Page 14

Aldronn

If the previous nights were torture because of how much I wanted to bed my bride, tonight offers torment of a different kind.

May settles into my arms, utterly trusting. There’s no ulterior motive, no attempt to get close because I’m king—she comes into my arms because she wants me, Aldronn the man , to hold her.

My heart aches in the very best of ways as I cradle her to me, this most precious of women. I’d known, intellectually, that I lacked a certain emotional warmth in my life. Yet holding my moon bound close makes me realize how much I truly need this.

How much I need her .

It goes beyond sex.

As much as I hated our morning encounter with the Moon Goddess because I couldn’t protect my bride, it ended up giving me one of the best days of my life. Talking to May, learning about her, has been astonishing.

It’s more than her willingness to travel and meet new people and explore new cultures, though all of that is wonderful. I will be lucky to have her by my side as the orcs reconnect with all the other realms and peoples of Faerie.

It’s that she finds such delight in life. Look at the way she reacted to the pixies, treating even the smallest of fae with care and joy. Her radiant smile pierced my heart. I would see her so happy for all of her days.

“My May,” I whisper, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. “My queen.”

She makes a sleepy little sound and moves closer, burying her face in the crook of my shoulder.

The mate bond thrums in my chest, happy to be so near her. Perhaps she will teach me how to be more like her? Perhaps with her I can learn how to love? She deserves nothing less.

I remain awake as long as possible, basking in the warmth of May’s trust, soaking it up like a light-starved tree finally bathed in bright sunlight.

We spend the next day much the same way, only this time, our conversation turns back to Faerie. By the time evening falls, I’ve gotten around to telling her of Moon Blade Village, where the other human witches live, describing the heart tree cottages and the excellent pub. “It’s quite the lively place, since each witch has brought with them various fae befriended during their adventures. Besides the typical unicorns, there are dragons, cat sith, and cu sith, and also sprites and the largest pixie flock in all of Alarria.” I give a wry grin. “As king, I usually try to follow my parents’ example and keep everything even between the villages, but the Moon Goddess chose to gift the human witches to the Moon Blade Clan, so one could argue it’s even more important than Elmswood Keep at this point.”

“Wait a minute.” May stares at me with wide-eyed amazement. “Your parents are still alive?”

“Of course. Queen Priva and King Lovarr,” I say. “Why would you think otherwise?”

“One, you haven’t mentioned them before now, and two, I don’t know… Isn’t that kind of always the thing in stories?” My bride gives a quick shrug. “The orphan forced to rule too young. Or the other kind, where the son has to kill the parents to rule.”

“This isn’t the orc way.” I frown. Humans seem to be just as bloodthirsty as fae at their worst if these are the kinds of tales lauded in their stories. “We rule together as a family, each generation taking on the duties appropriate to their age. I took the throne at two and twenty, when they were both in their early fifties and still hale. They settled at the castle, handling its day-to-day running, my grandparents took on advisory roles, and I took over visiting the orc villages and leading our military forces.”

“You guys are seriously hands-on for royalty.”

“Now that is the orc way.” I nod. “My parents divided the village visits between them as I grew up, so that one of them was always at Elmswood Keep with me, along with my grandparents. Then, once I completed my warrior training at sixteen, I traveled with the two of them, learning my new duties.”

I pause to stoke the fire higher, turning the haunch of venison so it cooks evenly. Knowing we were going to be here a few days, I spent the afternoon hunting for larger game. I carry plenty of the bespelled-leather food bags to keep the meat fresh.

“You got to travel with your parents?” May’s voice sounds wistful as she leans forward, her arms hugging herself. “What was that like?”

“They’re some of my fondest memories,” I admit. “The village visits were good, but what I liked best were the moments like this.” I wave to take in our campsite, the dark of evening held off by the coziness of the crackling fire. “In the castle, someone always needed their attention, and it was the same in every village we visited. But when we camped in between villages, Mother would have the guards set up their tents at a little distance, Father would do all our cooking, and it would be just the three of us.

“In fact, my journey to find you has been the first time I’ve been alone in…” I pause, lost in thought, but no matter how hard I wrack my brain, I can’t come up with a single instance. “Ever. I think it’s the first time in my adult life I’ve been able to leave my guards behind.” No one argued with the sanctity of the summons of our goddess, not even Kronn, head of my guard. The quest to find May had been mine and mine alone.

“You had Starfall.”

“True.” I stare at my bride, caught by her beauty. Firelight dances over her lovely features, sparkling in her lively eyes. She wears my shirt instead of her human one, the purple a perfect compliment to her golden skin. The sight of her in my clothing fills me with a possessive pride. “And now I have you, my little queen.”

“Yeah, we still need to talk about this whole ‘already married’ thing.” Her mouth twists. “You know that’s pretty unusual, right? Even in Earth cultures that do arranged marriages, the people know they’re being matched before it happens, and they have a ceremony.”

The meat pops, grease dripping into the flames with a sizzle, pulling me back to my task. I remove it from the fire and begin carving, the rich smell making my stomach rumble.

“It’s not normal for us either. Orcs typically do handfastings once they’ve found their partner. The Moon Goddess hasn’t brought moon bound brides to Alarria for almost three-hundred years.”

