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I clawed at his jacket, tugging it off, my hands skimming his shirt, tracing the hard planes of his chest. His lips traveled to my jaw, and I spread my legs wider across his thighs, grounding myself in the heat of him.

His hand slid down the fabric of my gown—stars and moons—his fingers tracing the shapes, sending shivers up my spine as he slid under the dress, his touch teasing higher.

“Where do you wish to be touched, heir?” His voice was a dark whisper, fingers creeping higher. “No panties, Severyn? I didn’t expect this indecency from you,” he said. “I expect the heir to my throne to be modest.”

“Not like you haven’t stared at my breasts straight for two weeks.”

He placed his lips on my skin, trailing them down my neck as he slowly pulled the thin straps of my dress down, his hands never wavering in their sure, hungry touch. His fingers cupped my breasts, and I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped my trembling lips as my spine arched involuntarily.

“Oh, Severyn,” he murmured against my skin, his breath warm. “I’ve dreamed of this… of you. Since the night I saw you, drenched in the water, so beautiful, so vulnerable.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist, drawing him closer as he stood, lifting me effortlessly, and we traveled through the shadows.

He laid me gently on my back, the soft click of the door lock turning behind us.

Shadows curled lazily around the canopy bed, wrapping us in their embrace.

I needed him—his body, his lips, his touch.

His lips traveled over every inch of my skin, even the palm where the lindworm had once attacked, and I needed him to feel it.

My fingers tangled in his dark hair, tugging him closer as his teeth grazed my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.

With a breathless sigh, his hand moved to his shirt, undoing the buttons one by one, revealing the inky swirls of the serpent tattoo that marked his neck. I reached for it, my fingers tracing the shape of the snake.

He pulled my hand away, pinning my arms behind my head as he fell between my legs. “What do you enjoy when it comes to pleasure?” he asked.

“I don’t… I never really thought about it.”

He raised a brow. “Was that your first time at the estate?”

“No, it wasn’t, but—” I felt embarrassed for some reason talking about past sexual experiences with Archer .

He yanked my hips closer. His fingers went under my dress, tracing shapes along my inner thigh.

“I can figure it out pretty quickly, seeing as you are already dripping wet.” His mouth found the nape of my neck, brushing his lips down my breasts.

“I want you to be loud, Severyn. I want your moans to fill the sky.”

Two fingers dipped inside me, slowing in rhythm. His thumb teased my clit. I moaned through the pleasure, and he lifted my hips with his other hand, plunging his fingers deeper.

Stars swirled my vision, and ash coated the back of my hoarse throat. “I don’t know how,” I said. “How to be loud.”

“Give all of yourself over,” he said. “Allow yourself to relax.”

I moaned, and he pulled his fingers out slightly. I went to reach, to claim back that pleasure as he teased my opening with a devilish grin.

“Keep going,” I said, wriggling my hips closer to him, nearly grinding against his forearm.

“Louder,” he growled. His mouth found my puckered nipples, slowly nipping, slowly sucking each one until they were raw with heat.

“Archer—I need you inside,” I breathed. “Please.”

“So demanding, little heir.” He stroked over my core, and my body clenched at the sound of his breath filling the air. “Not until you cum once, maybe twice.” He growled low into my ear, “Let me worship you like a seventh God.”

The thought alone of Archer inside of me was enough to tip me over the edge. He kept going, knotting that desire, that pleasure, until my flame nearly branded his shoulder.

“It’s… too sensitive,” I cried.

“I can feel when you cum, and you haven’t yet.” Pleasure knotted in my core as he stroked his fingers deeper, and my cry pierced through his veil of shadows.

“That’s it,” he said. “Ride it out, little heir. ”

My hips ground into his fingers, lifting my knees up as stars exploded in my vision. “Oh, my— Archer.”

He unbuckled his pants, one finger still buried under my dress, only leaving briefly as he slipped them below his ankles and threw them off the bed. My legs locked around his waist as he lined himself up, rocking my hips until he plunged inside of me.

“Fuck.” He cursed, snarling into my heated flesh. His hands glided through my hair, and I dug my nails into his skin, into his serpent mark clenching as he thrusted in me.

