Page 131 of His Realm

“You told me my confidence was one of my best qualities.”

“Oh, it is, baby. Come here.”

“What? No. I am not that easy. I have to be wooed.”

I scoffed. “Wooed, huh? Okay,” I said, smiling at him over my shoulder. “My dear prince, you make my life complete. I cannot fathom how I could ever be happy without you and would appreciate it if you came with me so I could worship you in my bed.”

He ran to reach me.

FOURTEEN

It was an odd place to be in. On the one hand, the king had saved me from dying with transfusions of his powerful blood, and that was more than you could ask of anyone. On the other, he was going to send me to Ophir to be Ødger’s mate without thinking twice about that. He even had Cirillo ready to go as my replacement as Varic’s consort. I had no idea how to act with Messina Maedoc.

I should have known it would be Ode who helped me with my quandary.

“You are appreciative,” she was saying as we walked arm in arm to the rehearsal for the wedding. “You are your regular charming self to him in public and graciously turn down any private meetings. He can’t possibly fault you.”

With her beside me, I was so happy I was nearly glowing, and when we reached the king, she stepped back and waited as I moved forward and bowed low.

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for everything you did for me,” I told him once I had straightened up.

He clapped his hand down on my shoulder, dragged me close, and hugged me tightly. “Someday, there will no longer be this frost between us,” he whispered in my ear. “There will come a thaw. I will wait.”

I had wanted to be close to him—it had been something I worked at and for—but at the moment, his blessing for our union, which he’d given, was more than enough.

When I stepped back, Varic was there beside me, taking my arm as Ode greeted the king. She curtsied to him in glorious style, I had no idea when she’d mastered that maneuver, and when she rose, he took both her hands in his and said how pleased he was that she was there for me, and how pleased he was to have such a vibrant and beautiful presence at his court.

She was dazzled by him, no way not to be. Not only was he a very handsome and magnetic man, but the sincerity of his words was overwhelming. His new commitment to Isabella looked good on him. He still exuded charm, but it was no longer flirtatious. I was wildly impressed with that.

“This is how I always knew he could be,” Varic said as he showed me where I was going to stand. “Now, do you remember what you’re supposed to say when Sabira asks what your title is?”

“Yes,” I assured him, smiling. “I said it to Balon in Ophir. No one questioned if I was already your consort.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” I playfully shoulder-checked him.

“That’s extraordinary.”

I shrugged. “People think I belong to you, I guess.”

“Apparently so,” he husked, and I heard what that meant to him.

Everything would be perfect for the wedding.

Nothing was perfect.

A pipe burst in our wing, which honestly, was not a surprise. With how ancient some parts of the palace were, I was shocked that half of it didn’t crumble into the sea on a daily basis.

“Better get your cadeyrn on that,” I told Varic from the stairs to the second floor, where I had taken a seat once the water hit my ankles. It hadn’t gotten any higher, as it was running out the door and down the stairs.

“Do you think so?” he asked drolly.

I smiled down at him. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

The good news was, as our robes were kept with Isabella, those were untouched, but since the pipe in question was behind our closet, my suit, Varic’s, and everything else we both owned that could be classified as more on the formal side, was very wet.

He was horrified. Tiago even more so.