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Months had passed and The Stone City and its deteriorating castle were a thing of the past, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t crossed my mind from time to time. I hated to have the castle sitting empty atop the hill in Akra except for its prisoners. We needed to repurpose it in some way.

The new castle in Siraleth was called Stormspire, for obvious reasons.

I was incredibly lucky to call Stormspire my home. It was built of stone similar to The Stone Palace in Akra, but it had a tower that reached up into the sky with an iron crescent at the top. That’s where Nik and my room was.

Siraleth was coming back to life before my eyes, and I relished the growth I had seen in the realm in these last few months. Homes were being rebuilt, merchants re-established their trade, the port city open once again. The portal on this side of the realm was seeing more use than it ever had before.

“What are you thinking about?” Tess asked, breaking through my thoughts.

My gaze flitted to hers as I zoned back in. We were setting up the new throne room, and I wanted to make sure it wasnothinglike the throne room Donika had. I still had nightmares of that marbled, checkered tile. Visions of the blood that had stained the dais that day we had stormed the palace to kill her.

The memories of that day might haunt me forever.

I shrugged, throwing a pillow at her. She caught it with one hand, placing it atop the cushion on the throne.

It wasn’t dark as Donika’s had been, but golden. Streaks of lightning were gilded down the arms, the cushions a royal purple. It still sat atop a dais, but this time there weretwothrones. I had opted for a natural stone floor that resonated with the Siraleth countryside. There were no windows lining a long walkway, only windows behind the throne that cast rays of sunshine down onto the stone inlaid floor.

In merely a week’s time I would be having my coronation here, and I would be kneeling among these steps as Iwas crowned the queen of Istmere. It was only a formality, of course, seeing as I had been ruling since the day Donika perished. But the realm wanted to see me crowned properly, and a celebration of grand proportions would follow suit. I was equal parts excited and nervous—it would be the first celebration at Stormspire and the thought sent a spark of excitement down to my toes.

“I know that look,” Tess mused, fluffing the pillow on the seat and chopping it in half.

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

Tess turned toward me, an eyebrow raised. She held my gaze as she plopped herself down on the throne. I burst into a laugh so deep I doubled over, holding my stomach and trying not to wheeze.

“Oh, it's funny, is it?” she asked, propping her leg up over the armrest and making a show of relaxing.

She didn’t look very comfortable. As if reading my thoughts, she flounced out of the chair with a huff.

“I don’t plan on spending that much time there,” I told her, indicating the throne before us. “I don’t think it needs to be terribly comfortable.”

“It wouldn’t hurt anyone to make it a touch more… plush. That’s all I’m saying,” she offered, eyeing it, hands on her hips. “It needs to match your crown and be equally decadent.”

I laughed, tossing her the other pillow, which hit her square in the chest, causing her to let out a grunt. She tossed it against the second throne, not bothering to fluff it.

“Nik doesn’t get the royal treatment?” I asked, my brow raised at her.

She shrugged noncommittally. “It’s not his… yet.”

I smirked at that.

It was true that it wasn’t his yet… but we all knew it would be. Soon.

Tess moved to Nik’s chair and sat in it, patting the throne beside her. “Sit.”

I did as she commanded, throwing myself down into the chair beside her. Much to my dismay, she was right. This was terribly uncomfortable.

She read my expression with a soft laugh. We sat in relaxing silence for a long moment before she spoke.

“You never did tell me.”

I turned my head towards her, hands gripping the armrests. “Tell you what?”

She gave me a knowing look and my gaze moved back towards the open doorway beyond the dais. Another moment of silence passed.

“What did she say?” Tess asked, her voice gentle.

“Hmm?”