D ays after I’d placed Livia on my throne, the palace was still locked in a frenzy as servants and courtiers and common folk adjusted to a woman
in power. I wouldn’t take it back. There was a rightness in my chest, like this was the path I should’ve taken all along.
Carpenters were half-finished with a twin throne in the great hall. Carved in foxes and ivy and a swallow in the center of the back. The royal smith set to work fashioning her a circlet in the shape of oak leaves and would present it at an official coronation at the next full moon.
Of course, if I’d known there’d be such a need from the house lords to discuss my lunacy, I would’ve killed them all—save for Gavyn who found it wholly entertaining—and been done with them.
“Lord Hesh,” I said, desperate to sound bored. The man was made of more stone than flesh. The only small piece of his towering form were his teeth, ground down from the constant tension in his damn jaw. “As I told you, if I cared for your opinions on the royal court, I would have consulted you. Alas, I care little.”
“My King,” Joron interjected. He was slender as a sickly tree, with knobby limbs to go with it. “We seek not to tell you how to rule your court, but what you have done . . . it is a weakness against us. You’ve given the earth fae—”
“What?” I snapped. “What have I given them? A union? A call to peace? You recall the days the Ever Folk went to their realms, where trade was once prominent between our people, where the lands thrived together.”
Joron spluttered. “Those were different times, My Lord.”
“And they will be again.” I faced the far end of the table, one fist curled over my leg. “Lady Narza, what do you say? Think a queen is a weakness for the Ever?”
“What else will a woman say?” Hesh grumbled.
“I don’t believe I was speaking to you.” I gave the lord a warning glare and took pleasure in the way he pinched his lips. “What say you, Grandmother?”
Narza had been silent, but to the surprise of every house, she’d arrived after Joron summoned a council to discuss the blasphemy of an Ever Queen. My grandmother had little to do with me after the death of my mother. I’d always resented her for it, always wanted her to steal me away to her house to escape the cruelty of my father.
She never came.
Oddly enough, in this moment she looked at me without indifference.
More like she did not recognize me.
“I say,” she began, “our king has been burdened by a broken kingdom for a great many turns. At times to heal, it requires vast change. I am optimistic your act to change the way of things will only benefit our people.”
Not praise exactly, but it meant more than I expected to have her approval. Hesh and Joron muttered until Gavyn flamboyantly expressed his enthusiasm for a new queen.
“Already the king and queen,” he said, “have cleared away the darkening on the far isles in the House of Bones. They are stronger together, and I for one, like the king a great deal more when the earth queen is near.”
I narrowed my eyes and fought the urge to kick his damn shin from under the table.
Slowly, I rose from my seat. I’d been kept long enough from Livia, and I tired of their blustering. “The truth is, I do not need your approval. Any of you. In fact, Lord Joron, I would think hard on your support of your king and queen. Or the palace might take note of the lotus trade you’ve begun with the privateers in the far seas.”
Joron’s eyes widened and the blustering fool startled in his seat when I slammed my palm on the table.
“In fact,” I went on, “your involvement in the Skondell lotus trade makes me wonder if you might be the one financing House Skurk to betray your king.”
“No.” Joron shook his head vigorously. “No, Highness. I . . . would never involve myself with such a house. We’ve used the lotus for study, that is all. To find new uses. I swear to you.”
I pulled my hand back before the cretin could kiss my damn rings, and gave Gavyn a quick glance. He’d done his duty and found more than one wretched secret.
“And Hesh.” I drummed my fingers over the table. “You’ll return to your province to find the sirens you’ve been holding beneath your manor are no longer yours for whatever twisted reason you were keeping them.”
Narza’s eyes burned in a swift, unforgiving rage. “What is this? You’ve imprisoned blood of my house?”
Hesh saw females as tools to expand a bloodline, but beneath the surface he feared Narza. “Trespassers. I am within my rights to detain them.”
“Liar,” she seethed. “You want their voices, is that it? Want to lure folk to your province? Or is it you merely want to use their bodies in the hope you secure an heir with a unique gift like our king?”
I slammed my hand on the table again. “Let this be a warning—I do not care for your opinions on the queen, and I will be watching to see that your support is given to her with unwavering fealty. In fact, I suggest you each look within your own houses and consider how much stronger you might be if you did the same.”
Without another word, I abandoned the council room.
Alistair was waiting in the corridor; I glared my annoyance and tried to hurry past him.
“You cannot avoid me forever, My King.” “I can, and I will.”
Alistair snorted. “There are matters in need of your attention unless you would like me to defer to our new queen. She has a much softer tone and does not fling blades.”
I fought a grin. “No, I don’t want you to defer to the queen since I am going to see the queen, and that would take her from me. The same reason I do not want you to defer to me.”
Alistair’s breath puffed through his thin nose as he tried to keep my pace. “I am trying to feel pity for you, My Lord, truly I am. But you live in a glittering palace, have the power of the kingdom, a beautiful mate—”
“Gods, old man, what is it you need from me?” I stopped mid-corridor and faced him.
“Peace talks.” Alistair smoothed his too-tight gambeson. “Do you still wish to attempt a truce between the earth fae in time for the coronation? If so, it would be to the benefit of us all to not anger the house lords.”
