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39

ROWAN

The festivities lasted well into the night.

We danced and drank, the spectacle of the Festival of Tides closing ceremony, with a new queen at its helm, one to behold. By the time we returned to the inn, secured in advance by Nerys’s new queen’s guard led by Caelum, it was easy to see she was exhausted.

I’d congratulated her, our public embrace short but cherished as I’d wanted to touch her all night. All day, in fact, watching her battle Lirael was one of the most difficult things I’d ever done in my life. She disappeared into the same room she’d shared with Aneri, a testament to the kind of queen she would be. Nerys refused any special treatment, and since Aneri would not be coming to the palace, instead opting to remain in her home.

We’d returned to the palace; Mev and Kael to remain Nerys’s guests until returning north, and I’d not seen her since. Locked away all day, she began the process of choosing a new inner circle, putting forth new names for a council. Thankfully, none of those who’d been corrupted by the old queen returned.

Now, as I stepped into my chamber, towel around my waist, I sat on the bed looking out into the darkening sky and sea below. Knowing its power and seeing that power harnessed were two very different things, and though I respected the magic of Elydor’s other clans, it was Thalassaria, and Nerys, that held me most in awe.

The vision came much more easily than the first. I no longer struggled to understand it, or attempted to fight for more than it was willing to reveal. Instead, I simply observed and did not judge.

I stood before the Gate, its intricate runes carved into its surface, their glow pulsing with life as the magic awakened. Most of the etchings shimmered in brilliant blue: the hue of Aetherian power.

Except… not all.

Scattered among the glowing runes were others, faint and dormant, their color untouched by the magic. Instead, they remained the pale, unassuming shade of white marble, almost invisible. I could only make out one of the three, but it appeared to be an old key, its shaft twisted. But the vision faded before I could bring the others into focus.

I had no idea what it meant but understood now why my grandfather kept a leather-bound journal of his visions. I would do the same, in time. For now, they were easy enough to remember, if not to interpret.

My duty to Estmere, and the humans, was clear.

But so was my love for Nerys.

The evening meal was not for some time, but I stood, prepared to dress, when the soft knock stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t think she would have been able to get away today, but I knew without using any special abilities that it was Nerys on the other side of the door.

I opened it, Nerys not even pretending to hide her appreciation for my attire, or lack of it. She was dressed in tight, form-fitting breeches and a loose, tunic-style top that fell off one shoulder.

“By Elydor’s breath, you are magnificent.”

I stepped back. Nerys closed the door behind her.

I was already halfway across the room, afraid to touch her before I said my piece. Once I did, it would be all but impossible to stop.

“How was your day?” I asked, heading toward my leather satchel. With the sun beginning to set, casting a late day glow into the chamber, and the sounds of water’s life-giving flow all around us, I’d never felt more connected to this place before. Perhaps it was Nerys, knowing, or hoping, what was to come. Or perhaps it was an echo of my human ancestors’ tie to Thalassaria, one I’d never known existed.

“Interesting,” she said. “Less contentious than I’d have expected.”

Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my Keeper’s ring and palmed it, heading to the windows. When Nerys joined me, I turned toward her.

“I don’t know if this is the time or place, but there is much I need to speak with you about.”

“I’m not due back until the meal.” Her gaze dipped, and I steeled myself against a desire so strong that I wondered if it would someday consume me.

I opened my palm, revealing the gold ring, its sole gem representing the runes etched into the Aetherian Gate when it first opened, a reminder that my ancestors were forever tied to it.

“This ring represents my oath,” I began, “and promises I’ve kept, along with ones I have yet to fulfill. It binds me to secrets and traditions that are older than we are. But today, I make a new vow. You asked me once if I thought we could be possible. I did not, believing my duty in Estmere. And though I still owe a debt to the humans that must be repaid, I would do it here, in Thalassaria. If you wish it.”

Her eyes searched mine.

Holding my breath, I waited. Would it be enough?

“I wish it, to the depths of my soul. I love you, Rowan, and have vowed to lead Thalassaria on a new path forward. A human king at my side will challenge traditions older than memory itself. Yet I believe in my people, in their strength and wisdom to embrace what is right, not just what has always been. Together, we can show them that unity is our greatest power.”

I put the ring in her hand and closed Nerys’s fingers around it. “A human king. I am, as you will remember, very much mortal.”

Nerys would sacrifice as much as me, or me, for us to be together.

