the mirror, he held up a pair of etched metal wrist covers, with long-stemmed roses displaying deadly thorns running up the middle. A smile spread across my face as I held out my arms and allowed him to secure them in place. “These are incredible,” I enthused, turning my arms over and admiring them from every angle.
“I selfishly bought these for you so that I knew you’d be safe, but I think after the past few days, you need that too,”he murmured, planting a kiss on my neck before backing away. Tears pricked my eyes, and I drew a long breath, holding it for a moment before blowing it out again.
“I do.”
When he returned this time, he held armor for my legs, the top half similar to the interlocking roses that covered my torso, while the bottom mirrored the engraved metal with long-stemmed thorny roses on either side of my calves. Ruslan knelt before me, securing the bottom first, then lacing up the tops at the back of my thighs and securing them using the strings he’d tucked away earlier.
I smoothed back his dark hair, running my nails along his scalp and eliciting a groan. His eyes were hungry when he rose, towering over me. “There is one other piece to complete the ensemble,” he purred, tucking a wayward lock of hair behind my ear. “Well, technically two.”
The last velvet case remained unopened as he brought it to me, and I reached out a tentative hand, flicking one lock, then the other, and opening the maw of the box. My jaw nearly hit the floor when I beheld what was inside. A cushion nestled twin swords of dark iron-gray metal, short enough for me to wield both simultaneously. It wasn’t the swords that caught my eye, but the glittering round garnets set into each hilt. Their color was a deep red, rich enough to be freshly sown blood, and around them was a ring of tiny obsidian stones, circling the massive gems in a protective embrace. I lifted one, then the other, from the box, finding them surprisingly light. When the sun caught the blades, I noticed the roses inlaid in a silver metal there, nearly invisible until the light caught it. I grinned at the meaning. No one would see them until my blade already arced for their neck.
Ruslan’s thoughtfulness melted my heart, and as I returned my attention to him, I couldn’t help the love that spilledfrom deep within me. “Thank you,” I managed to whisper, momentarily overcome.
“The High Priestess will tell you that the garnet surrounded by obsidian will protect you in battle and help you channel your emotions in a manageable way,” he said with a shrug. He stepped toward me, careful to dodge the blades that slowly dropped to my sides. His fingers twisted in my hair, supporting my head as he tilted it up at him. “Believe what you want, but I won’t take any chances with your safety, whether you choose me or not. And you deserve to feel safe, Izidora. I hope this armor can give you a semblance of that while you continue to heal.”
My throat thickened, and a lone tear tracked down my cheek. Ruslan’s rough thumb swiped it away before it reached my chin. “I love you,” I said around the thickness in my throat.
“And I love you, sprite,” he murmured, dropping his lips to mine and capturing them in a searing kiss – one that spoke of just how much he cared, how much he wanted me to be safe, and how much he wantedmeto be the one to give that safety to myself.
“Wear this to the competition today,” he requested when he finally released me. “And wield those swords with all the fierceness I know you possess.”
The smile I flashed at him was both feral and saccharine. “They won’t see my thorns until it's too late.”
“That’s my sprite,” Ruslan purred, hands roaming shamelessly over my body before he pulled me into him again and kissed me roughly.
Laughing, I broke away and carefully tossed my new swords onto the bed so my hands were free to roam his body as well.
“As much as I would love to stay with you and strip you out of this armor I so painstakingly secured you into, I have some matters to attend to,” Ruslan groaned, resting his forehead against mine.
I chewed my lip, causing his eyes to darken. A hand slipped between us as he tugged it free. “Later,” he promised, the raspiness of his voice heating my low belly. With a sigh of protest, I relaxed my grip on his tunic and he stepped away, quickly dressing himself in more formal attire to leave our apartment at Ryza Citadel.
“I suppose I can go find Liliana,” I said, my voice lilting up as if that wasn’t the only other plan I had for the day. I had missed my friend so much, and after she’d sworn to stick by my side the previous day, I wanted to waste no more time catching up.
“You should. But don’t get into too much trouble. I’ve heard now just how wild she can be,” Ruslan teased, and I grinned back at him.
“No promises,” I sang, untying the armor and arranging it carefully across the bed.
“Think you can put it on by yourself later?” Ruslan asked, slipping the Iron Crown over his brow, the final piece of his kingly attire in place.
“I believe in myself,” I laughed, then tugged on a warm fur jacket over my tunic, preparing to depart with him.
We walked hand in hand out the door and down the spiral staircase, only parting when Ruslan had to go right toward his office and I needed to go left to the dining hall where breakfast was underway.
“I’ll see you later, sprite,” he murmured, planting a kiss on my forehead and then striding away. I was so focused on the thoughtful male who only wanted to see me safe that I didn’t hear my friend approach.
“You know I hate you just a little bit for how sweet he is to you,” Liliana joked, and I startled, throwing up a shield of white magic around myself on instinct.
