Page 194 of Prize for the King
Hours pass. It’s dark outside when I finally get up, my head feeling oddly light, my body swaying. Sidonius congratulates us on getting the lion’s share of work out of the way, and promises to guide us in the future. I remind myself not to trust him. Like everyone, he has his own agenda. All of us do.
When I stretch my back with a grunt, Molly touches my elbow.
“Someone for you,” she says with a shy smile.
I turn slowly, afraid I’ll go dizzy again, and my heart stutters in my chest.
Magnar leans in the doorway, and when our eyes lock, he gives me a wide smile. My heart sinks.
LVIII Truth
“They knocked out your tooth!” I say in outrage, running to him when he opens his arms to embrace me. “Good thing it’s not one of the front ones. Are you hurt anywhere else? Did you eat? Are you well?”
He wraps his arms around me with a shaky breath and pulls me close, burying his face in my hair. His body is alive and warm, yet I hug him back with care, afraid he might have bruises, broken bones, or worse.
“I am fine, love,” he murmurs. “I’ve been here a while, admiring my wife. You are formidable and such a good queen.”
I shake, running my hands up his back, down his sides, and through his hair. He smells clean, of my favorite soap, and he’s warm and solid. My husband, alive.
“I saved you,” I whisper, swallowing sobs of relief.
“You did. And so much more.”
“It was the only way,” I justify myself. “The only one I saw. I know we will have so much work, and I’m so sorry, but I…”
“Shh. Don’t apologize. Please. You did better than I ever could have done in your place. I am so proud of you.”
Behind me, Susan laughs under her breath. “Aww. See, Molly? That’s what you should look for in a man. But check what he has in his pants before you marry, too. There’s nothing as disappointing asa man with a soft heart and an equally soft dick.”
Magnar snorts into my hair and straightens. Susan offers him her hand, and they shake. I make introductions, but I sway on my feet, and after Magnar learns the last queen’s name, he picks me up with a soft grunt that makes my heart ache. So heishurt, he just won’t confess it.
“Forgive me, ladies, but my wife is expecting. She should rest.”
They exclaim their congratulations, and I accept them with a wan smile. Magnar waves them off and sets out down the corridor, swallowing the distance in long, even strides.
“How were you treated in the dungeons?” I ask, running my finger around a swollen bruise marring his perfect face.
“Sidonius let me and Khay slaughter those who mistreated me, love. I am well avenged. You must be exhausted and hungry. There’s food waiting and a warm bed, hm? I haven’t slept a wink, and I know you only had a short nap.”
“I thought I’d never see you again,” I sob, ridiculously emotional now that all is well and I can finally drop my guard. “I thought you’d be dead if I couldn’t save you!”
Magnar stops with a small laugh and tugs me up, kissing tears off my cheeks with an inappropriately wide grin.
“That’s where we differ, love,” he says, winking. “You were so afraid you’d fail, but I knew you’d come for me, one way or another. I lay there and waited, only one thought in my head.‘If anyone can do it, it’s my wife.’I was perfectly serene.”
When we enter our apartment, our knights are already waiting with the food, all save for Khay.
“He went to get his sisters and the others,” Raduna explains. “Sidonius has officially offered them asylum, and he’ll give us carts to take them back to Roharra once we’re ready. You did it, Caliane. I am still amazed.”
I sigh in relief when Magnar lays me down on the couch, and Arvi presses a cup of spicy tea into my hands.
“All I needed was a shift in perspective, but the idea was originally Magnar’s,” I say with a smile.
“Mine? How so?”
I look up at my handsome, beautiful, just husband, and beam at him. “You said long ago we’d change it into the Table of Queens and Kings.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “Oh, yes, I am infinitely wise. But this was all you, love. My beloved. My magnificent wife.”