If anything about this made me uneasy it was the thought of bartering a truce with the man who’d offered me peace more than once, only to have me steal away his heart, leaving him to wonder what horrors she was facing day after day.
Odds were he’d take her back and ram one of his axes in my skull. “Lord Hesh and Lord Joron can sink to the depths of the Ever Sea for all
I care,” I said. “If they cannot accept there is no healing the Ever alone and a woman is their savior, that is their risk to take.”
Stand against my Songbird, and they would meet their end much the same as the assassins.
“Livia is preparing a missive to send to her folk for a neutral meet. With the earth prince and princess speaking for us, peace is attainable. The lords will need to accept it.”
“I’ll see to it the palace is accommodating for a swell of earth fae.” Alistair snapped his fingers. “Oh, one final matter.” From inside his gambeson, the man removed a pouch. “As you requested. They’re ready.”
I grinned when I looked inside. “Perfect.”
Servants and palace staff still avoided me, but their eyes weren’t filled with as much fear as I strode past, more like they were curious if I’d slipped into madness or truly had a sliver of a heart.
“King.”
Halfway up the staircase to my chambers, I startled. “Narza? I thought we had finished our conversation in the council room.”
Disguised as the blind hag, my grandmother stepped from a deep alcove window. “You’ve given your heart? Last time such a claim had been made it nearly destroyed the bloodline of the House of Kings.”
I leaned close. “Then let it burn.”
Narza tilted her head, a wildness in her eyes.
“I’ll burn the Ever,” I repeated, voice low, “and start anew if I must.
There is no world where she does not own me.”
“Then guard your bond, Erik. We still do not know who is behind the spell cast of the darkening.” Narza hummed. “Dangers are among us.”
“And I face them with my queen.”
“I hope you do, Grandson. I suppose we shall see.” A sly smirk painted her illusioned, haggish features, but she said nothing more as she backed into the alcove.
By the time I reached my chamber door, my temper was shorter, and I thought if anyone else kept me from seeing her, I would do as Alistair said and begin flinging knives.
“Why are so many damn people in my room?”
Livia snapped her gaze up from the table near the fire nook, as did Alek, Tait, and Celine.
“I wanted opinions on the missive,” Livia said, grinning. “I’m trying to keep your head, Bloodsinger. So are they. Perhaps a bit of gratitude.”
“Ah, I see.” I opened the door to the corridor. “You all have my appreciation for getting your asses out of our room.”
Celine gestured to Alek and Livia. “I think you two better speak to your folk, not the king. He’ll get us all killed the moment he opens his mouth.” She glared at me as she strode past. “Last time I help you, Highness.”
“Doubtful.”
Tait followed. He’d been sullen since we were boys, but there was a touch of something lighter in his features. Still, he hardly acknowledged me. I hardly acknowledged him. Alek hesitated as he approached.
“You most of all,” I grumbled. “Why are you still here? Go home.”
“A debt must be repaid, Bloodsinger.” The corner of his mouth curved. “Trust me, you’ll want more than Livia’s voice standing for you against my uncle.”
He gave Livia a bemused look, then followed the others out of the room.
I had my arms around her waist in the next breath, my lips on her throat. “I see you painted more windows.” My eyes lifted over her shoulder to the scene of a trapped monster awaiting to be reunited with his lover in the skies.
Nightfire had always been my favorite myth. I liked that it was becoming Livia’s.
“You were gone last night. Nightmares crept in, so I painted this to chase them away.”
I tightened my hold around her waist. “I don’t like that. If you can’t sleep, I don’t care if I’m across the damn sea, call to me and I’ll come.”
“I’m not calling you for every horrid dream. I’ve handled the Mare demons for turns on my own, I’ll be fine.”
I lifted my head. “But you don’t have to be alone anymore.”
Livia held my stare for a long pause, then kissed me slowly for a breath before she swatted my shoulder. “By the way, you have horrid manners.”
“I do.” I pressed a kiss to her throat, then opened the pouch from Alistair. “I have something for you.”
Livia’s eyes brightened when she removed the pale necklace. Runes etched and painted in liquid gold lined the slender piece, along with a matching pair of filigreed earrings. “Erik, they’re beautiful.”
“For a queen.” I fastened the clasp of the necklace behind her, my fingers lingering on the warmth of her skin. “No one will forget what will happen should they touch you now.”
A groove formed between her brows as she inspected the earrings. “These are made of bone.”
“They are.” I touched one of the gold runes on her necklace. “Bone from?”
I gripped her chin, drawing her lips close to mine. “Anyone touches you, then you wear them around your neck.”
“Gods, these are . . .” She blinked to the necklace. “The assassins?”
Her stun left me wondering if I’d gone too far, shown too much of the darker pieces, but after a moment, Livia crushed her mouth to mine. She dug her fingernails into the back of my neck, drawing me closer, as though she couldn’t stand a sliver of space between us.
She broke away and whispered, “I would follow your darkness across the skies and seas.”