Our chests slammed against each other. His knee nudged my thighs to spread. Shit , that wasn’t all of him.

Flashes streaked my vision. This wasn’t fucking, this was something… Oh Gods. My knees buckled.

“I will show you what pleasure is, Severyn until you know how you like to be worshipped.” He placed a hand on my knees, pushing them back.

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me hard. Kissed me as if it were his last breath… as if it were our last kiss. His rhythm slowed as our shadow relics were palm-to-palm. His heart raced in beat with mine, pulling out just before he finished.

“That was three,” I said, breathlessly.

“I know.”

He carried me to the shower, legs dangling over his arms. “I often forget how isolated you were in the north,” he said. “You’re so innocent, and I… just want you to know you can be comfortable around me. We can ease into other things.”

“What other things?” I asked.

He turned the tap on cold, and I swore my skin sizzled as he carried me under the stream. “ Oh , was I not good?”

“Fuck, no. Sev. If we make love, you will cum. I don’t care if you must ride my fingers for an hour.”

I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck. “I want all of it. You. I want you. I want to know what you like,” I said .

“As long as you are wrapped around me. I will like it.”

My thumb brushed the serpent on his neck. “How did you kill your lindworm?” I asked.

“After Skyfall. My grandfather led the six students of Night through every valley to find one. The snake appeared out of nowhere. Killed four of us before we could draw our swords.”

The water streamed down our faces, now near ice temperature. “And the snake killed the fifth, leaving you to slay it?”

“Sometimes the lindworm draws from your weaknesses. The other student left standing turned on me, and it was like the lindworm had tied his life to him.”

I shuddered. “You—your first blood was another Night student?”

“I’m not proud of it.”

I furrowed a brow, leaning into him. “I—I guess our first blood is the most impressionable.”

“Someday, it will get better. The guilt goes away.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “A leader can’t break.”

“No one will know.” I touched a tear on his cheek. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.” Maybe he figured I hadn’t tried, that I’d left Damien to die. “My quell… it didn’t work.”

“I didn’t want to ask.”

“It’s okay to grieve him. He had faults, but we all do. It’s okay to be upset that your brother is dead.”

Archer ran his fingers through his dark, drenched locks, still holding me in his arms. “He had issues. When my mother passed, it… ruined him. It ruined all of us, but his quell is a different kind of poison, and he wasn’t strong enough to carry it.”

And I wasn’t strong enough to save him.

Another day had passed as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I arched my back, tracing my finger along the scaled mark of the serpent etched upon my skin.

We needed to fly to the capital to see the king and announce my title.

Then, the rest of Verdonia would hear the Serpent of Night had an heir in the next Serpent Press article.

I’d done everything right. I’d saved Father’s wards from falling.

I’d claimed Serpent. But I still felt as if my life were tethered to strings.

And I could feel the snaps, the fraying edges with every jerk of my fragile body.

An aide offered me three traditional Demetria gowns—one even worn by Archer’s mother. Silks made of violets and ebony black, trimmed with a million diamonds, hand-sewn with lace.

I stared at the mound of fabrics, not daring to step toward either of them.

“You don’t have to wear Demetria attire, Severyn. I would never force that upon you.”

I shook my head. “They are beautiful. But this is all new to me. The last gown I was in was my grandmother’s, and that made sense. This—this isn’t me.”

Archer leaned against the door, one hand on his temple. “We will have new gowns made for you. Whatever you like, whether silver, gold—hell, even fuchsia. I know this can be unsettling.”

Amria, the aide, grinned. Young with a rounded face. I knew she’d never be called to the academy. It seemed some were meant for this, their fingers too nimble, their eyes too detailed for the life of a Serpent.

“Silver would look best on her skin tone. But I think Severyn is a Summer’s night. Give me an hour—I will sew her something tailored to her body. ”

Archer hardened his eyes, waiting for my approval. “It’s up to Severyn. Whatever she is comfortable with.”

“That is very sweet of you, Amria. I would love for you to make me something.”