“Human witches?” Excitement fills her tone.

“Elves.” I hand her a plate topped with a steak and mushrooms. “One of them married the king, my ancestor, and the remainder married into the various clans. It turns out that all of my grandparents had one of those elfin brides in their family trees. It’s why I have premonition magic instead of a nature-based power like most Wild Fae.”

“I’ve always wanted to meet elves!” My moon bound takes a bite of mushroom and makes that little moan I love.

“When it comes to that, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you.” I slice into my steak with so much force the blade scrapes across the pewter plate. “There are no more elves, not as they used to be. They’re all dark fae now.”

I repeat everything Tumbletoad, the brownie, has told us of how Avalon changed after the doors of Faerie closed three-hundred years ago. How a Dark God rose, transforming any fae who would follow him into a shadow creature, tricking the elves into his service. “I fought a dark fae briefly, but he got away.”

“I can’t believe that! You’re amazing.” Her mouth snaps shut as if she didn’t mean to say that out loud, and I can’t help the pride that swells in my chest.

“You think I’m amazing?” I smirk.

“You’re an amazing fighter .” She points at me with her fork. “That’s all I meant.”

“Of course, little queen. Whatever you say.” But my tone makes it clear I think it’s more than that. “Be that as it may, he surprised me. His shadow magic formed wings, and he took to the air.”

“Your premonition magic didn’t warn you he’d fly away?”

“It doesn’t work like that.” I shake my head. “I typically get warnings of danger instead of specific visions. But now that I know he can fly, I will not be so easily fooled again.”

“Again? There’s going to be an again?”

“Yes.” Perhaps I should lie to her to keep her from worrying, yet I cannot. If she’s to rule by my side, I won’t hobble her by hiding necessary information. “I don’t know when, but my premonition magic tells me I will face him again.”

She pokes at her food, a tiny frown creasing her brow, and I reach out to touch her forearm, getting her to look at me.

“Ease your worries. It won’t be tonight,” I say. “Of that, I can assure you.”

My bride offers me her quick smile, so ready to be happy again that it makes my heart glad. “I want to hear more about the village.”

Before I can say anything, the high cry of a pixie cuts through the evening air, audible over the sound of the falling water. The leader swoops from behind a pine tree, his miniature face lit with expectation. The rest of his flock follows him into the glen, flying in a circle over May.

She tips her head back, laughing up at them, her eyes wide with delight.

The pixie slows his speech so we can understand him. “Almost Pizza, we have come for more pizza!”

“Oh.” May’s gaze drops to her plate, where she pokes at the mushrooms and steak with the tines of her fork, attempting to pulverize her food.

“It won’t work.” I place a hand over hers. “But I have an idea.” Returning to the haunch, I carve another steak and cut a circular disk from its center. Leaning behind May, I set it on the log on her other side. “There you go.”

“That’s not pizza!” The pixie scowls, his little face scrunching as he jabs a finger at the circle of steak. “That’s meat, and it’s cooked .” The final word drips with disdain.

“It’s meat pizza,” May says quickly. “It’s really popular on Earth. Loads of people eat this special type of meat pizza. There are even songs.”

When the pixie doesn’t look convinced, she starts singing something about meat patties, special sauce, and cheese.

His expression finally smooths, and he speaks to his flock, his normal voice so high and fast it sounds like a whistle. Tiny swords appear in their hands, their sharp edges glinting in the firelight.

May gasps as they fall upon the steak in a flutter of glowing blue wings and flashing blades. The little imps hack the meat into bite-sized chunks that disappear so rapidly it makes me question how real their disdain for cooked meat actually is.

Once the last bite disappears into the leader’s mouth, he flutters over to hang in front of May. “Thank you, Almost Pizza. Meat pizza is good, but potato pizza is better.”

She breaks into a trill of laughter, the sound rolling over me and filling me with warmth. My moon bound nods and knuckles tears of joy from her eyes. “I guess greasy potatoy goodness wins in every realm.”

Instead of leaving immediately, the pixies fly across the glen to dance across the front of the waterfall. Their light-blue glow makes the droplets around them sparkle until each resembles a little moon surrounded by stars.

“They’re taking little showers!” May says with delight. She watches them, utterly rapt.

I can’t look away either, but it’s not the imps who hold me fascinated. It’s her, joy brightening her face more than any light.

When the pixies finish their ablutions, they stream into the forest, leaving the waterfall lit by the glow of the pink, which we now know comes from mushrooms.

“Thank you.” May turns back to the fire and bumps her shoulder against my arm. “That was really sweet of you.”

“I didn’t do it for them. I did it so you wouldn’t destroy your dinner in an attempt to make them happy,” I growl. “Now eat. You’re still recovering. You need food.”

“So bossy.” She grins and makes a production of taking a bite of mushroom. “You were going to tell me about Moon Blade Village.”

I describe how the villagers take all the tables from the pub and spread them across the village green in the evenings, lighting the space with hanging glow stones. How Olivia makes the entire village pizzas, including several extra to keep the pixies and sprites happy. How Sturrm plays his guitar and sings, his voice the best in the land, Selena’s twining with his in a lovely duet.

May leans against me and sighs happily, the sound the sweetest thing in all the realms.