I went to kiss her again, but she pressed a finger to my lips. “Although, you should know, everyone you just tossed out of here was here to help you for when we go to my father, and—”
“Songbird.” I trapped her face in my palms. “I have been pulled from you for the better part of two days. Patience is spent. Do you wish me to go after them and praise their efforts, or do you want me inside you?”
Livia swallowed. I tracked the movement down the slender curve of her throat. She didn’t hesitate before her hands were clawing at my belt. I tore away her dress and bodice with as much frantic need.
I didn’t have time to move us to the bed before Livia yanked my hips, pulling me off balance, only to land with her back to the wall. One palm
flattened next to her head, the other dragged along the length of her thigh, up the divots of her ribs, to the swell of her breast.
Livia jerked when I pressed my thumb against the hardened peak. My teeth scraped across her neck. She moaned and reached her hand between us and curled her slender fingers around my shaft. Blood abandoned my head. Couldn’t be helped. With every touch, this woman had my body raging for more, like a boy who couldn’t control his own damn cock.
After a few slow strokes, Livia bit her lip nervously, and shoved me back.
“Too much?”
She shook her head and stopped my heart when she turned me around, so my back was to the wall, then lowered to her knees.
My blood overheated, sweat prickled over my brow, and she’d done nothing yet. Merely looked up at me, a sly smirk on her lips. “Do you like this?”
A deep moan slid from my throat. I threaded my fingers through her hair. “All I need is you. That is what I like. All of you.”
In truth, no one had done this. Worshiped me.
Trysts were done with lanterns doused, faces turned, and emotions deadened. To see Livia, hands across every scar, her body heating for more of me, it was another blow to the shields I tried to keep between us.
Livia’s tongue swiped out and teased my tip before wrapping me with her soft, full lips. Heat blazed over my face. I fought to keep my bleeding senses as she swiped her tongue back and forth.
My body grew rigid and trembled from the pent pleasure as Livia dragged her hands up and down my legs. One soft palm curled around my length, stroking me in time with her hot mouth. The bones in my weak leg threatened to give out, forcing me to use the wall as a sort of crutch.
A hum vibrated from her throat and I was undone. “Livia, you feel so damn good.”
What a sight—those full lips wrapped around me, her mouth taking me in like the taste of me was her deepest desire. Unbidden, I rocked my hips. She gagged and a tear slid from the corner of her eye.
“Shit, sorry,” I said through a rough breath and tried to give her distance.
Livia let out a muffled kind of hiss and wrapped her arm around my hips, pulling me back.
“There, love. Gods, right there.” I winced when the burn of release grew closer. Blood boiled in my skull. I wanted her body clenched tightly around me. I wanted to spill into her. With an agonized growl, I tugged on her hair and eased her mouth away.
Her face was flushed, lips glistening, and she looked at me like she’d done something wrong.
“Perfect, Songbird. You’re too perfect.” Each word slid out in a pant when I heaved her off her knees and spun her around, so once more her back was to the wall. No time to stumble to the bed, I gripped beneath Livia’s thigh and hooked it around my waist. I teased the tip of my length against her entrance. “Together.”
Livia nodded frantically and dug into my shoulders, whimpering and nipping at the lobe of my ear. There was something feral, almost primal, about the way she crushed me to her. After everything, it meant she wanted me. She was here because she wanted me; she wanted the Ever.
I was not a good man, but I was a man who kept his word. Should she wish to return home, to leave me, I would be nothing but an unfeeling wretch, but I would honor my word. She hadn’t asked yet. I’d live in a way that she never needed to.
I aligned my crown and nudged just beyond the opening of her seam. Livia arched and bucked her hips, pulling me against her, until I slid deep inside. We groaned in unison. Her eyes fluttered. I forced mine to remain open, consumed by her gentle features, her pleasure, the little smile in the corner of her mouth.
My hips rocked at a punishing pace; the slap of our skin echoed through the room and created a furious collision of our bodies. My fingers pinched the peak of her breast, and I licked the other. Livia bit her bottom lip. She tugged at my hair.
Deep, long thrusts had my pulse like fire in my head. A maddening spin that left me feeling out of control and in control all at once. Then I pulled out.
Livia cried out in protest, but quickly swallowed it down when I lifted her other leg and pulled her into my arms.
She wrapped her ankles around my waist, her arms tightening around my neck. “Erik, I’m so close. So close.”
“With me, love. You come with me.” I thrust back inside her.
Livia let out sharp moans, as if she couldn’t catch her breath, but when I tried to slow down, she cursed and moved against me with such force, as if punishing me for even thinking of holding back.
When my name tore from her lips, a violent shudder racked her body. Her walls tightened around me, and she whimpered as her body convulsed in the intensity of her release. I followed just a moment later, going still as I released into her. I held her legs around my waist, head thrown back, as the final pulses of our release pulsed between us.
Livia’s chest rose in heavy breaths. “Serpent.”
“Songbird.” I kissed her pulse point, breathing her in. “I love you. Every dark, beautiful piece.”
Like a fist wrapped around it, my throat tightened. Words failed me, so I kissed her. I kissed her until she understood I would crush worlds for her. I would cross the skies and seas chasing her light.
I’d never stop.
