Page 49 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

I had stood beside people wearing crowns for more than a decade. Having to don one myself, however, felt surreal. They were clunky and felt like they messed with my balance. I wasn’t sure I liked it at all.

Yet I wore it, not forced into it, without much of a fight, all to help my wife.

Her hand in mine, she again looked stunning, her own crown perched on her head. Her deep breathing techniques and the way she jerked at every little sound were the only giveaways of her nerves.

“I’m right here. The team will be with us soon,” I reminded her.

“I’m almost thirty years old. I’m just sick of what I am sure will be more antics. That’s all.”

They opened the doors to the throne room for us and without time to respond or further reassure her, we were standing before her parents.

“Kessara, I trust you slept well, back in your own room?” her mother asked.

“I did,” Kessara agreed .

“Then what is this I hear of you sneaking out? Your guard and your husband’s guards were worried. For what purpose?”

Kessara looked to me and smiled. It was a genuine one which reached her eyes, making their blueness even brighter. “I took Owen to the falls.”

Her mother began, “While that may be?—”

But it was her stepfather who waved at the air. “Oh, let them be. It was not so long ago you and I were young and in love. Don’t you think, Alexandria?”

“My daughter is putting herself at risk. Repeatedly,” the queen argued.

Kessara shot Damek a glare before she told her mother, “I’m safer with Owen than I was before.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” her mother snapped. “Have I not drenched you in lavish clothes and anything you could ever want for since the moment you were born?”

“I will fully explain every bit of it to you, so long as you promise not to interrupt me. To let me speak. On one condition.”

Her mother nodded. “Name it.”

“Not sure about the interrupting,” the king joked, and I smirked. I had been thinking this man was hard on Kessara, for her not being his daughter. I was happily surprised to see the opposite. He seemed to be genuinely happy to see her back in Agria.

With a quick glare, the queen put her attention back onto Kessara. “Your condition?”

“Hurry up and give Owen his test for you. I have grown tired of these games. I am beyond sick of them. Give him his test. Let him prove himself to you. So that you may stop doubting me. Doubting us.”

The king and queen exchanged a glance. I wasn’t sure what I saw flash on their faces before the court masks fell back into place. Was it surprise? Or were they impressed ?

The king laughed. “If you already suspect it’s coming, then we have become far too predictable.”

Just when I thought we would be given the decree to kiss, Damek moved forward and whispered something to the king and queen. A full minute later, they were still just whispering.

I tugged Kessara in close. It truly wasn’t a hardship to have to kiss her again. Calix was nowhere to be found, but I was sure he was watching somewhere. Lurking in some shadowy alcove. I didn’t really think I’d have to make it believable for everyone, as at this point, even I believed it was real.

I leaned in to whisper to her, my lips brushing against her ear as I said, “This will not be as fun as last night.”

And just as I was about to silence all the damn whispering by kissing her, the king’s voice interrupted with, “Your beloved’s test will be with swords.”

I stilled, both Kessara’s and my heads snapped in his direction.

“A sword fight?” Kessara asked. “I will not allow Calix or Damek to go near him with a sword. Absolutely not.”

“Not either of them,” her mother agreed. “You.”

“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but as her husband, I do not wish to be another man in her life to actively hurt Kessara.”

The queen gestured with two fingers for some guards to bring her something. “Show to us that you can protect her. That is all we ask.”

“By fighting her?”

The king added, “If you can protect yourself against her advances and also not harm her, then we will find you worthy. A good marriage is both offensive and defensive, after all.”

I whispered to Kessara, “Is this really happening?” A little bit twisted, though they might have a point.

A guard brought over two swords in scabbards and held them out to us.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Kessara groaned, taking one .

I took the other, then gestured for Miles.

“I don’t like this,” he stated as he came over.

I handed him my crown. “Me either, but I have played enough silly court games that one more will not kill me.” My eyes flicked to Kessara as I added, “I hope.”

Her eye roll of a response had me laughing.

Miles took the crown but added, “If Damek moves his butt from that throne toward either of you, he seals his fate.”

His fate was already sealed, and we both knew it. I turned to Kessara and unsheathed the sword at the same time she did. She took both scabbards and gave them back to the guard who’d offered them to us.

Just as I moved away to gain a starting stance, she gripped my wrist hard.

