Page 1

And what exactly is Akeisa, you might ask? It is the northernmost kingdom in our Empire, and the last to come under the benevolent rule of His Imperial Majesty. Due to an oddly frigid current in the strait between Akeisa and northern Kasther, the climate on the island is significantly colder than the rest of the Empire, even during the summer. A fitting home for the Ice Queen.

Akeisa: A Comprehensive History (Volume One)

by Guildmaster Klement

The queen was nervous.

Aleksi watched as she pushed food around her plate, then abandoned her cutlery in favor of draining her ornate goblet of wine.

He pondered her unease as a silent servant stepped forward and refilled the queen’s goblet. Aside from the servants, he and Anikke were alone in the private royal dining room, so this could be a simple case of awkwardness. The conversation had lulled a bit. And though he had a standing invitation as honored guest and dined often at Castle Roquebarre these days, it was always in the main hall. Those long tables, filled as they typically were with courtiers and visiting nobles, bustled with conversation. It was a handy way to avoid the silences that tended to crop up with only two diners present.

The pressure to maintain a steady flow of engaging conversation could tax even the most outgoing of wits. Except ... this private dinner was happening at Queen Anikke’s behest. With a snap of her fingers, she could beckon said courtiers and nobles to her side and end her torment.

It had to be something else.

Before he could ask, Anikke smiled. “How is your quail?”

“Delicious, as always,” he answered honestly. “Your head cook is a genius. I’ve frankly considered trying to steal her from you.”

“You already have all the poets and painters,” Anikke protested. “The musicians, too.”

He shrugged lightly. “That’s the curse of being me. The god of love itself always seems to be the first muse toward whom any artist gravitates.”

She laughed. “You could leave some genius for the rest of the country.”

“Very well. But only because you asked.” At least the girl was smiling now. “Have you heard from your sister?”

Her smile widened. “She visited me last night.”

“All the way from Akeisa?”

“Through my dreams.” Her wondering tone left no doubt how much she admired Sachielle’s power to travel into a person’s consciousness as they slumbered.

It didn’t matter one whit to the queen that Sachi, formerly of Castle Roquebarre, was not truly of royal blood. It didn’t even matter to her that Sachi wasn’t human at all, but the primal force of Creation itself. Sachi and Anikke were sisters at heart, and that was the one tie nothing could sever.

“She gave me this. A gift from the island kingdom.” The girl raised her arm and pulled back her fitted velvet sleeve. Beneath, a bracelet of carved shell and driftwood wrapped around her small wrist.

“It’s exquisite.” It wasn’t a fancy piece, made of precious metals and stones, but Anikke clearly treasured it. “How are they enjoying their diplomatic mission?”

“Sachi likes this sort of work.” Anikke bit her lip. “These are the kinds of skills my father taught her for show, you know, and never expected her to use. There’s a satisfaction in that, I think.”

“A very wise observation.” Aleksi tilted his head. “And Ash and Zanya?”

“I believe Sachi’s exact words were, they’re savoring the opportunity to immerse themselves in the island’s culture .”

Which meant they both hated being on unfamiliar, potentially enemy territory, and were eager to get back to the sorts of fights they recognized. But they would stay by Sachi’s side, fiercely protective, guarding her from any and all threats.

Poor old dead King Dalvish II. Anikke’s predecessor—and father—never saw this particular twist coming, did he? Two decades ago, he’d taken in two orphans, but his intentions had not been benevolent. He’d taken on Zanya, a child gifted in shadow magic, shining darkly with the power of the Void itself, as part of his household staff, and had adopted Sachi, who looked enough like him to pass as his heir.

And then he’d begun to put his scheme into motion. The bare bones of it were simple: every one hundred years, the Mortal Lords owed the Dragon a sacrifice. Not one of blood and pain, but of marriage. The current ruler was obligated to send their heir to serve as the Dragon’s consort, tying the royal family to him—and their fates, in a very real way, to the well-being of the land itself.

In this way, the arrangement created even more obligations for the royal family. Having their fortunes bound to the land prevented them from exploiting it for their own excessive gain. Dalvish had sought to free himself from this check on his greed by sending Sachi and Zanya—a false heir and an assassin masquerading as her handmaid—to murder Ash in his bed.

Instead, the two women, who had already loved one another with an intensity that had glowed brighter than their respective magics, had fallen in love with Ash. And their joy was incandescent.

Perhaps no one could have foreseen it, not even the most gifted seers in the Sheltered Lands. There had been only one path to a happy ending, and the three of them had somehow stumbled down it. That alone would have pleased Aleksi to no end. The fact that Ash was one of his best and oldest friends only added to his pleasure.

“Sachi also said that Grand Duchess Gwynira—” Anikke faltered and frowned. “Is she still a Grand Duchess, now that the Betrayer’s Empire has fallen?”

