Page 527 of Flirting with Darkness

SERPENT’S PROMISE

MARINA SIMCOE

1

AMIRA

Asnorting sound woke me up. Then, something warm and wet poked my face.

“Yenric…” I turned away from one of the two-headed piglet’s nuzzling snouts and lifted a hand to rub behind his ear. “Who let you in?”

The door to my royal chamber in Ufaris Palace remained closed. But the one to the wardrobe room was ajar. The naughty creature clearly snuck in there yesterday and likely spent the night in one of the trunks.

As I scratched thevirleth’spig one head, the other one snorted impatiently, struggling to turn his small, pink body around to get under my hand.

“All right, all right,” I muttered through the remnants of sleep. “Off with you, now. Before you wake up Kyllen.”

As if hearing his name, my husband murmured something in his sleep then rolled onto his back. I stilled, hugging thevirlethpig to me to keep him quiet.

Kyllen tossed his arm over his eyes. His golden-greensenties, the snake-like feelers that gorgonians had growing on their heads instead of hair, were spread in a halo over his pillow. Their small, beady eyes also closed.

That’s how I knew Kyllen was deeply asleep. When he was dozing off or simply resting, he often kept the eyes of at least a fewsentiesopen, watching his surroundings through them.

I slipped out of our nest quietly, holding my pet pig under my arm.

“Off with you, little monster,” I whispered, heading to the door.

Yenric came from the menagerie of oddities where I used to work when I still lived in the human realm. Once the menagerie was no more, thebracks, magical beings who used to work there, had returned to Nerifir, the realm of fae that had been my home for over two decades now.

Thebrackshad brought Yenric with them. He was a reminder of my past life, the life I didn’t care to remember. But none of what had happened in my old world was Yenric’s fault. He was cute and affectionate. It was a pleasure to have him around. So, I kept him.

I opened the door and handed Yenric to one of the guards in the hallway. “Can you take him please and make sure he’s fed breakfast? He snuck in again. Probably skipped his dinner, too. He must be hungry.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard took the piglet from me.

Wearing nothing but a fairly transparent nightgown, I placed a free arm over my chest to conceal my breasts from the guard’s view. He didn’t seem to care, though. The gorgonian views on nudity were much more open than those of humans. Even after twenty years in Lorsan Wetlands—the gorgonian kingdom in Nerifir—I still had to fight my human urge to cover up.

“Would Your Majesty wish to send for the maids?” another guard asked.

I shook my head. “Not yet. In a few minutes.”

Closing the door, I headed back to our nest.

Being the queen of the kingdom meant having each day packed with activities. I cherished every moment of peace. I was also the only human queen in the known history of Lorsan, which presented its own challenges. Thankfully, having Kyllen for a husband helped dealing with anything life threw at me.

I leaned over him as he spread out on the silky sheets of our spacious, round nest. His tanned skin stood in a striking contrast with the pale green of the bedding. His eyelids fluttered. The corners of his mouth twitched, containing a smile ready to stretch wide.

“Got you!” He struck like a viper, grabbing me around my waist and dragging me into the nest with him.

“Kyllen!” I gripped his shoulders, my heart racing. “I thought you were asleep.”

He flipped me onto my back then rose over me, propped up on his arms.

“Iwasasleep.” He pried his knee between my legs. “So very peacefully, I may add. Until a vixen of a queen snuck up on me.” He grinned, his dark-golden eyes twinkling with love and humor. “How am I supposed to sleep if you’re awake and looking the way you do?”

“Whatway?” I couldn’t hold back a smile.

“Soft and warm. Still adorably sleepy. Half-naked…” he murmured, lowering his head to trail his lips down the side of my neck. “Not at all…regal.”

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