Page 91 of The Bound Mage
“I’m more worried about the people,” Araya admitted. “They love her. And I’m not exactly?—”
“You’re going to be a wonderful queen,” Loren said, silencing her with a kiss before she could continue to point out all the ways she didn’t measure up. His lips were gentle against hers, but Araya found herself breathless when he pulled back, his emerald eyes shining.
“They’ll love you,” he said softly. “Just like I do.”
Araya smiled up at him, blinking back the tears those words still brought to her eyes. But before she got the chance to say it back, Eloria’s voice rose again, cutting through the moment like a bell.
“For two decades, the mists and the shadows kept us shrouded, our songs silenced and our hope fading. But today—because of them—we stand in the sunlight for the first time in over twenty years.”
That was their cue.
Araya took Loren’s hand, taking comfort in his touch as they stepped through the doors to stand beside Eloria. The crowd’s roar hit her like a physical force, shaking the stone beneath her feet. Araya blinked against the sunlight, half-blinded after so many weeks of shadowed daylight.
Eloria turned to face them, her face radiant as the noise of the crowd softened into an expectant hush.
“Loren of Valendral,” Eloria began, “Son of King Corwinth and Queen Lysana, Heir to the Shadows, Protector of the Fae—and my older brother.” She smiled, tears shimmering in her green eyes. “You spent twenty-five years as a prisoner of theArcanum, but never broke. You stayed strong, even without hope. Until fate finally brought you together with your mate.”
Whispers rippled through the square, the weight of their attention settling over her like chains. No one here had forgotten Bloomtide. People were dead because of her. She had fae blood and looks, but she’d grown up among humans. Sold herself and her magic to the man who’d tortured their prince. What right did she have to stand here beside him now that he was king?
“Lady Starwind,” Eloria said, her voice hitching for the first time. “I thought I had lost everything. But you brought him home to us. To me.”
She stepped forward—and to Araya’s shock, wrapped her in a tight, tearful embrace.
The crowd roared.
Araya stood frozen in Eloria’s arms, overwhelmed by the raw emotion radiating from the square below. They were burying a king today—but they were celebrating something more.
Hope.
Lumaria’scentral square glowed like a jewel beneath a velvet sky, the stars gleaming down on it for the first time in twenty-five years. Loren’s people—herpeople—packed the square, spinning in a wild dance driven by the deep, lively beat of hand-carved drums and the sweet, lilting melody of reed flutes.
Loren’s laugh rose above the music, rich and unrestrained. His head tipped back, the aetherlamps gilding the sharp line of his jaw as he spoke to a male she didn’t know, clapping him on the shoulder. For once, the years of darkness and captivity he’d endured seemed to have no hold on him. Tonight, he was free. Radiant.
And she loved him. Gods help her, she loved him.
Loren’s head lifted, his emerald eyes never leaving hers as he wove effortlessly through the crowd. And then his hands were around her waist and his lips were on her shoulder, leaving sparks in their wake as they drifted across her skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured.
“You’ve been drinking.” Araya’s breath hitched, her fingers digging into his arms as he lifted his head, brushing his mouth across hers.
“Maybe.” Loren pulled back just enough to meet her gaze, his emerald eyes sparkling in the warm glow of the aetherlamps. His grin sharpened into something wicked, sending a delicious shiver racing over her heated skin. “But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
He dipped his head again, lingering on the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. Araya gasped, heart curling low in her stomach.
“Loren.” She half-laughed, breathless. “There are people everywhere.”
“I know.” He hummed against her skin. “Do you know who I was talking to?”
“No—” The word broke on a gasp as Loren’s teeth grazed her skin. “Should I?”
“The innkeeper at the Silver Lantern,” he said, his lips skimming down to her collarbone. The husky timbre of his voice sent a shiver spiraling down her spine. “He’s set aside a room. Just for us. No Thorne. No Eloria…Just you and me.”
“A room.” Araya’s heart stuttered, then raced, its frantic rhythm almost drowning out the music around them. The blush that had warmed her cheeks all night deepened into something hotter, more urgent. “Did you… want to go there now?”
Loren tilted his head, his grin softening into something quieter, something that threatened to make her knees buckle all over again. “Unless you’d rather wait?”
Araya narrowed her eyes at him, but the corners of her lips twitched. “No,” she said. “I don’t want to wait.”
