Page 83

“Complex how?” I asked.

He slowly slid himself out from within me, rolling to his back and collapsing to the bed. I sprawled half my body over his, propping myself up on one arm so I could see him better as he spoke.

“I told you about my parents; my mother’s cruelty, and my father’s unwillingness to stop her. Despite that, they constantly disagreed on which of us should rule after them—which was why the throne’s magic was divided after their deaths in the first place.”

I nodded, my curiosity growing.

“You’ve met Laith. He’s not a good man, but he was the only one of us my mother liked in the slightest. He’s the second oldest, and she was determined that he was the one who should take the throne. I told you about Espen—he’s the oldest, and the one my father was always vocal about giving the power to. But Espen never wanted it, and he never protected himself when our mother would lose her temper. He’s much older now, and has defended his part of the court from Laith for decades, but I can’t say I trust him enough to just hand him the magic. And obviously, I can’t give it to Laith.”

I grimaced. “You’re right; it’s not an easy situation.”

He nodded, and was quiet for a few minutes. His fingers played with my wet braid, and my thoughts turned a bit.

“Espen has the moon’s magic, right? He’s the Night King?” I checked.

Namir dipped his chin in a nod.

“Akari holds his magic. I wonder if they’re connected, like we are.”

His expression turned thoughtful. “I’ve wondered the same. Honestly, you possessing my magic is probably what pushed fate to create the connection between us. It would surprise me tremendously if she held his magic, yet he was fated to be with someone else.”

I had been thinking the same thing.

“Of my friends, Akari was the only one of us who was really after revenge,” I said quietly. “Your people murdered her family when they wouldn’t hand her over without a fight; there weren’t many weak fae who could survive taking someone else’s magic.”

Namir’s expression darkened. “Stars.”

“I know. She’s… well, she won’t give up as easily as I did, when it comes to killing your brother.”

“He’ll have her in his dungeon, then. He’s undoubtedly changed, but he’s enough like my father in that way.” Namir’s fingers continued playing with my braid, tugging gently at the strands. “If we ever want to end this war, I’ll have to talk to Espen in person. I haven’t seen him in two decades, but one of us will have to give our magic to the other if we’re going to defeat Laith.”

“Then it sounds like we need to take a journey,” I murmured.

He nodded, his expression darkening. “I’m hesitant to leave my people without protection.”

“Most of your warriors have strong magic, they just don’t know how to access it. I can teach them, and Lavee can as well, now that she’s figured it out.”

“I’d still like to know what you taught her,” he remarked.

I flashed him a smile. “You can sit in on one of my lessons.”

His eyes softened, his fingers lifting to brush my lips. “I love that smile.”

I pressed a light kiss to his fingertips. “It’s here because of you.”

“Why do you think I like it so much?” His tease was gentle, but I laughed anyway.

“I’m glad I didn’t kill you.”

“As am I, Love.” He winked at me, lifting his lips to kiss my cheek.

Chapter27

We madelove a few more times before we finally cleaned up and slipped out of Namir’s room.

Ourroom.

Though, how long it belonged to us was up in the air considering we would need to leave soon, so we could make our way to Espen’s part of the court. It would be a three-month journey just to get to his castle, so it was important for us to leave as soon as possible.