I leaned in, sensing her worry in the grip she held on me.

She whispered, “I’ve worked for Damek for years. I know the way he thinks. He’s doing this because he wants to know how many people it will take to kill you. Please, Owen. Don’t let him see how good you are at this.”

Her compliment did something funny to my chest, so I couldn’t help but lean in and whisper back, “All of them. That is how many people it will take him to kill me. He can send them all .”

“Owen,” she pleaded. “I know it’s not in your nature to throw something, to ease up, but I’m asking you. Please.”

“If I allow you to best me, then I will not gain the approval of your parents,” I argued.

“I’d rather you walk back out of Agria with me than have their approval. We don’t need it anyway.”

I brushed a quick peck over her lips. “Stop worrying, Kess. Bring it. You know you’ve been wanting to stab me anyway.” When her worry didn’t wane with my joke, I whispered in her ear, “He fears what he cannot tame. And it isn’t me he should fear.”

“Can you two hurry it along? Some of us are hungry,” Damek called. “Also funny that you rush to get rid of your crown. Almost as if you aren’t used to wearing one.”

I kept my voice bored, my eyes on Kessara, as I responded back, “A true leader wouldn’t always have to wear one to remind people of his power.”

Kessara said quietly, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Did she mean with her brother or in actually playing this little game they were thrusting on us? “I do. No holding back for once?”

Her eyes lit with my challenge. Her hair was down around her shoulders as we circled around each other with swords.

I hadn’t started the day thinking I would have to fight my wife, but here we were.

Life didn’t always give you lemons, but it did toss us some weapons.

Though I had previously been adamant practice swords gave people a false sense of security, I was wishing more than anything these were the fake ones.

That I couldn’t actually hurt her. Pretending they were might have given me peace of mind but wouldn’t do me any favors keeping her safe.

So we began our dance. I let the background fade away as the feel of a sword hilt in hand felt second nature.

It could be worse. They had given us a test in something I was already exemplary at.

Kessara did know her way around a sword too, as I soon learned in her first move which struck on my left side, my non-dominant side. Which she, of course, knew.

Cunning woman. And I had never been more attracted to her.

In-between her advances, I kept attacking at her feet, right, left. Left. Right.

Our swords clanged together. “Why are you avoiding my top half, Commander?” she huffed.

I spun around her, grazing my fingers across her lower back. “I don’t wish to accidentally cut your hair. If you haven’t noticed, I rather like it.”

She swung at my head before ducking down to swipe at my feet, both I easily evaded. “Flirting is not helping. ”

“I’m not flirting. Merely speaking the truth. If I was flirting, you’d know.” I advanced at her skirts, tearing one slightly. “Oops.”

On we went. Though I thought her right diagonal attacks were a thing of beauty, I sensed Kessara was trying to put on a play rather than really fight me. She was showcasing my skills at a detriment to her own.

As our swords hit midair, I gritted out, “Kess.”

“What?” she hissed.

I moved at her hips, spun around her and stopped her attack at my feet all while biting out, “Stop. Holding. Back. With. Me.”

“I don’t think you really want that,” she taunted as she swung the most beautiful arc at my neck.

“Oh, I think I do,” I disagreed, stopping her sword in its tracks.

Like a switch had been flipped, she began moving faster and faster. I’d gone from just having to step away to having to counter cut into her attacks. Something I didn’t want to necessarily do but had to all the same.

I sucked in a breath when she spun around me and elbowed me in the stomach as she went.

I grinned as we reset. “That was dirty.”

“Learned that from you,” she told me.

We moved across the floor. As we did, I noted an Agrian guard standing with his own sword out, as if ready to step in should I hurt the princess.

Like I would.

Dismember her skirt, however? I couldn’t be trusted with that. The sound of her skirt tearing hit the air as I cut a line down it. It made me grin. Earlier I had made a hole, this time I made her a slit.

“Really?” Kessara asked as she looked down at herself.

“It will only work to your advantage,” I told her as I moved around her. “Your legs are distracting as hell.”

Onward we went, and just when I thought they’d never stop us, Kessara attacked me, this one a downward angle. Something I’d tell her never to do, because it left her sides open, unguarded. But just as I thought it, her leg came flying up, waiting to deliver a kick.

