Page 49 of Throne of Dreams
Dawnbringer.
ChapterFifteen
Tiernan stood motionless. Dumbfounded. Awestruck.
There had been one fleeting moment when panic had slicked over him in a cold sweat. But that feeling, that gut-clenching, harrowing sensation, had belonged solely to him. Not Maeve. Not once had the necklace she wore alerted him to any flash of fear or apprehension. Instead, when he sensed her, it had been a different emotion entirely.
Determination.
While his Summer fae warriors struck down the giant with their blades of nightshade, Tiernan witnessed Maeve take on the Hagla.
By herself.
Her wings had burst open and spread wide, like a rose-dusted barrier, protecting the Spring fae who took shelter behind her. With incredible speed, she’d vaulted over to them and snatched a child from death’s grasp. When the dense wall of shadows loomed over her, threatening to overtake her, and she held the babe in one arm with her sword of sunlight hoisted high and blazing bright, she’d looked like a fucking goddess.
She’d shielded those Spring fae, who weren’t of Summer or Autumn. She’d faced down death for them without a second thought. Without question or hesitation. She glowed with power then, magnified by the sheer force of her will and courage. Her magic shimmered like an aura around her, a wave of stunning power bright enough to shut out even the darkest of nights. He only felt relief when her bubble of protection appeared, encasing her and the Spring fae family, and shutting out the Hagla’s seething shadows. But then his heart had stopped the moment she’d walked right through it and straight into the mouth of danger.
Tiernan had almost gone to her then. He called her name, screamed for her, and would have destroyed all in his path to reach her. To save her. Because the Hagla was one of the most devastating dark fae to ever roam the realm.
But Lir had snared him by the shoulder and held him back. Told him to watch. To wait.
It killed him.
But damn if his commander hadn’t been right.
Golden light slashed through the Hagla, brought down from the sun itself. The creature ripped and roared as she gutted it from the inside out. The strength of her power, of her magic, ofher, devastated the writhing shadows and purged the darkness from the Summer forest.
He’d held his breath and watched as Maeve, as hissirra, emerged victorious. When she kicked that rock, he almost laughed out loud. She had no idea the strength of her power or the magnitude of her worth. He realized it the second she spun around to face them, looking like what she’d just done was all in a day’s work.
His heart soared, but pride kept him anchored in place on the battlefield, waiting. His soul called to hers…and he could’ve sworn hers answered.
The whispers floating among the Spring fae reached his ears before she returned to his side.
Dawnbringer.
Maeve walked up to him, alluring and radiant. Her post-battle windswept hair curled down around her shoulders and back. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her breath slowly regulated with each rise and fall of her chest. Unmarred by any new injuries, her skin was flawless, and her shoulders glistened with the faintest sheen of sweat. She was pure radiance, glowing from the rush of fighting and the thrill of power.
If she’d reached inside his chest and clenched his heart to cease its beating, he would’ve been no less surprised. Now, more than ever, he found it difficult to even breathe around her.
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and peered up at him. “They’re all staring at me.”
Her voice was a throaty whisper that had him wanting to tangle his fingers in her hair and devour that pouty little mouth. But he abstained, and simply said, “So am I.”
She rubbed her lips together. “But why?”
He lifted her chin with the hilt of his sword and kissed her lightly, the barest meeting of lips. “Because you are power and magic unlike anything they have ever beheld. A true faerie queen.”
Rosy heat spread across her breasts, all the way up her neck, to the tips of her pointed ears. Then she snorted, and it was ridiculously unladylike yet downright endearing. “I don’t even have a Court.”
“Tell that to them.” He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and slowly turned her around to face the fae she’d gone to battle for, the ones she’d been ready to die for if it meant keeping them alive.
Her body jerked with a sharp inhale as every fae, every Summer warrior, even Merrick and Lir, lowered themselves onto one knee before her.
“Sun and sky,” she breathed.
“Indeed.” He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “Come on, let’s get them safely to Niahvess…Dawnbringer.”
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