Page 52 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

“ I do not trust Calix Cyncrest or any of those loyal to Damek enough for us to remain in the castle another night,” I told the queen and king of Agria.

We had settled on an agreement of Artem’s return.

Damek had already been apprehended, though Keir and I had to assist with our power because he had gone down swinging.

The irony of the same type of power he utilized from Kessara to help him kill people being used to apprehend him was not lost on me.

I regretted that Kessara had to witness the downfall of her brother.

It was one thing to have to slowly watch him unravel, another to be present for his outburst when he was apprehended.

There were many names yelled at her until I yanked the breath from his lungs.

Immediately following, she had met with her parents and written an official statement for the courts against her brother, her lone testimony the only thing keeping him behind bars until they investigated further.

Even now, a few hours later, she looked lovely as ever, but in the way her neck seemed heavy on her shoulders, the way she held her posture, she was clearly exhausted.

It hurt me to realize I had given her even more emotional turmoil on this day.

I should’ve further asked her about her motivations of being queen, something she’d said once tempted her, but I didn’t want her to tell me what I wanted to hear because of our attraction to one another.

Or worse, choose me because she felt being queen wasn’t a realistic option. So I thought she would have felt more comfortable admitting her feelings about being queen here, among fellow royals. Princess to Queen. Daughter to mother.

I’d been wrong. And I should’ve known better.

Kessara had married me in a simple skirt.

Just last night she had been dressed flawlessly and yet chose to chase waterfalls with me.

I knew she hated the parading around and court masks.

She hated masks at all, in fact; I always knew where I stood with her, every bone in her body was honest. It was a miracle she’d been able to keep her true identity a secret for so long.

No, Kessara would have never been happy as queen.

But my insecurities were louder than my logic: could she be happy with me?

I continued on with the king and queen, “With your blessing and Kess’s agreement, I would like to depart with the ship for Wylan tonight.

I understand your announcement in the morning will come as a shock to many, and I feel it best if we are already halfway to Wylan when it occurs.

Let things blow over without a Wylan ship visible from the shore. ”

“We understand,” the king said, nodding. “Of course you are correct, though we hate to lose our girl so swiftly. She just got here.”

The queen reached for Kessara’s hand and squeezed. “You both are welcome to come back whenever you would like. Let us prove to you that we mean what we say today. That we are actively working to make sure Agria is safe for you to return home to.”

“Kess?” I asked. “Do you agree with leaving tonight?”

She sent me a look like she wanted to kill me. As if she was conveying in a mere glance how angry she was that I was being communicative now, a little too late. “Yes.”

I gestured with my head to Keir and Zaire waiting for us. “They’ll fly us to the docks,” I told them. “So I will give you a moment together as a family.”

The man who raised Kessara, a daughter who was not his own, reached out and gripped my arm before I left. He leaned in and hugged me, one slap on the back. “You are a good man, Commander Raikes.”

I smiled. “I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong and find that about you as well.”

“Not all kings are tyrants,” he joked.

“I’ve made sure all the ones who were are now dead tyrants,” I agreed. I was fairly certain he knew I was implying that should Damek ever find himself on a throne, he would find himself in a similar fashion.

The queen whispered, “Zara, is he always this—” she circled her hand at me, unable to find words for it.

“Handsome?” I provided.

“Valiant?” the king offered.

Kessara looked at me but only briefly. “Annoying?”

The queen laughed, though it was short. I supposed it was hard to laugh on a day you arrested your own flesh and blood. “I was going to say honorable .”

“Well yes,” Kessara said, a smirk of a smile playing on her lips. “He is always annoyingly honorable.”

“Good thing I am also valiantly handsome then,” I deadpanned.

Kessara squinted at me while her father laughed heartily.

With one last goodbye to the queen and king, I headed over to wait with Zaire and Keir.

“How’s it going?” Keir asked. “It seems everything has gone according to plan.”

“Other than my wife is currently plotting my death, all is well. The bigger crisis is averted. Do you mind dropping us a little ways off from the ship? I would like a moment to smooth things over before there isn’t a quiet moment without the team.