She’d purposely done a move she knew I’d take issue with to distract me from a lower blow.

All reflexes at this point, I caught her at the shin, holding it. “You did at least use your entire body this time, Princess.”

I kept her calf in my hand against her struggling, then tightened my abs further and drove her sword downward with my own. The sound of steel grinding against steel hit the air as I quickly removed my hand at her leg only to place it on her waist and tug her in for a kiss.

Rather than find her annoyed, I felt her kiss me back.

She finally dropped her sword, sending it clanging to the ground. Chest heaving, she took two deep breaths and then wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me again.

I threw my own sword onto hers and caught her.

For a moment we just stood there, breathing heavily and smiling at one another. I didn’t know if I’d passed this test, first in what I was sure a line of many. But I did know I’d had fun doing it. There were worse ways to die than a swordfight with my wife.

“Happy?” Kessara snapped over her shoulder at her parents.

Her mother gave her a nod as the king commented, “They bicker like we do. It’s real.”

“It might be real, but that doesn’t mean it is deserved,” Damek argued. “She is our princess. Born and raised here. Wylan doesn’t just get to take her.”

“Nor do you get to just use her for your dirty work while only needing her for her bloodline,” I snapped firmly.

Damek said in a bored tone, “Nothing but a wild theory by a slighted heir, Mother.”

Realizing what time it was, that my master plan was running late, while the king and queen’s eyes bounced between Damek and me, I whispered to Kessara, “Can you bring the team in?” I knew they had arrived this morning already.

“Now?” she whispered back.

“Now.”

Her mother said, “Are you ready to explain everything? Your husband does not seem to like your brother. I’m assuming there’s a reason.”

“I will absolutely tell you everything,” Kessara agreed. “But my team is waiting to meet you. And we all know that court etiquette rules over personal desires.”

Kessara was taking all their favorite games and tossing them back in their faces. I was proud of her for it. Her mother was fidgeting, wanting the answers, but knew she couldn’t keep her guests waiting without looking bad.

Damek stood to leave for lunch, but the queen glared at him. “It seems you are responsible for more of a role in all this than you assured us. Have a seat.”

“Mother—”

“Sit.”

Within minutes, our crowns were back on our heads, the team brought in.

I didn’t have to say a word, and they moved into a formation with Kessara standing at the point. Sam was taking in everything, Jessina and Viv looked ready for war. Pippa placed herself in a spot to see some action, as if she were hoping for it. And it was Pippa, so she likely was.

“This is my team,” Kessara began. “A team who didn’t know royalty was among them when we began. They befriended me all the same.” Kessara walked around and introduced each one. When she got to Fern she added, “From Brakken.”

“Brakken?” her mother asked surprised.

“Yes,” Kessara confirmed .

The queen’s eyes were on mine as she said, “Wylan is not the same Wylan I am used to, it seems.”

“Owen was there and helped kill the dead king, he would know,” she told her.

The queen dipped her head in my direction. I understood it was with respect.

“After a very long and honest chat with you, Mother, I wish to return to Wylan to finish my training with them.”

“How long is this training?” she asked.

“Three ninety-day sessions, one of which I just completed,” Kessara explained.

“It seems Wylan has its draws then, doesn’t it?”

“I wasn’t expecting to find Owen when I signed up for the team. Nor did I really even like him when training began, but?—”

“But I am charming, and she damn well knows it,” I finished for her, earning some giggles and eye rolls from the women.

For the next twenty minutes the queen asked the team questions, until all of them were laughing. When it got to the part about Bram lighting the barracks on fire and how the women caught the men, the queen looked to me, confused.

“Peace is not a one and done mission, as it turns out. Not all of Theon’s loyalists are going quietly into the night,” I explained. “Though with a few more shadow wielders, I’m sure you could help me make that happen.”

It was that exact moment a dragon roar shook the entire castle, effectively ruining my well-planned compliment.

Two men appeared out of the shadows immediately, one of which blurted out, “General Willothorn with a rider.”

All the eyes in the room looked out the window just as black wings swooped down, depositing one rider onto the throne room balcony just before the dragon shifted into his human form.

Keir opened the door to the balcony, smiling nicely at the guard standing there and let himself and the other man on in.

There was only one thing to say. “You’re late.”