Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“Prince Consort Jason Thorpe, you will surrender to the will of your king!” Kaan yelled as the assembled men opened a path for him. “You’re a traitor to the crown and will come with us now!”
“Oh, the hell he will,” Zev roared back at Kaan.
“Bring down this barrier at once!”
“You can go fuck yourself,” Zev yelled back.
“I will have you gutted like the dog that—”
“On your knees in the name of the draugr!” came the thundering order.
I looked up, everyone else turned to the sound, and every single person—the men in the hall, guards in their uniforms and the others in disguise, Zev, Cirillo, who was still on the ground with me, my guard, Dae-Jung—all of them went down as one in a coordinated display of deference.
I watched Hadrian walk through the sea of men ahead of Tiago and Varic, not once stopping, sword sheath in his hand, scowling without a hint of concern, only clear, palpable disdain.
“On whose order do you dare come for the prince’s consort?” Hadrian asked, standing there larger than life, even in clothes that could not inspire even a glimmer of fear, as he was wearing linen drawstring pants, sandals, for heaven’s sake, and a cotton shirt that showed off his throat and probably more of his chest than he intended. He should have been in a magazine ad for vacations in the South Pacific, not at all threatening, oozing sex appeal instead.
And yet, there was no doubt he could pull that sword and slaughter every last man in the hallway.
“On the king’s order was he to be taken, rekkr,” Kaan answered. “He’s a traitor and is to be handed over to the king to face justice.”
“Clearly,” Varic said, his voice gruff and low, “there’s been a miscommunication.”
He walked around Hadrian straight to the barrier, passed through as though it wasn’t there, and right up to me.
I was smiling up at him as he offered me his hand. “You got here in the nick of time,” I assured him as he pulled me gently to my feet.
“It would seem so,” he whispered, easing me into his arms.
I hugged him tight, loving the feel of him, his hard, muscled body, the scent of mahogany, bergamot, and leather that clung to him, and how warm his breath was on the side of my neck.
He crushed me to his chest, clutching me tight, then lifting my chin to kiss me once, gently, lightly, then my cheek, my jaw, and under my ear. He never lifted his mouth from my skin, instead dragged it across the stubble on my face.
“I missed you,” he whispered, and his hand slipped around the side of my neck, holding tight, making sure all I could do was stare up at him.
My eyes filled. I was overwhelmed with happiness that he was home, but at the same time devastated at how the king could have ever thought I would hurt him.
“Things are not as they seem,” Varic told me before he pressed my face to his shoulder and wrapped me tightly in his arms. “We will get to the bottom of this.”
I hugged him harder.
“Disperse,” I heard the queen say, and Varic and I moved so we could both see her coming toward us on the king’s arm. “The king has been unwell since the attack in the ballroom and meant to have the prince’s consort protected and sheltered, not captured,” she finished, looking at Messina for confirmation, her luminous smile never faltering.
Just her presence, the way she glanced at the men, I heard the collective sigh, saw their shoulders fall, several shivering for a moment.
It was surprising for me to see that they didn’t want to detain me, and were relieved, it seemed, that they didn’t have to.
“I misworded an order and ask my prince’s consort for forgiveness,” the king announced.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” I murmured, the tears sliding down my face as I bowed.
“Rekkr,” Isabella said to Hadrian, “might we have everyone up off the floor?”
“Yes, my queen. All rise and disperse.”
“Cirillo?” Tiago said with obvious disgust in his voice as Varic rubbed my back a moment. “What are you doing here? I thought you were dead.”
“No,” Zev said with his own growl of revulsion. “Never dead. Only running.”
Hadrian grunted, moving closer.
“Stop bowing and hug me some more,” Varic commanded, and I straightened up and lunged at him so he’d know how much I wanted that. His laughter told me he knew.
“I have a million questions about that marvelous barrier you all crossed so easily as though it were not there,” Cirillo said, walking beside me and Isabella back to my quarters.
Once there, the king, the queen, Varic, Hadrian, and Tiago went to the roof gardens above our loft to talk. Sabira, who arrived shortly after the king and queen, was going to explain to me, Zev, my guard, and Dae-Jung what happened. Cirillo was there as well at my insistence because what else was he supposed to do? And I knew I should have hated him—he’d been Varic’s lover for a time and had planned on replacing me—but honestly, he didn’t seem in any way invested in being Varic’s new consort. I got the feeling he’d been quite happy in his self-created exile and that coming back to the palace had not been on his to-do list at all. More than anything else, I knew Varic and was certain of my place in his life and at his side. I was his person and didn’t worry that his feelings would change.