Page 137 of Shifter King

"Reskal is Reskal. We have no interest beyond what has been done," Chiriese said. "We will help you to take it. But the rights of conquest, it is yours."

Opotwo gestured back toward the curtain. "Those two…they are dangerous indeed."

AaQar kept his expression masked. "Thanks to those two, it was essentially a bloodless victory." But it was true.

And after what they had witnessed today…he would not have believed half of what he saw if he had not seen it with his own eyes.

Opotwo chuckled. "Today is a good day. Though I suspect many will wish to speak with her. There is a great deal of curiosity about her and your brother. Not all are your friends. But many will be. After all this though, I doubt many will try to make demands to the right of giving her children. So far as your brother, he will make a ferocious king, I think. May they temper one another and encourage each other to be better and better. Their children will be powerful."

"They certainly will," AaQar said. "Thank you again."

"Our pleasure. So long as you remember your oaths to us," Opotwo said.

AaQar inclined his head slightly. "Of course." And he would also remember all of these prophecies and all that he had seen this day. The future was not what he had expected. It was wild and terrifying, but there was something powerfully compelling about it. It was good to be here to see it.

* * *

It wasas if she had found what she had been searching for. Solid coarse stone that she could cling to. As Amelia rested in Naatos's arms, it felt as if some great jagged part of herself had been soothed. The horrors of the psychic wine and the confusion faded as she focused on him and this moment.

This was a good place even though she felt the edges of his horror and suffering. At first, she couldn't even find the words. She could only hold onto him and try to soothe those ragged edges.

Her heart thundered against his. All she wanted was to stay in his arms. "You were in so much pain," she whispered.

"Not anymore." He traced a line from the edge of her jaw up to her temple. "Veskaro." He whispered the word in her ear. "I love you."

"I love you too." She buried her face in his chest, more tears running down her cheeks. "I thought—I thought I was never going to find you again. I tried. I kept trying to reach you."

"I know." He kissed her softly just below her ear.

She shivered and closed her eyes. The Ki Valo Nakar was nowhere to be seen or felt. It had vanished almost as soon as he started kissing her.

"Nothing would have kept me away." He clasped her tight, his hand cradling the back of her head, the other around her waist. "I would have shredded this world and set it ablaze to get to you." He buried his face in her hair, kissing her gently and nuzzling her.

She tried to respond, but her breaths remained ragged. Her heart still raced as if she might have to run again. But he was here. Here with her. Really and truly here. They were safe. All of them.

He smiled and nudged her with his nose. "And don't think I don't know you'd make me put it back together too."

"Would you?" She looked up into his beautiful crystal-blue eyes, leaning against the wall so she could better see him. Her fingers moved up his firm chest to his well-defined jaw. That intensity emanating from him was so present, so unyielding, wholly and completely focused on her.

"For you, yes. For you, anything." His breaths grew harder, heavier.

Her heart swelled as her voice softened. "And I would have done it for you. Naatos, I—"

He swept his mouth over hers again, deepening the kiss at once as his tongue sought hers. Moaning, she melted against him and curled her arms around his back.

Maybe all the pieces could come back together. Perhaps the space could be removed and everything would fit again. If she hadn't found them all, perhaps she had found enough.

Fabric rustled. The curtains fell down, plunging them into dim romantic light.

She inhaled sharply, then started to relax as she realized what had happened. "I guess we do need privacy."

Naatos chuckled. "You are still so shy."

"Some things aren't meant to be shared," she said, tilting her head and smiling up at him.

He nudged her again, pressing his body tight against hers. "What matters most is that you are here with me." He kissed her cheek. "You are my veskaro, Amelia. The one to whom I have locked and whom I will forever cherish. As much my family as my flesh and blood. As dear to me as my own body. My family is yours as you are ours. Whatever seeks to harm you or separate you from me, I will destroy."

Tears stung her eyes, but the happiness that filled her overwhelmed all else. "You are my veskare. To you I am faithful for all of our days. To you I give my best whether in fighting or loving or sparring or learning. Your family is mine as I am yours. No one ever could or ever will replace you."

He swept his mouth against hers, claiming her, pressing her against the wall. The kiss deepened, intensifying with every breath and moment. Then he pulled away just enough. "You are my veskaro," he whispered fiercely. "Woe to any who attempt to take you from me."

She smiled as she gazed up at him. "And you are my veskare. Woe to any who attempt to take you from me."