Page 121 of Enchanted Shadows
“Race you back up?” she called out, having to yell over the rain, and then the shadows were there, taking her back up.
I used my magic and formed stairs, charging straight up the waterfall and back to where we had been.
Just before I arrived, some shadows reached through the waterfall, grabbed me, and pulled me through. As water dripped and ran down my back, I used my magic to wrap around her and pull her right back, crashing her into me as my back hit a damp earthy wall of the cavern.
And as we collided, we did so for no one other than ourselves. This was not practice. This was not duty. Not a single excuse or logical reason could be found. There was no one but us out here, no castle spies, no witnesses other than the water falling around us.
Tucked into the cover behind that waterfall, we crossed that fine line we’d been riding. The one between what was a ruse, and what was real. Our lips met, our hands wandered, unable to ignore the pull we had to one another. I wouldn’t allow it to go too far given all the following day promised, but I could hide away from life’s storms with her for at least a little while longer.
CHAPTER 38
Ihad stood beside people wearing crowns for more than a decade. Having to don one myself, however, felt surreal. They were clunky and felt like they messed with my balance. I wasn’t sure I liked it at all.
Yet I wore it, not forced into it, without much of a fight, all to help my wife.
Her hand in mine, she again looked stunning, her own crown perched on her head. Her deep breathing techniques and the way she jerked at every little sound were the only giveaways of her nerves.
“I’m right here. The team will be with us soon,” I reminded her.
“I’m almost thirty years old. I’m just sick of what I am sure will be more antics. That’s all.”
They opened the doors to the throne room for us and without time to respond or further reassure her, we were standing before her parents.
“Kessara, I trust you slept well, back in your own room?” her mother asked.
“I did,” Kessara agreed.
“Then what is this I hear of you sneaking out? Your guard and your husband’s guards were worried. For what purpose?”
Kessara looked to me and smiled. It was a genuine one which reached her eyes, making their blueness even brighter. “I took Owen to the falls.”
Her mother began, “While that may be?—”
But it was her stepfather who waved at the air. “Oh, let them be. It was not so long ago you and I were young and in love. Don’t you think, Alexandria?”
“My daughter is putting herself at risk. Repeatedly,” the queen argued.
Kessara shot Damek a glare before she told her mother, “I’m safer with Owen than I was before.”
“What isthatsupposed to mean?” her mother snapped. “Have I not drenched you in lavish clothes and anything you could ever want for since the moment you were born?”
“I will fully explain every bit of it to you, so long as you promise not to interrupt me. To let me speak. On one condition.”
Her mother nodded. “Name it.”
“Not sure about the interrupting,” the king joked, and I smirked. I had been thinking this man was hard on Kessara, for her not being his daughter. I was happily surprised to see the opposite. He seemed to be genuinely happy to see her back in Agria.
With a quick glare, the queen put her attention back onto Kessara. “Your condition?”
“Hurry up and give Owen his test for you. I have grown tired of these games. I am beyond sick of them. Give him his test. Let him prove himself to you. So that you may stop doubting me. Doubting us.”
The king and queen exchanged a glance. I wasn’t sure what I saw flash on their faces before the court masks fell back into place. Was it surprise? Or were they impressed?
The king laughed. “If you already suspect it’s coming, then we have become far too predictable.”
Just when I thought we would be given the decree to kiss, Damek moved forward and whispered something to the king and queen. A full minute later, they were still just whispering.
I tugged Kessara in close. It truly wasn’t a hardship to have to kiss her again. Calix was nowhere to be found, but I was sure he was watching somewhere. Lurking in some shadowy alcove. I didn’t really think I’d have to make it believable for everyone, as at this point, even I believed it was real.