Amria clapped her fingers as she wound thread, measuring my waist and every limb. Her fingers weaved through the air, gliding like ocean water over a log. Fabric and yarn spooled from her palms. She hummed a tune, closing her eyes while the gown was crafted before my eyes.

Archer motioned for me to follow him as we stepped into the library.

Time didn’t exist here, not when sunset was the brim of day and a midnight moon was the evening.

I never knew so many stars could lay atop, plucked, and placed into the milky river of the violet galaxy.

Books I’d never touched—not concealed behind wards were placed in rows and rows along the brick wall.

A simple armchair, only for one, sat facing the large window.

Archer skimmed his fingers over the cover of a book. “Your scar should be healed by now, Severyn, and it still looks fresh and painful.”

I cleared my throat. “Perhaps whatever magic is behind creating a Serpent doesn’t find me worthy.”

“Or you do not accept the Night as your realm,” he replied calmly. “A Serpent is only as strong as their connection to their realm.”

I tensed. “This realm is beautiful—”

“Beauty does not fulfill—it is a mask. I had the same reservations when I became Serpent of the Shadows. I understand, Severyn. I understand more than anyone. So, when we make it to the capital, I want you to ask the king if you can transfer your title to Summer. Given your mother’s history and Veravine, I think he’d consider it… it’s only going to get darker here.”

“Archer,” I breathed .

Archer slumped into the wall, shoulders squared. “I don’t want you to be my heir, Severyn.”

A lantern’s flame dimmed. “What?”

“I would never force you into anything.” His voice was soft. “You can either leave before I fall in love with you or allow the inevitable to happen.”

I lifted a finger. “Light is a mask. I will find beauty within this darkness—if a candle is my only source, I will find it in you.”

Archer furrowed his brows, reaching for my hand slowly before curling it within his. “I think my mother knew you’d come. She stole the Summer’s light, knowing you’d come soon enough. Klaus scribed it—I thought he was reciting the past, not knowing what my mother had done.”

“What did he write?”

Archer stared at where Klaus’s name was marked on his ribs. “He told me flame finds its shadow.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “This is where I belong, Archer.”

A soft knock sounded at the door as Amria stepped inside. Eyes wide and excited as her fingers clasped the iron door handle. “Severyn, your dress is ready.”

Archer released my hand, not shying away from the wide grin on his mouth. “I’ll wait here.”

With a nod, I followed Amria into the dressing room.

She instructed me to close my eyes, and I obeyed, feeling a strange disorientation as I stepped forward.

The world blurred into nothingness, leaving only the sound of my breath and the soft scrape of fabric against the floor.

Suddenly, I felt a gentle nudge on my elbow, halting my steps.

Amria’s voice was a whisper, trembling with excitement. “You can look now.”

I uncovered my eyes, and my breath caught in my throat .

The gown was a masterpiece. The lace shimmered like liquid fire, deep red at the bodice, cascading down in layers of twilight hues that melted into velvety blues, fading effortlessly into an ethereal lavender.

It was a sunset.

“Moonlight will follow you,” Amria said softly, her eyes wide with awe as she watched my reaction. “The strings are crafted with nightcloth, one of the strongest threads in Verdonia.”

I was speechless for a moment. The gown felt like it was made for someone else—someone more beautiful, more powerful. But I nodded, fighting the lump in my throat. “Amria, you’re—” I stopped, struggling to find the words. “It’s breathtaking.”

A small smile tugged at her lips, her hands fluttering nervously as she adjusted the dress on the mannequin beside me.

“I’ll have the whole closet ready for you when you return, Severyn.

I know the Serpent of the Night prefers simplicity, but every now and then, I sneak in a bit of color.

” She gestured to the violet buttons on a table.

I smiled, a warmth filling my chest. “Thank you, Amria. You’ve been more than generous.”

Her smile faltered for a moment. “I haven’t congratulated you properly yet.” She paused, the words hanging between us. “I never thought a flame-wielder would claim his heir… but at least now, he doesn’t have to worry about his realm while he’s at the academy.”

The weight of her words pressed on me. “He stays,” I whispered, more to myself than her. I lifted my gaze, meeting her eyes with quiet resolve. “And I will stay.”