The joyful grin on his face nearly broke me, but I managed to preserve my menacing facade. I wrapped my fingers around the vine that led to his neck, gently tugging him down until his lips hovered over mine.
“And what of House Corbois?” I murmured softly.
His hand slid around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a deep, reverent kiss. “House Corbois will kneel, my Queen,” he breathed when we parted.
I released him from my magic and took his hand, and together we climbed the long staircase to the royal box.
When we arrived on the final step, I turned to Remis and Garath. “Uncles,” I chirped. “Are we going to have any more problems?”
They shared an unhappy look but held their tongues and shook their heads. I took the amplification device from Remis and turned to face the arena, dissolving the vines that held the crowd at my whim.
“Citizens of Lumnos,” I announced, “I am no longer Unchallenged. My reign begins today.”
In the distance, the cry of an approaching gryvern, newly freed of her order to stay away, pierced through the air. My smile finally cracked at the sound of Sorae’s triumphant roar.
“Kneel before your Queen,” I commanded.
And, one by one, they did.
Chapter
Forty-Four
“Does this mean I finally get to call you by your name?”
My lips hooked up at Luther’s question, but I kept my eyes shut, basking in the warmth of the sun on my face and the breeze combing through my unbound hair. The boat rocked softly against the waves as we crossed the Sacred Sea to the island of Coeur?le where the Rite of Coronation would take place.
“I make you my advisor and you’re already asking me for more?” I teased. “How greedy of you, Prince.”
His knuckles grazed the bare skin along my spine, exposed by the low back of my dress. “I did say I wanted all of you.”
“If you insist,” I said with a pretend sigh. “Though I have grown rather fond of hearing you call me ‘my Queen.’”
The heat of his body pressed to my back. One hand curled around my waist and splayed scandalously low on my stomach to pull me against him. The scratch of his stubble tickled my neck as he leaned down to my ear, his tone dark.
“As you wish, my Queen.”
My smile grew wider.
After yesterday’s successful Challenging, my newly forged family had celebrated late into the night. The seven of us laughed and drank and recited the story of my victory again and again, each retelling growing more exaggerated than the last.
There was much about what happened at the Challenging that I still did not understand—things I shouldn’t have been able to do, powers no Lumnos Descended had ever been gifted—and I was well aware that the submission shown by the Houses had been a desperate, insincere act. My fight with them was far from over.
But I was alive.
My brother was safe, and soon, we would be reunited with my mother, thanks to Luther’s promise.
The threat of an attack against my loved ones was vastly reduced, with all of Lumnos now terrified of me and my power.
In a few hours, I would be coronated, with the authority to strike down unjust laws and appoint a new generation of leaders.
And I had Luther.
Late the previous evening, after endless rounds of Descended wine had left me drowsy and stumbling, he had swept me into his arms, carried me to bed, and tucked me in with a tender kiss. I’d drunkenly refused to let him leave, and when I’d opened my eyes this morning, he was still there, dozing beside me with my hand clasped in his.
Though the grief of my father’s death would be with me always, for the first time in a very long time, the clouds had parted, and I was happy.
Truly, finally, buoyantly happy.
There was only one other burden still weighing on my heart: Henri.
Our breakup was long overdue. We’d been drifting apart for months, even before I was revealed as Descended. We’d clung to each other in a desperate need for familiarity in a changing world, but we were no longer the naive girl and carefree boy we’d been when our feelings first took root.
I did care for him, and a part of me always would, but my path, and my heart, led elsewhere.
In truth, when I’d gone to Henri’s home the night before the Challenging, I had planned to end our betrothal once and for all. I did not wish to face death leaving either of us bound in an engagement that never should have been.
Though that conversation would have to wait until he returned to Lumnos, I prayed we might find a way to preserve our friendship and work together—for the mortals’ sakes, if not our own.
A shadow passed over my face as Sorae circled high above.
“It’s a shame I can’t ride her to the coronation. I was hoping to see the other Crowns’ gryverns.” I frowned at Luther. “Sorae really can’t set foot on Coeur?le at all?”
“She would die the second she touched the soil,” he said gravely. “That’s how the Fortos gryvern was killed during the Blood War. The rebels shot a bolt into its wing while it flew above the island. Other than a beheading, or godstone to the heart, it’s the only way to kill a gryvern.”
I shuddered at the prospect of any of the ancient creatures losing their lives, but especially the majestic one flying overhead, who had become like an extension of my own soul.
Go home, I commanded her. I’ll return soon.
Her shrill howl of protest echoed the discontent that pulsed across the bond, but she was bound to obey. She reluctantly changed course for Lumnos, the silhouette of her massive winged body fading into the horizon.
“I enjoyed your speech to House Corbois this morning,” Luther said as he moved to my side at the bow of the boat. “I’m not sure my father can say the same.”
“At least I offered him a second chance.”
He waved a hand and conjured a faux circlet of light and shadow above his head. “It’s a new world, Remis,” he mimicked in a haughty voice, “Get on board, or get out of my realm.”
I turned to tease him for his terrible impression of me, but the sight of Luther in a crown to match mine left me unexpectedly flushed and more than a little breathless.
I looked back out over the water to hide my burning cheeks. “We’ll know soon who our allies are. I gave Remis, Garath, and Aemonn until the end of the day to decide if they can support our vision.”
“Our vision,” he repeated softly. “My entire life, I’ve worked against the Crown in secret to protect the mortals and half-mortals. I always knew one day I would serve a Queen who shared that goal, but…” His gaze slid to me, bright and gleaming with feeling. “The reality is better than I ever could have imagined.”
My blood went hot. I wondered if I would ever, in the centuries that I prayed lay ahead of us, get used to the way it felt to be looked at by him.
I hoped not.
My fingers twitched out in reflex to brush his hand, our bodies always seeming to seek each other out. “How did you know you would serve a Queen with the same goals?”
He took a deep breath. “I think it’s time I told you my final secret.”
A thrill of anticipation rippled through me, though it cooled at the apprehension lining his features. “I know we agreed on brutal honesty, but if you’re not ready…”