Page 48 of Waves (Tangled Crowns #6)

AVIA

T he days after the wedding were some of the most blissful of my life.

First of all, Bloss lingered for two days afterward, and it was absolutely wonderful to spend time with her, particularly once I’d briefed Lizza never to disclose what had happened with my heart and then made a wish that the old witch would forget on top of that.

Sharing meals and laughing with Bloss brought back so many good memories. That was, until she subtly suggested she should sit in on one of my council meetings.

It was unclear if she'd originally intended to lecture, but a streak of pride ran through me after she started nodding along. At the end, once all my courtiers had filed out and we were alone at the long table, she tilted her head and said, "Well, you clearly have this under control."

I wasn't able to stop myself. As the younger sister, I had so few opportunities to say it. I couldn't resist a delightfully fulfilling, "I told you so."

Her eye roll and indulgent smile brought me back to childhood, since that was probably the expression she'd used most on me. With a gesture toward the door, she stood and smoothed her burnt orange silk dress as she said, "Fine then. Tell me more about these new husbands of yours."

Setting aside the quill I'd used to sign a new trade agreement, I followed her, linking our arms and suggesting, "Why don't we do that as we walk through the sculpture garden we're building?"

We walked down gravel paths among the sound of chisels as thirty local artists carved the figures of Okeanos heroes and legends.

Bits of stone floated through the water around us, though Bloss was protected by the enchanted bubble that surrounded her silhouette and gave her face a beautiful iridescent sheen.

Her fascination with Okeanos and its foreign customs were clear as we made our way from one coral arch to the next.

She paused at one of the sand squares where an artisan was hard at work. "What's this one going to be?" she asked the siren as he worked.

"Sea dragon named Tatzel. Old legend." he responded gruffly, focused on checking the angle of the curve he'd just chiseled into a massive hunk of stone that was taller than I was.

The man grabbed a parrot fish and set it across the surface of his stone.

Immediately, the fish set to work and gobbled all the floating bits of rock so that the man could keep smoothing out a section of his serpent.

Undeterred by his reticence, Bloss also asked the next artist we came across, who was much farther along in her project—perhaps because her subject was so eager.

Keelan stood near the woman, posing grandly as Mr. Whelk floated lazily above him. My new husband broke his pose to wave at us, but then quickly resumed it because he took the work at hand very seriously.

"He's a good catch." My sister gave me a pointed look as we left Keelan behind.

"Yes. He keeps the rest of us from getting too serious," I replied, "which is why I gave him that statue as a wedding present."

Her chuckle floated out lightly along the current, which picked up and began playing with the strands of our hair, the sea singing gently in my ears. "And how do your other husbands feel about that?"

"Well, I gave them each a gift," I replied.

"Really? What did the others get?"

"Mateo got a ship so that his father could sail out to meet us. Lizza enchanted the anchor to link it to a bracelet Mateo now wears. Any time his father lowers the anchor, the jewel on it glows so that he can swim up to visit."

"I want a ship! Don't I get a sister gift?" she pretended indignation and pushed playfully at my shoulder before her expression softened. "That's sweet of you."

"It was the least I could do. He's given up so much for me." My throat narrowed, once again lined with thick, soft feelings. Today, I appeared to be full of them.

"And what about that handsome guard? The one with the wagon wheel tattoo on his chest? He's delicious. Reminds me a bit of my Ryan. So grumpy and demanding."

Her comment sent my cheeks warm scarlet, but they only burned warmer as I tried to phrase my gift to Felipe in a delicate way. My teeth bit down on my lower lip and nibbled lightly.

"Oh no. Did you give him something naughty?"

"No!" My hands flew up to my throat, nervously rubbing, but I decided then and there to just spit it out.

It was only odd to say because she was my sister.

"He's older than the others—" I didn't count Raj since he was immortal.

"I told him... I wanted to have his child first." Felipe deserved to have every moment a man dreamt of when he thought about becoming a father, to gather up every precious memory and tuck them close to his heart.

I couldn't wait to see my hulking guard soften and melt—he would be the perfect combination of stern and tender.

My sister stopped walking and turned to stare at me. "And that didn't lead to an all-out brawl between them?"

