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If I wasn’t so enamoured by his presence, perhaps I would’ve said something. Instead, I drank Erix in, leaving no inch of his body spared.

“Promise?” I asked.

Erix’s steel gaze narrowed, his crown refracting light across where I stood. “With my soul.”

“Erix, I admit you’ve done well today.” Duncan stepped back, and I swear my heart exploded like a dying star. Seeing them both, side by side, was an image I’d want immortalised. If I could stop time, and paint them together, I would have. “It is no easy feat to stand before two realms and accept yourself as a king.”

“You would know that, Duncan?” Erix nudged his side, nose scrunching up endearingly.

“Take the compliment,” Duncan said.

“Oh, I will,” Erix replied. “Although, when they tried dressing me in in reds and burgundies, Ihadto refuse. The Oakstorm court has been given a new lease of life, and I refuse to lead it in the colours of my… of Doran Oakstorm.”

Duncan mocked a gasp. “How dare they! You need an Eroan in your life.”

“Or a flock of gryvern at my back,” Erix replied, eyes constantly flickering to me. “It was high time the Oakstorm Court had a change anyway. I thought it was easier to start with the colours of my clothes, before moving onto more politic matters.”

“Such as?” I asked, worried that he had already faced resistance to his claim.

“Like taking away the land given to Doran’s favoured supporters. Turns out a lot of them aren’t too happy about a gryvern becoming king. The same group who didn’t want Elinor as queen either. It would seem it takes a lot to please them, and luckily, I have a lot in me to give.”

Erix lifted long fingers and placed them to the metal clasp holding his cloak over his shoulders. It was the brooch that Elinor had given him all those months ago. Seeing it over his heart made mine shiver, reminding me of the woman who had not made it to today.

“She would be so happy to see you today,” I said, offering the little comfort those words could conjure. “This was the future Elinor foresaw for the Oakstorm Court. You’d make her proud.”

Shared blood or not, Elinor accepted Erix as her own. She had lost two sons and had space within her heart for more. I was overwhelmed with the belief that she would be looking down on us, pride overspilling, just to see us enjoy a future that was taken from her.

“I hope so,” Erix said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I do this to make her proud.”

“I know,” I replied, offering him a gentle smile.

We held each other’s eyes, and the world seemed to fall away.

“On that sombre note,” Duncan announced. “I should go and speak with Rafaela before tomorrow’s journey to Irobel. I’ll leave you both to… reacquaint, although I ask that your refrain from exploring that concepttoodeeply. Save it for my return in a matter of hours.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Erix said, unable to take his attention off me. I felt so small beneath him, so fragile. In his hands, I’d let him break me and put me back together, just to be broken again. “Although, as king, you have my word that I will try my veryfuckingbest.”

“Language, Erix,” I said, wide eyed as a few fey nobles gasped at their new king’s use of curses. “It’s unbecoming of the new Oakstorm king.”

He leaned in, cool breath working against my cheek as he lowered his lips to my ear. “Whatisunbecoming are the thoughts currently racing through my head.”

“And on that note, let me get my duties over with so we can explore those thoughts.” Duncan chuckled, patted Erix on the back and offered me a wink. “See you shortly.”

I nodded, fighting the urge to tell Duncan not to leave.

With the swift beat of his snow-white wings, Duncan flew across the Waking Shallows, directly toward Rafaela.

Erix beamed down at me, drinking me in with eyes that devoured me whole. “I have missed you very much, little bird. Saying that seems like the right thing, when the truth is the words barely scrape the sides of what I really have felt in the past two weeks.”

His words encouraged a long groan to escape my lips. “Gods, and I’ve missed you, too.”

Erix offered me the crook of his arm. “Grove is only a short flight away from here. Duncan will know where to find us. How about we get out of here before I’m thrown into yet more dull conversations about Oakstorm’s treasury and agriculture?”

“But… this is your day. No doubt your council have you scheduled for meetings and conversations aplenty, before tonight’s celebrations. I have waited for your return up until now, and I can manage a few more hours–”

“It would seem that your patience is far greater than mine. There is only one way I would like to celebrate my coronation, and that is with you, at home, with my face buried between your thighs. However, I would gladly settle for just the company if that is what you are suggesting?”

Home. Grove. The little house I had grown up in, which had become a meeting point for when our duties separated us. It had been ravaged when Duwar’s power devoured the village – but what remained had been rebuilt, something both Erix and Duncan had arranged in secret for me.