Who the hell knew? “My advice? When you’re attempting to cultivate a foreign power as an ally, afford them every honor and courtesy you can without giving up any of your own.”

“Of course.” She nodded eagerly, and Aleksi could practically see the gears turning in her head as she processed that information.

The girl was young, but she cared about her people, and about using her power as their queen to protect them and better their lives. With the Siren serving as her mentor and the rest of the High Court guiding her, she would grow into a formidable ruler and salvage House Roquebarre’s legacy.

A servant entered the main door, carrying a covered dish. He placed it before Aleksi, then lifted the lid with a flourish and a bow.

On the ornate silver tray lay a single rose. Its green leaves curled around a delicate stem, and the deep-red color of its petals gave way to a lush violet near the outer edges. White streaks reached up the body of each petal from the calyx, slowly swirling into the red and purple.

Aleksi smiled. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s yours,” Anikke answered in a rush. “A new cultivar. The Queen’s Protector , named in your honor.”

“I’m touched.” He picked up the bloom. The stem bore shorn spots where the thorns had been painstakingly snapped away, and the petals felt like silk. “I do love flowers. And to have one named for me? This is a precious gift, indeed.”

“This is nothing,” Anikke countered. “Certainly not enough. My lord, you saved my life.”

He had bestowed his blessing upon her, and that blessing had protected her from an assassination attempt when her court had been infiltrated by a spy from the Empire. He had done it because she was in danger, and because he had seen the kindness that dwelled in her heart. If she had not earned his protection on her own merits, she would not have had it.

But it was nice to be appreciated. He inclined his head. “The Sheltered Lands need their queen.”

Her cheeks flamed, and she leaned forward in her chair, her hand sliding across the table toward his. “They could also use a king.”

Oh. Oh, no . “Anikke—”

“I know that I’m young,” she blurted in a rush. “It would have to be a long betrothal. But if you’re willing to wait ...”

In retrospect, it felt so obvious. After the situation with the Imperial spy, the girl had gazed at Aleksi with starry eyes filled with something akin to hero worship. She’d endowed him with an actual title, for fuck’s sake—Queen’s Protector—and given him a standing invitation to visit her home as he pleased. And he was, after all, the god of love. A manifestation of the Dream in this realm, the tiny bit of it that nurtured the growth of all things.

Including infatuations.

Still, it might have ended there, with a harmless crush she would outgrow with time. Except that Anikke had just watched her sister, a woman she perceived as being only slightly older than her, marry an immortal god.

Fuck.

Aleksi’s fingers clenched around the stem of the rose. An errant thorn that had escaped the gardener’s notice pierced his thumb, and he bit back a hiss. He had to say something. The deflection had to be gentle enough to spare her tender feelings, but firm enough to leave her in no doubt of his lack of romantic interest.

He could do this. He’d had thousands of years of practice.

The silence had lingered long enough to grow teeth. Anikke’s hopeful smile dimmed a little, and Aleksi damned himself for his shocked silence.

But before he could speak, one of the pages stepped into the room. “Another visitor, Your Majesty.”

Naia walked in, her dark hair and light-brown skin gleaming in the candlelight. Her deep-blue robe, almost black under the flickering flames, floated around her like the nighttime ocean as she dropped into a low curtsy and bowed her head. It was a solemn courtesy the nymph offered freely, though her standing as the Siren’s newest godling made her more or less Anikke’s equal.

Then Naia looked up, and her nearly black gaze focused on the rose in Aleksi’s grasp. “My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty, for interrupting your dinner.”

Anikke waved away Naia’s words and gestured to the table. “You are always welcome. Would you like to join us?”

“I wish I could, but I’m here at the behest of the Siren.” Naia finally straightened, a warm smile for the child queen curving her lips. “I’ve come to fetch the Lover back to Seahold.”

Aleksi frowned. “This very moment?”

Naia’s smile didn’t waver. “It is a matter of some urgency.”

“Very well.” He turned to Anikke. “Our conversation—”

“Can wait,” she told him firmly as relief softened her expression. After his telling hesitation, she was as eager to be free of this moment as he was. “Please, give my regards to the Siren, if you would be so kind.”

“Of course.” Leaving the rose behind felt like a slight, so Aleksi carried the bloom with him as he took his leave.

Naia walked silently at his side as they navigated the darkened corridors of Castle Roquebarre. Instead of heading toward the courtyard that led to the main part of the structure, she turned toward the back, past the kitchens, and descended to the sheltered private dock built on the very edge of the bay. From here, it was a straight shot across the bay to the docks at Seahold.

A small skiff, flying Dianthe’s standard, awaited them, and they climbed aboard. Despite the lack of sails and the still, glassy water, the skiff began to drift across the bay—Naia’s influence, no doubt. She communed with the waves like they were old, cherished friends, and they responded to her in kind.