"Not one I witnessed," I replied with a small, uncertain shrug. "I'm not even certain he told them yet. I told them all of their gifts privately."

"Smart." She resumed our walk, ducking beneath a jelly, tentacles stretching and contracting as it leisurely swam just overhead. "And the last husband? I can't remember his name. The shy one?"

"Stavros." I glanced off and weighed the consequences, but I wasn't certain Bloss was ready to hear Raj's true identity yet. His former identity. And there was absolutely no way I could tell her what I'd given him.

Gela appeared in my head for a moment. And her wispy visage whispered, Sometimes, queens keep secrets. Not just for the good of their country. For the good of the entire world.

She'd been right about that.

Raj was too important and divisive a secret to share. So, I pressed my lips together, reflecting, and memories of last night floated up as my sister and I continued strolling in silence.

Stavros appeared in the doorway of my bedchamber dressed all in black, his blond hair slicked to one side, his liquid blue eyes squinted in suspicion—far more so than they'd ever been when he'd been playing a part in my tournament.

"I've been feeling many curious things today, Avia. Care to explain them?"

He slowly approached as I stood from the chair I'd been perched on and set aside the scroll I'd been reading. Because I didn't tie it down, the scroll simply floated off, but I didn't bother to retrieve it.

"I've been giving out wedding gifts."

"Isn't it tradition in Okeanos for a bride to receive gifts?"

I shrugged as I walked toward him, stopping only when we were close enough that I registered the thrumming pulse in his neck. Only once my body heated just from his proximity. "I've stuck with the tradition of marrying men from the tournament. I think that might be as traditional as I get."

"Interesting." He waited patiently for me to continue.

"I've given gifts to all my other husbands, but I've been debating what I should give you."

His eyes darted toward the bed, and I bit down on a grin.

"That's not the kind of gift I'm talking about.

I want to give you something that shows my appreciation for who you are.

..for all you've done for me. For all you will do for Okeanos.

And..." I reached down and touched the onyx ring on my finger, his gaze following mine.

Immediately, as if my own veins were bursting, I sensed his heartbeat speed up, anticipation blooming as I gave the band a twist. "I wish you'd never have to grant another wish you didn't want to. "

Immediately, his body was against mine, his thigh between mine, hands ghosting up my sides to cup my cheeks. "You don't have to do that," he murmured.

"But I do. You can't be enslaved to me. My heart already influences you. But I don't want your life to feel bound and chained ? —"

"I don't." His insistence was instantaneous and forceful.

"But you might one day."

He began to scoff but I cut him off, saying, "Just say 'granted' already."

His brow furrowed and his hands slid slowly down to my shoulders as his expression grew worried. "No. What if I regress? What if ? —"

"You won't regress because you're Stavros.

Raj is dead. Gone forever. He doesn't exist any longer—we agreed.

He was heartless. You are not." I rose up onto my tiptoes to better stare into his eyes and push my point home.

"You are my husband. I want you to be able to choose me. And choose to say no to me."

"I choose now. No."

And then he swept me into a devastatingly delicious kiss.

My hair swarmed around me when he lifted me off my feet and carried me over to my bed, depositing me on the edge only to lean over me and block my vision with his body as he planted kisses along the ridge of my brow, on the tip of my nose, over the scales on my cheek, down one side of my neck before those plus lips wandered back up to dance over my jaw.

He teased me until I grabbed at his hair and yanked it, pulling his mouth back to mine.

Breathless and bemused more than irritated, I pulled back and stared up into his eyes. "Why not? Why wouldn't you want your freedom?"

He tangled our fingers then, winding them together and bringing his ring to his lips for another gentle kiss. "Because I trust you more than I trust myself. You won't abuse power. I always have."

The drumbeat of our shared heart rolled through me as this truth settled into our skin.

Once he realized he'd won the argument, Stavros leaned back down and pecked the corner of my mouth before whispering, "Now, if you want to discuss gifts...I'd very much like to unwrap you, wife." Rippling lust tinted my vision, and I wasn't certain if it was his or my own, not that it mattered.

Every feeling was ours .

In response, I'd curved my body into his, my hands wrapping around the back of his neck, my legs lifting to bracket his narrow hips. "You are letting me off too easy with this gift."