She plummeted toward the ground faster than I was, but I was still free falling. If I didn’t mistphase now, I was seconds away from landing in a pile of broken bones and shredded skin for the entire capital to witness.
I dispersed my air affinity from behind Georgyanna, allowing her to fly once more as I gripped the flag tightly to my chest.
I pictured the top of the dais upon which Prince Norivun sat. I pictured his smile, his hooded eyes, and imagined his alluring scent. I called upon the bond that tethered us, the unbreakable cord that the gods had placed between our souls.
My magic unfurled within me again, as though wanting to join my magic to his. Wind screamed through my ears as the air around me grew warmer. Denser. The ground was fast approaching, but I didn’t let my concentration wane. I pictured the prince, my mate.
And then the world disappeared again in a blur of mist and shadows, air and wind.
My feet came to a sudden stop on a solid surface. The crowd immediately erupted into shrieks of disbelief and wild furor.
I opened my eyes to see King Novakin swivel around on his throne as a look of complete bewilderment painted his face. I thrust the flag toward him, bowing low on instinct as my heart thundered in my ears.
The flag was still in my hand, the silky material balled so tightly in my fist that it took a moment before I released it to the king. But when my hands were free, I reached out and came in contact with warm fingers that wrapped around mine.
The crown prince squeezed my hand as a shocked grin split his face. Somehow, I’d mistphased just to the left of his throne.
“Well, hello there,” he said with a crooked smile.
And with catlike grace, he rose to his feet as pride and wonder lifted his lips even more.
I straightened as he raised our hands, bringing them high in the air as the crowd’s cheers rose even more before he declared, “Ilara Seary, daughter of Mervalee Territory, has won the first test!”
CHAPTER 24
I won? I actually won? I gazed in shock at the crown prince as Sir Featherton rushed to the top of the dais, all smiles and congratulations as the other three females flapped back to the ground.
Meegana beamed at me as Beatrice gave a nod of congratulations even though disappointment soured her expression.
Only Georgyanna gave me the death glare. Fury rippled through the Kroravee native’s features, and the pure hatred that shone from her eyes made me look away as ice-cold dread slid through me.
But then I caught Matron Olsander’s brimming smile and my sister jumping in the distance as she clapped her hands from the bottom of the stairs, and any concern I’d had over Georgyanna exacting revenge melted away.
I’d won the first test. And now, I was only two tests away from winning this competition, bonding with my mate, and righting all of the wrongs that his tyrant father had set out to do on his hundred-winters-long, power-infused reign.
Nuwin grinned and clapped my back as Prince Norivun lingered at my side. The crown prince had dropped my hand, his expression impossible to read, but I had a feeling that was because the king had also risen from his throne to face us.
Sir Featherton waved his arms to shush the crowd, and I forced my smile to widen as the cheers finally subsided, but the king’s penetrating assessment of me, and then his son, grazed over my skin like hot razors.
I subtly took another step away from Norivun as the crown prince’s wings rippled.
The king arched an eyebrow. “Norivun, aren’t you going to properly congratulate our winner?” His booming voice resonated over the courtyard.
Eager energy buzzed through the crowd.
“Father?” Norivun cocked his head. A breeze ruffled the silver hair skimming his shoulders, sending a few strands to brush against his jaw.
“She’s one step closer to becoming your wife,” the king said, the portrait of a doting father. “Surely a congratulatory kiss is in order.”
“Indeed!” Sir Featherton bobbed his head. “A kiss for the beautiful daughter of Mervalee Territory.”
The trial archon swung back to the crowd, arms raising as he pumped his hands up and down. “And what say you, fine sons and daughters of Solisarium? Don’t you think a kiss from the crown prince would be the perfect congratulations to the Trial winner of the first test?”
Fists raised in the air, screams of agreement following as the crowd once again went wild.
Nuwin leaned closer to me and whispered, “One would think they’d never seen a male kiss a female before.”
His snicker and mischievous wink made some of the tension in my shoulders ease.
“Well?” The king crossed his arms, and something in his expression made me want to teeter farther away from Norivun. “Best not to keep the crowd waiting.”
“As you wish.” Norivun gave a stiff bow to his father, then swung toward me as the anticipation of the onlookers surged. Wings bobbing, the prince closed the distance between us with predatory grace.
Every particle of my body vibrated in awareness. The bond that tethered us surged and tightened. Now that I’d acknowledged it, I was amazed that I hadn’t recognized it sooner. Every part of me yearned to touch him. Feel him. Kiss him.
I balled my hands at my sides, and the weight of the king’s stare bore down on me as I endeavored to hide what I felt. I tried to keep my chest from rising too quickly. Tried not to let color bloom upon my cheeks like a budding rose in my garden.
But the prince’s aura called to me. I was as helpless to resist the attraction between us as the oceans were to the moons’ pulling tides.
The prince stopped only a hair’s breadth away. Eyes like diamonds glittering in the sun drank me in. His mouth tightened as that wildness slipped past his mask. Savage need etched into every line of his face.
He slowly slid one large hand around my neck, his thumb grazing my jaw as he tilted my mouth up to his.
And as he leaned down, my attention focused on his lips. The air between us warmed as his affinity wove around me. A feathery, phantom touch trailed across my neck causing a shiver to skate up my spine.
I called upon my air element to do the same to him. It stretched from me, as though ghostly fingers trailed down his chest.
A low, throaty growl was his only response before his lips met mine.
My eyes closed as the taste and scent of him spiraled through me. Snow and cedar wrapped up in heat and fire penetrated my senses. Before I could stop myself, my arms were slipping around his shoulders, tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck as cheers and roars echoed from the crowd.
But those sounds fell into a void, like a vacuum sucked all of the sound from the air, as every fiber of my being centered on the male holding me and ravishing my mouth. His tongue entwined with mine. A growl of pure possession rumbled in his chest as I moaned softly in answer.
The crown prince deepened our kiss, answering a call that fate demanded we heed, until fire raged between us. I clung to him, my entire body weakening as he bent me backward, his kiss feverish and claiming.
A desperate ache formed low in my belly as the prince’s wings snapped around us, hiding me from view. I knew my desire was so heightened that other males could scent it, but I couldn’t help my response. Norivun was my mate, and my body sang for him as though the stars had aligned our souls.
I had no idea how long we kissed. How long we hid beneath his wings. The realm had disappeared into nothing. My focus was on him and him only.