” It was a selfish move, but I wanted to make things right. Now. Not in two days.

Zaire back in his human form snorted a laugh. “I think we can do that.”

Keir just stated, “Good thing the sword fight was earlier rather than later then. Would hate to see you shishkabobbed by my sister.”

“I’m not sure that’s a verb,” I told him.

“It should be,” he grinned.

Only ten minutes later, Kessara was heading over to us, as I heard the queen say to her, “You may be Wylan’s sister, but to us, you will always be Agria’s princess. You are always welcome here.”

I thought I saw Kessara’s emotion in her eyes, but she didn’t allow a single tear to fall.

Keir headed for the same balcony they’d entered in, just hours earlier. “Your chariot awaits.”

“People from Agria do not ride dragons,” she whispered. To whom I wasn’t sure. Because she sure as hell wasn’t talking to me. Or even looking at me.

“People from Wylan do,” Keir reminded her.

“I promise I won’t bite,” Zaire tossed over his shoulder just before shifting into his dragon form.

“I make no such promises,” I called after him.

Keir stilled from where he was about to take off.

Oh right. He thought I meant with Kessara. Awkward. I gestured toward Zaire, “I meant with Zaire, not with your sister.”

Keir ran a hand down his face. “Must you flirt with everything ?”

“I just say the words, you’re the one that goes there.”

“You take us directly to the cliff, then are surprised when we dangle there?” he argued .

“The dragon is waiting,” Kessara urged.

Zaire snorted as if in agreement, but I knew he loved to banter with the rest of us. He had mellowed out entirely since being healed, since helping both Dra Skor and Agria heal.

Keir opted to fly himself, leaving Kessara and me to fly on Zaire together. Her whole body was tense, as she gripped one of his protruding scales for dear life.

Zaire beat his wings hard, rising up to the top of the tree line, and I had to reach and hold onto Kessara’s waist, making sure to keep both of us on.

But by the time we landed in the only clearing close to the ship, still a hundred yards from the docks, Kessara was looking wind-blown and happy.

I understood entirely. I didn’t think I stopped smiling a full day after my first ride on a shifter.

The adrenaline high gave way to pure happiness.

Riding a dragon. Who would have dared to dream it?

“Thank you,” I told Keir and Zaire. “And thank you for showing up for us today.”

“You avoided a war today, Owen. It was a solid plan,” Keir complimented.

“Now get for home before the wings inflict terror on the people,” I told them.

Agria was more accepting of Dra Skor than ever before because of Keir’s efforts healing them, but still.

All things considered, everyone needed to get the hell out of Agria.

Agria was about to denounce one heir before the other returned home.

See you soon, Zaire said as he lifted back into the air.

“Not too soon,” I jested.

“Love you, brother,” Keir told me before saying to Kessara, “See you soon, sis.”

“Bye,” Kessara said quietly with a little wave.

It was just the two of us, the Wylan ship off in the distance. A stressful, but otherwise successful day behind us .

“I am sorry,” I said immediately, though she still wasn’t even looking at me.

“Kess, I understand why you are mad. I wish I would’ve told you, I just didn’t want you to stay with me because of our attraction to one another if the throne was really something you wanted.

So I had to offer it. With other people present so I couldn’t use my lips and body to convince you of all the reasons to stay with me. So I couldn’t be selfish.”

“Owen—”

“I meant what I said back there. I want you. In every space. With all of me.”

“Owen—” she said again sounding more panicked.

But she needed to hear this. “Do you not understand that there’s not a thing in the entire damn realm I wouldn’t do for you? That this is so damn real to me?”

“Owen!”

It was then, as her eyes locked onto mine, that I understood she hadn’t been looking around me to avoid my eyes. I’d been so desperate to make things up to her, it’d been lost on me that she’d been scanning our surroundings.

My magic flared, traveling up my forearms.

“It’s Calix and Damek’s men,” she whispered. “I sense them.”

Before she was even done speaking, she called the shadows to her and threw them around us just as more shadows came at us from every possible angle.