He reached out a hand to me and I raised one eyebrow, staring at him skeptically.
“I won’t bite,” he said, and I took the offered hand, allowing him to pull me up.
When I was finally facing him, or more accurately craning my neck to look up at him, I steeled myself.
“I am marrying Joslyn.”
I didn’t expect the pang of hurt to slice into my chest, especially because I’d just heard him tell his advisors that.
I nodded. “Congratulations.”
Why did I sound bitter?
“My advisors say that I cannot allow you to go home, where you could plot to take over my kingdom—”
I barked out in laughter at such a preposterous thing, but his glare shut me up.
“So you have to kill me.” I eyed the hunting blade in his hand. Would he kill me with my own blade? Right here in the privacy of the labyrinth hedge? Panic invaded my entire body.
I’m too young to die.
He looked hurt at my accusation, peering deeply into my eyes. “I could never kill you, Arwen.” He sounded upset at that declaration, and somehow those words sounded romantic coming from him. I relaxed a little and he stepped closer.
“I came to ask you if you wanted to join my Royal Guard,” he said. “You seemed excited about the prospect the day that I mentioned it, and so… there is a spot for you, if you want.”
My mouth popped open in shock. I tried to speak but couldn’t find the words. Was he ill? He found out I was able to siphon his power and kill everyone and now he wanted me as one of his protectors?
He gazed at me expectantly, as if waiting for an answer. He was serious. Laughter bubbled up inside of me and a lightness pulled at my limbs. “Be a member of the Royal Guard, are you kidding? That’s my dream!”
I got taken with the moment and threw myself into his arms, hugging him. His body stiffened and I pulled back, reprimanding myself for how inappropriate that was.
“Sorry. I got excited.” I stepped away from him, painfully aware that I had no highborn manners and had probably broken a million rules with this man. This king.
He nodded. “You have little fear of danger, which is what I look for in a Royal Guardsman-woman. The way you behaved that day with the attack on Gypsy Rock was admirable. I’ll train you to control your dragon powers, and Regina will train you in combat. I think you will be a great asset to my kingdom.”
I did a curtsy, bowing my head as well for good measure. “I accept your gracious offer.”
He frowned, looking a bit disturbed with my eagerness. “You do realize that you are a queen by birthright and I will be relegating you to my service for the rest of your life?”
I nodded eagerly. “I’m no queen. I’m just a hunter who wants to take care of my family. I’ll follow you wherever you lead, Your Highness.”
His face went slack, his breathing slowing. Something I said had struck a chord with him. I didn’t say anything bad, so I wasn’t sure if I should apologize or not. He looked deeply into my eyes and it felt like the air had magnetized around us. It was thick with something tangible. I had the strongest urge to reach out and touch him, to stroke his neck like I’d stroked his dragon that day.
That brought my thoughts back to our kiss. Had it also been him in the May Day tent? That was crazy, right?
His gaze fell to my lips as if he too were thinking about the kiss, and I swallowed hard. “Can I have my knife back?” I asked, reaching out and hoping to break whatever spell had been thrown over me that was causing me to want to touch him constantly.
He cleared his throat and handed it to me, but not before he looked my body up and down. “It’s a fine hunting knife, but you’ll need a proper sword soon. A bow and arrow too.”
The joy of getting new weapons must have been evident on my face, because the corners of his lips turned up slightly.
“I hope this new arrangement suits the both of us. Good day, Arwen.” He tipped his head.
“Good day, my lord,” I said, feeling giddy with the prospect of joining the Royal Guard.
“You may call me Drae,” he said, and then walked away.
First name basis with the king? This couldn’t have gone better. Not only was he not going to kill me, I was going to be joining his Royal Guard!
Narine’s sister’s wedding floated into my mind then and I called after him. “Wait!”
He stopped, looking over his shoulder at me.
“Is there a salary for the position in your army?”
He appraised me. “Of course. One hundred jade coins per moon.”