Page 80 of King of Fire and Flames

He grinned. “Good. It’s been yours since the day I met you.”

I smiled back, my heart overflowing with happiness. “Now, what the hells do we do next?”

“Nothing until Ari arrives in a couple of days. Then we’ll make plans to release Orion and get us all out of this gold-forsaken excuse for a fucking kingdom. The reavers have access to knowledge about the old magic of the realms, and the Sayeeda has been in Auryinnia with her sister, trying to find ways to break Melaya’s power block.”

“And in the meantime, all I have to do, is pretend I want to marry the Fire Prince.”

He looked skyward as if seeking calm. “And I must stop myself from killing him.”

A nearby shout startled me—someone calling my name. I squinted through the veil of flames and saw Esen and Prince Bakhur marching down the path toward the cliffs. They’d passed quite close to the khareek’s sphere of magic and hadn’t noticed us. And we’d been too focused on each other to see anything else.

I strained to make out their conversation.

“Leaf told me she’d be in the library, searching for books on Taln wedding traditions,” lied Esen smoothly.

“I wish to know where she is at all times,” said the prince, his light-brown curls ruffling in the sea breeze. At the cliffs, they turned left toward the Fen Forest.

Smiling sadly at Arrow, I said, “They’re looking for me. I’d better go. We have much to discuss, and it’s too difficult to speak sensibly through the bond when you take my blood during feedings. I can’t concentrate. If I can get away from Bakhur, I’ll meet you here at dusk tomorrow. Just before dinner, when the court is busiest.”

Dragging me close, he kissed me without mercy, then held me at arm’s length. “Be careful.”

“I will. The sooner Ari gets here, the better. She always knows what to do,” I said, taking a step away from him.

“Before you go, will you…” he glanced at his boots, shifting his weight, before staring at me with an anguished frown. “Tell me your name again. Please.”

I knew exactly what he wanted.

With my hands pressed against my heart to stop it from exploding out of my ribcage, I began to turn away, as if I would leave. Then, slowly, I looked over my shoulder, revealing a smile.

“My name is Leaf,” I said. “Always and forever I’ll be your Leaf.”

As I pushed through the dome of flames, Arrow’s voice rumbled behind me. “Fucking finally,” he said.

I laughed, skipping toward the Fen Forest like a giddy child, not a prisoner in a land I despised.

The human condition amazed me. As long as we found love, we could experience happiness in even the worst of circumstances. And I guessed that was true of all species.

Even the fae.

Chapter 25

Leaf

As it turned out, I couldn’t meet Arrow for the next two nights because Prince Bakhur barely let me out of his sight. He insisted I accompany him to one dull event after another—fencing lessons, meetings with his tailor, drinking sessions with his creepy friends, even watching him nap as if we had nothing better to do.

Which he clearly didn’t.

Standing by while he mocked and belittled courtiers and servants was a terrible challenge. Wearing a fake smile, I did my best to move the bully prince along, silently thanking Esen for never leaving my side. Her presence protected me somewhat from Bakhur’s cruelty. If he’d tried to burn more runes into my skin, I would have broken his nose.

And probably gotten myself killed.

Now, dusk had turned to night, and I was perched in Taln’s Great Hall, nodding and smiling at an unusually talkative Bakhur during dinner. When I finished my dessert, I noticed that Arrow, who often sat beside Estella, still hadn’t appeared in the hall, and I began worrying something terrible had happened to him.

I scanned the room again, checking he wasn’t seated at the table reserved for the Light Realm fae, when a firm grip tugged my elbow. Dust, not Bakhur again.

“When we have children, Zali,” he said between loud slurps of wine, “do you realize they’ll be heirs to not one, but two, possibly even three kingdoms?” He rolled a big mouthful of half-chewed crepes on his tongue, flecks of cream dotting his chin.

“Mouth closed while you eat,” I said, tapping his nose in a revolting show of fake affection. “It’s an Earth Realm custom. Indulge me?”

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