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In fact, he was a demigod who’d fallen so deeply in love that he was willing to spend his life waiting for a momentary glance of her. Even if she ignored him. Painfully so.

“If so, I can’t help but be flattered. Are you being completely honest with me? Is there more? Are there other reasons?”

“I don’t think I’m capable of being anything but honest with you, Your Highness. What other reason might I have? There’s no other attraction here nor reason to stay. Nothing else about this…” He looked around. “Appeals to me.”

She laughed again. He was wonderful. And not just because he was a novelty. There was something…

“Well. I’m glad you asked for a meeting today.”

“So am I.”

“What is the reason for the meeting?”

He actually blushed. “At the risk of repeating myself, my reason is singular. Nothing more or less than seeing you, hearing your voice, and learning what you look like when you laugh.”

“So, you planned to make me laugh?”

He shook his head without so much as slightly compromising the intensity of his gaze. “It was never so much as a fantasy. But now I won’t forget it.” After a short pause, he added, “I can’t forget it.”

That made her laugh again. That was the third time in a few minutes after suffering through bleak years without a happy emotion. Ilmr was delirious. The man was magic. And that’s the highest compliment a fae can bestow.

The visit had already exceeded Vidar’s expectations. He’d been sure, given past behavior, that she’d dismiss him within minutes. Instead, he was finishing a cup of tea, while she seemed content and was showing no signs of ending the conversation.

The breath caught in his throat when she deliberately leaned forward in a way that exposed another couple of inches of milky-white décolletage.

He’d frozen, teacup in mid-air, and was trying to unscramble his brain when she gestured that she’d like to pour more tea for both of them.

He set his cup down then forced himself to calm and resume breathing so as not to seem too rural and undeserving.

Even though he was interacting with the queen who outshone all deities.

Ilmr patiently stirred her raw sugar until it blended with the hot liquid, then said, “What about my laugh can’t you forget?”

It was a brazen invitation for more compliments, but she didn’t care. She was hungry for more of the way he made her feel like the most important of fae royals, and didn’t care if admiration was elicited by trickery.

“You are, at all times, the most radiant of creatures, Your Highness. But when you laugh, your entire essence lights your aura in a way that rivals the brightness of sun on snow. It’s truly an unforgettable vision.”

Smiling, she sat back like a cat settling into the best pose for a good purr.

“My dear Vidar,” she began. “I regret that the pleasure of your company has gone untapped until now.”

Ilmr was amazed to be feeling rather bright after morose decades of gloom that had led to virtual confinement. Not only was she suddenly thinking there might yet be amusement in the world, she was also, inexplicably, free of heartburn for the first time in a long while.

She flicked her fingers in the direction of a bell on a rope near the parlor door. The chime rang and summoned her assistant, recently arrived from Turku and on probation.

The young woman entered and curtsied.

“Kyeya,” Ilmr said. “Bring us some lingonberry-cardamom cakes.” The queen thought that it near miraculous that she wanted her favorite treat.

Lingonberry-cardamom cakes had aggravated her heartburn for as long as she cared to recall.

Vidar’s company had instigated a healing when the royalr physicians’ solutions had failed.

Upon that realization, she decided that she must find a way to charm Vidar into desiring a close friendship. If not more.

“Yes, Highness.”

When Kyeya closed the door after her, Ilmr smiled at Vidar. “Oh. I didn’t think to ask if you like lingonberry-cardamom cakes. It must be a chore to be my guest. Tell me what you like. Please.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness. I’m honored to have you ask. Truthfully, I’ve never had lingonberry-cardamom cakes, but I’ll say this. If you like them, I’m certain they’re a relish fit for a queen.”

Ilmr chuckled, savoring the play on words. It was a joke. How long had it been since she was interested in jokes? Was she ever? She couldn’t remember.

“So, you’re hoping to be granted a post? Ambassador to Luathesar, perhaps?”

Vidar laughed softly. “May I ask why you’d think that?”

“It’s the most common reason for requesting a private audience with me.”

“I see. Well, as Your Highness may have noticed, I’m neither refined nor polished.

Diplomacy is the furthest thing from my mind.

I’m not patriotic. I don’t even recognize political geographical boundaries.

They don’t exist in my eyes. Therefore, I have no interest in affairs of state.

