Page 76 of Boundless
She huffed a laugh, nuzzling him again. "That's all I ask, love."
HE WAS INno way ready when the next day came, his stomach a riotous mess that threatened to spill from the moment he woke up, but with Daega at his side to soothe him, he found he managed to at least keep the contents of his stomach where they belonged.
He would be addressing the realm today, and then he would become the new king of the elves. He was unspeakably nervous, certain that they'd somehow sniff out the truth of his crimes and execute him on the spot for them.
He was a king-killer. A murderer of fathers. Surely that was plain on his face. Surely hereekedwith it.
But no one came up to him, wagging their finger and shrieking of wrongness, and Len began to think he really would get away with it. Healer Raiya had verified his father's "illness", the council was accepting his claim to the throne, and Rodrick had given the two guards who'd witnessed his coup a memory-erasing elixir that would ensure their silence. If it wasn't for the bruise to the tender flesh of his heart, it would be like it had never happened.
But it had, and the guilt was still riding him hard, making everything feel abysmal and dour. It helped that he was supposed to be in mourning, his father dead, so it was easy enough to explain away his foul mood.
His time with Daega last night had also helped, in its way. His confession had been necessary, if only because he'd needed to know that what he'd done wasn't unforgivable. That he hadn't lost his new family in protecting them from his old one. That he could still be a person on the other side of it.
His crown was an uncomfortable weight squeezing his temples, and he adjusted it to try and find some relief. "Do you think I n-need the caplet, dearest?" he asked Daega, smoothing down his clothes—once again too roomy, except in the chest, which was bulky from his breasts even though he'd bound them flat. "I h-hate the damn thing, but it'll be e-expected that I wear it."
She paused in her leather-oiling to look him over, an appreciative gleam in her dark eyes. "I think you look a right treat, love," she purred, making him flush with pleasure. "And I say if you hate it then forget about the damned thing. It's a new order now, aye? We make the rules, and if you want to do away with the pomp and ceremony then I say do it.”
He grinned, pecking a kiss to her cheek. "So wise, wife," he murmured, his chest overfull of love. He was about to steal a deeper kiss when a knock at the door startled them both.
"Enter," he called, straightening.
The door swung open, revealing none other than Gayeh, holding a squirming Drokas in her arms. "Hello, my loves!" she called, "I brought someone I thought you'd like to see."
All Len could do was sob, his body launching into action even though his mind was still struggling to process what he was seeing. He stumbled over to them, his arms outstretched and trembling for his child, tears blurring his vision. Gayeh handed his son over to him carefully, and he cradled his sweet baby close, taken aback at how much bigger he'd gotten in just shy of two weeks.
"Drokas," he croaked, taking deep breaths of his son's sweet scent. "My sweet boy. Gods, how I m-missed you." Drokas fussed, wriggling to get away from his too-tight embrace, but when the child pulled back enough to look at his face his chubby face split into a gummy smile, one fat hand slapping at his nose and cheeks. Len laughed, voice thick and wet with tears. "Do you know me, then?" he asked, stroking one soft baby cheek with the back of his finger. "D-do you...do you know your da?"
"Da!" Drokas agreed, and he heard Daega sob behind him. She threw her arms around them both from behind, holding them tight.
"My boys!" she ailed, "So sweet it'll kill me."
Gayeh chuckled, swiping at her own damp eyes, before pulling Len into a hug of her own. "I'm so glad to see you whole and well, Len," she told him, kissing his temple. "We rode hard to get here as fast as we could."
"You and the girls?" he asked, kissing her cheek in turn. It was still odd, being affectionate with others, but he loved it anyway.
"No, the horde," Gayeh told him, laughing softly at the shocked expression on his face.
Drokas grabbed at his lips, tugging on the lower one with his sharp little fingers, and Len winced, gently removing himself from his son's grasp and letting him smack his cheek instead. "The...th-the whole horde came here to get me?"
"Of course we did," Gayeh smiled, cupping his cheek. "You are ours, and you were taken. No one wanted to be left behind in the quest to get you back."
Len sat heavily in the armchair closest to him, feeling overwhelmed. "But...th-thewholehorde?"
Gayeh laughed again, nodding. "Aye, as I said."
He couldn't believe it, but at the same time...he could. The Istarii Drakan were so different from elves, full of fire and passion, that he had no trouble believing they'd march on an entire city to rescue just one person.
It was just that Len was having a little trouble believing that that person washim.
Kevothaen burst in then, going straight to his wife and sweeping her into a deep and passionate kiss that had Len feeling flustered—surely they knew that sort of touching was inappropriate in front of others? But the huge warlord only deepened the kiss further, holding Gayeh tight against himself and slanting his mouth over hers.
"You two're disgusting," Daega called over to them, seating herself in the armchair beside Len's and holding her arms open for the baby. "Poor Len doesn't need to see that."
But they were soundly ignored. "I missed you, lass," Kevothaen murmured, nuzzling Gayeh's face.
"It was miserable being apart," the matriarch agreed, kissing him again. "I'm glad to see you did your job and got our son back."
Kevothaen laughed, tucking his wife under his chin and rocking her. "Aye, I live to please you, woman."
