Page 90 of The Bound Mage
Araya stood back, swallowing hard as his grief flooded their bond. She’d been too young to mourn her own father when he died, his memory nothing but a shadow in her heart. But Loren’s sorrow filled that emptiness, wrapping around her until it felt like her own heart was breaking beside his.
“So it’s true,” a voice murmured at her shoulder. “The shadows really can be tamed.”
The little shadow arched around her neck, hissing. But Eryn ignored it, catching her hand and bowing low to brush his lips across her knuckles.
“Lord Duskrun.” Araya pulled her hand back, stroking the little shadow soothingly. She’d make no friends here if Loren’s shadows started attacking his advisors. “You startled me.”
“I could say the same for you.” Eryn straightened, a faint smile on his lips. “I have to admit, I’m impressed. You’ve given them hope—something I’d long ago written off as impossible. It might not have been the wisest course of action, but youdiddo it.”
Eryn chuckled, but his eyes were cold as he studied the shadow on her shoulders, its ephemeral tail flicking back and forth. “Hope is a fickle beast, Miss Starwind. It can lift the spirits and rally the heart—but it can also blind.” He looked past her, his gaze lingering on Loren and Eloria where they spoke quietly with the High Luminary. “I thought we were like-minded in understanding that sometimes surrender is the wiser path. But you’ve made that all but impossible now, haven’t you?”
Araya stared at the spymaster, a chill blooming in her chest. Across the room, Loren’s head snapped up, his eyes finding her as her fear bled into the bond between them.
“Have you heard something?” she whispered.
“Nothing I can share.” Eryn sighed, studying her with open pity. “I just hope, for all our sakes, that the path you’ve set us on is a course we can survive.”
“What—” Araya started, but Loren’s hand closed around her elbow, shadows racing up her body to join the one he’d left behind, shielding her.
“Step away from her,” he snapped, glaring at the spymaster.
“As you wish, Your Majesty.” Eryn bowed, stepping back easily. “I was just complimenting your lovely mate on her…accomplishments. Not only did she survive the shadows, she made herself a queen. Truly extraordinary.”
“She is,” Loren growled, the temperature around them dropping. “Now, leave her alone.”
Eryn laughed, unperturbed. “Good luck, Miss Starwind.”
Araya stared after the spymaster as he melted back into the cluster of councilors. “That was rude,” she murmured, half-heartedly chiding Loren as he tugged her close again.
“What did he say to you?” Loren demanded.
“Exactly what he told you he did.” Araya rubbed her hands over her bare arms, glancing back after the spymaster again. “He was…strange about it. But he didn’t hurt me.”
“He upset you,” Loren snapped. “I felt it.”
“Upsetting me isn’t a crime.” Araya pinched his side. “You need your advisors. You’re going to be king.”
“Iamking.” Loren captured her hand in his, narrowly evading getting pinched again. “Eloria just told me. Coronation or no coronation—the Small Council voted to formally recognize me this morning.”
“You’re king,” Araya echoed. She searched his face, not sure what to make of the confused tangle of emotions between them. “So…what now?”
“Now, you keep doing exactly what I tell you to,” Eloria said, ignoring Loren’s long-suffering sigh as she swept up to them. “We still have the public address to get through. And the mingling after. Here—Galen will show you where to stand.”
Loren never let go of her hand as they were guided into position, standing just behind the wide double doors that led to the upper landing. Eloria and Galen moved to take the lead, the princess’s spine straight as a blade as she prepared to face the fae people as their princess regent one final time.
“Don’t miss your cue,” Galen said, casting one of his mischievous grins over his shoulder at them. “She’ll string you up. King or not.”
Before either of them could answer, the great doors swung open with a groan of polished wood. Eloria stepped forward first, her smile so radiant it rivaled the sunlight pouring down onto the square beyond. Galen moved forward beside her, the cheering rising to a roar as they stepped out onto the landing above the central square.
“Thank you—” Eloria raised her hand, waving at the crowd until the cheering settled. “Thank you all, so much, for coming to pay your respects to my father—who gave his life so many years ago so that we might live.
She paused, her voice clear even as emotion tightened it. “For two decades, we have mourned him. For two decades, we’ve endured the shadows. And through it all, you’ve kept faith with me, holding on despite the despair that threatened to swallow us whole.”
A murmur passed through the crowds, hands touching hearts as many of the fae below bowed their heads.
“She’s good at this,” Araya murmured, watching the crowd quiet as Eloria continued, her voice carrying with ease.
“She’s had a lot of practice,” Loren answered, his breath warm on the scarred shell of her ear. “Don’t be nervous,ael’sura, Eloria will be there for both of us as an advisor.”