” He pinned her with a steady ice blue gaze.

“My interest is in you .” He said it slowly, with intention.

“Serving you, in particular. As needed.”

It was Ilmr’s turn to have her breath catch.

She couldn’t be sure he’d meant it in a sexual way, but judging by the delicious heat in his eyes, she took it as a double entendre.

Hmmm . Her eyes roamed slowly down Vidar’s body as she allowed herself to consider taking a lover for the first time in a few centuries.

Why not? He was the closest thing to physical perfection, and talked like he adored her.

A fae queen could do worse than a demigod, and, if she were ever in need of something epic, he might have useful connections. After all, a queen must be perpetually on the lookout for potential assets.

As thoughts of lazy lovemaking made their way into Ilmr’s thoughts, her body responded in kind. She relaxed back into brocade and velvet cushions with a sigh and the kind of smile that Vidar could only take as encouragement.

“Have you pressing engagements?” she asked. “If not, perhaps you might stay for lunch. I’ve been remiss in not getting to know you better during your stay at court.”

Vidar could laugh at the prospect of “pressing engagements”. He’d discouraged every invitation for interaction with courtiers. So far as he was concerned, they had nothing to offer. He was there for Ilmr. Period.

If he’d taken time to review the extended history of his life, he’d be hard pressed to name something more exciting than being invited to stay for lunch.

He was clever enough to know that jumping out of his chair would extinguish the growing spark.

It’s a commonly held belief that virile men do not behave so outwardly enthusiastically about signals that a lady may be amenable to an affair.

He adjusted his tunic to hide the growing tightness in his trousers.

He glanced in the direction of one of the short hallways, which he guessed led to the queen’s bedchamber, but didn’t allow his gaze to linger.

Just as he didn’t allow himself to fixate on images of the two of them in an ecstatic naked joining that would rise to legendary length and description even among the gods.

He smiled broadly.

Her lips parted. Ilmr’s appreciation of Vidar’s charms was growing by the minute.

“Nothing in the divine world could please me more than lunch with you,” he said.

She ducked her chin, smiled provocatively, and said, “Nothing?”

Vidar’s pants grew even tighter. He had something in mind that would taste far better than lunch. “Well…”

He let the word hang in the air, which delighted Ilmr to no end. She rang for Kyeya, who appeared so quickly one might’ve taken it for magic.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day.”

Kyeya suppressed a stutter. Barely. “ All your appointments?”

Ilmr jerked her head toward Kyeya in warning. “You heard me correctly. Bring us K?ldolmar and Kottbullar.” She smiled at Vidar as she said, “With fruit.”

Ilmr managed to make the word “fruit” sound suggestive. Vidar grinned in return, but shifted in his chair in a way that let the queen know he understood her seductive message and was more than receptive to the idea of afternoon delight.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Poor Kyeya knew there’d be a price to pay for cancellations and that she’d be the one paying it, but Vidar and Ilmr were far too focused on each other to hear the distress in her voice. Even so, it’s unlikely it would’ve factored into Ilmr’s decision-making.

A person who’s been a queen all her life has no use for empathy. The same might also be said for gods.

“Let the rest of the staff know I’m entertaining in my quarters,” Ilmr added. “I’m prepared for the delivery and presentation of lunch, but will not accept other interruptions.”

“Does that include removal after lunch?”

“It does. Clean up later.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

When Kyeya was gone, Vidar was first to break the silence. “Have you thought of some way I might be of service, Your Highness?”

“First, I’d like you to use my name. Titles are for those beneath my stature. Without doubt, that excludes you, sir. Call me Ilmr.”

“Very well. Ilmr.” He tasted her name, then let his tongue roam slowly around his mouth, all the while thinking about other things he’d like to do with his tongue.

“As to what you might do for me…” She turned her head so that she might seem coquettish and spoke with lowered eyelids. “Aside from the obvious.”

Vidar was finding that Ilmr’s teasing was growing in boldness in direct relation to his receptivity. It was also nearing painful. Then she changed the subject abruptly and completely. He welcomed a new topic so that he might occupy his thoughts with something other than cunnilingus.

“You make me smile, Vidar.”

“That pleases me immensely. Ilmr.”

“I say this because it’s remarkable. It’s been a long time since I’ve smiled.”