“I found a strength within me, one that was always there but buried beneath fear and doubt. When the time comes, I will draw on it and trust that heartbreak will not crush me completely.”

Could I live with the knowledge that, someday, I would break her heart?

Aye. More easily than I could walk away from Nerys now.

“Will you marry me, Nerys?” Then remembering she was not human, “Rather, will you partner with me, for my eternity?”

In response, she leaned into me, and I was lost. Kissing her, knowing we were to marry, was a very different sort of kiss. There was no end in sight but a beginning that I never could have imagined coming here.

No longer holding back, I allowed my hands to roam freely. From her shoulders down to her waist, I made quick work of Nerys’s top as her hands moved between us.

“I wanted to do that,” she said, separating herself long enough to place my ring on the nearby table and take off her boots, “the second I walked into the chamber.”

Standing before her completely nude as Nerys had removed my towel, I marveled at the forces that brought me here. If the Gate had not closed… if Mev had not come through… I could not wish for the suffering my people had been through, being cut off from their families, but at the same time, I could not help but celebrate the wheels that had been put into motion for me to travel here and have met Nerys.

“You best move quickly,” I told her, slowing closing the distance between us, “because any piece of clothing remaining on your body when I reach you may or may not remain intact when I do.”

Making good on my promise, I did not go gently disrobing my future wife. She gasped as I pulled the form-fitting breeches down, helping her feet from the garment. With nothing but her glorious naked form begging to be touched before me, I lifted and carried Nerys to the bed.

She giggled, a sound I rarely heard from a woman with so many serious burdens to carry, as I tossed her on the bed. When she flicked her wrist, I was surprised to be enveloped by a silencing mist. I was even more surprised when Nerys flipped us around and moved between my legs as I’d intended to do with her.

“What,” I croaked out, “are you doing?”

She smiled, taking me in both hands. “Is that not evident? I am pleasing the man that would be my partner.”

“Nerys,” I started but could not finish. Without warning, she bobbed her head down and took me into her mouth. Gripping the back of her hair, I squeezed its silken strands between my fists. This hadn’t been the plan, but reminding myself the woman I’d just committed to partnering with, I would have to become very comfortable with less predictability very quickly.

And with each flick of her tongue, with every suckle, I understood the reason for the mist. The sounds coming from me were primeval, Nerys’s skill something I didn’t want to consider. There was little chance I could last much longer. Summoning a will I had no notion I was capable of, I lifted her head and pulled her up to me.

When Nerys licked the corner of her mouth, I nearly came undone.

Sitting up and reaching between us, I smoothed my hand down until my finger was inside her. “So wet already,” I said, helping Nerys get into position atop me as she kneeled with each leg on one side of my lap.

“I’ve been wet for you since the first day we met.”

Lying back down, I guided her onto me, the sight of her nearly my undoing. Again.

“I know,” I said, remembering.

At her mock indignation, now buried deep inside her, I began to move. Together, we found a rhythm as I blocked out the sight of Nerys between my legs. Thinking of that, of how good she felt now, would not allow me to prolong this lovemaking session, something I very much wanted to do.

But I also wanted to claim her. Possess her in every possible way.

I flipped us, though not gently, and let my need consume us both. Nerys called my name so loudly that I wondered if we’d need the mist every time.

Pinning her wrists beneath my hands, I drove into her, each thrust another promise. It was not the soft beckoning of the tide, rolling gently to and fro along this shore. This was a maelstrom of need and desire and lust. One of love too, and a trust so deep that neither of us were afraid of letting go.

I raised myself up, using my thumb to stroke her, and watched as Nerys became undone. She screamed, thrusting her hips upward as I buried myself deep inside her, flicking and circling her, waiting for that moment.

The one where she forgot everything, and everyone, including me. Where there was nothing but an explosion of pleasure so consuming that nothing existed but her pleasure. When that happened, when Nerys stilled to fully be present in that moment, I drove into her one last time and let myself go.

The vision came as quickly as I did into her. An impossible one, of something so rare in Elydor that I could not possibly give it any credence. One of a babe, not in any particular place or even within the arms of anyone I could decipher. I could simply see its face, rather quickly before the vision faded.

I dared not move.

If this had been my first, or even second or third, vision, I’d have dismissed it. Not trusting myself. Not understanding or even allowing hope to well inside me. But it wasn’t. And I knew, as much as I knew Nerys and I had been destined to be together, that the vision was real.

He, or she, was a child who would be born of love.

A rare gift.

And it was ours.