Finally, she spoke. “Things seemed a bit ... fraught back at the castle,” she whispered over the murmur of the water splashing off the skiff’s hull. “Are you all right?”

Damn. He’d hoped she wouldn’t notice. “The queen has romantic ideas.”

“Designs, you mean. On you.” Naia’s nose wrinkled. “That’s awkward. We can’t really blame her, though.”

“We can’t?”

“Not one bit.” Naia winked at him, soothing and teasing all at once. “You’re a tremendous catch.”

Aleksi knew better than to take her words seriously. Naia liked him, he had no doubt of that, but fun, harmless flirtation was the extent of her interest in him. Or perhaps it was merely the extent of what she could conceive—unlike the Mortal Queen, with her starry eyes and romantic ideas, Naia clearly could not imagine the god of love falling in love with her .

Aleksi should not imagine it, either. Because the young nymph had developed a fondness for monsters—at least, for one in particular.

And all the better for her.

Naia leaned over the side of the skiff and dipped her hand into the water. Droplets swirled up her arm like a waterspout, then broke away to dance around her head in a glittering halo. She laughed, the water arced back into the bay with a splash, and the skiff began to move faster.

She was fascinating. At home here, on the water, the way Aleksi was in his vineyards. And powerful, somehow as ancient as she was young. Already, the whispers had begun—that she was Dianthe’s heir apparent, second in power only to the Siren herself when it came time to call the water.

“Do you know what Dianthe wants?”

“No,” Naia answered, then hesitated. “But I think they need us.”

The rest of the High Court had been in the Empire for weeks, sorting through the chaos left in the wake of the Betrayer’s defeat ... but they had left Aleksi behind. Ostensibly, he had been charged with helping Dianthe to guide the new queen and keep peace in the Sheltered Lands.

But everyone knew the real reason. The final battle against the Betrayer had been difficult and painful for everyone—physically, mentally, and emotionally—but it had been a special kind of hell for Aleksi. The Betrayer’s witch had cast a spell that had temporarily severed their connections to the Dream. For most of the High Court, it had been an inconvenience, an indignity through which they’d had to fight. They had all been human once. They knew how to cope with being alone in their minds. In their hearts.

Aleksi had never been human. He wasn’t born of parents, of a small, exquisite communion of life, but of the Dream itself. That day on the battlefield was the first time he’d ever felt ... absence. Blankness. A complete and utter lack of love.

It had wounded him in a way the others all saw, but could never comprehend. They had considered leaving him behind a kindness. But until he faced this fight instead of running away from it, that wound would never heal.

“It’s about time,” he growled.

Dianthe met them at the dock, her beautiful face drawn into a serious expression that hewed dangerously close to a frown. Instead of her usual flowing clothing of glittering teals and deep blues, she wore dark pants and a bodice made of braided leather straps that reminded him of armor. She’d captured her long black curls in a twist on top of her head, revealing the golden tattoos that traced her deep-brown skin and shimmered even in the scant moonlight.

“Thank you for coming so swiftly.” She reached out a hand to steady him as he stepped onto the dock. “I would have waited for your return, but I didn’t want to risk missing the tide.”

If they did, they’d have to wait days for the next tide high enough to allow a ship of any considerable size to dock. Even Dianthe could only do so much to counter the pull of the moons. “What is it? Has something happened?”

“Sachi, Zanya, and Ash need someone to take over the negotiations in Akeisa. So they can join the others in the Empire.”

Were they still trying to protect him by keeping him away from the fighting in the Empire? It was possible, though Aleksi had to admit that, aside from Sachi, he was the most qualified person for a diplomatic endeavor. “Understood.”

Dianthe had clearly been braced for him to argue. When he didn’t, she grasped his shoulders and smiled. “Naia will accompany you. These people are islanders who honor and fear the sea. Her powers will command their respect.”

“When do we leave?”

“Almost this instant. Your trunks have already been packed, and the Kraken should arrive shortly.”

Naia, who had been beaming at Dianthe’s vote of confidence, suddenly found the water lapping against the dock utterly fascinating. She stared at it, her cheeks growing pink with heat.

Adorable.

“Don’t worry about us, Dianthe.” He offered his fellow Dreamer his most reassuring smile. “I’ll watch over your charges.”

“They’re meant to watch over you , Aleksi.”

Normally, he would have insisted breezily that he had no need of such close and clever guard. But he glanced down at his thumb, where he’d suffered the angry prick of the rose’s thorn. It was a nuisance, a scratch that should have healed almost instantly.

Instead, the small hole still bled sluggishly.

Perhaps his wounds ran deeper than even he had realized, and he could very much use this protection, after all.