Her eyes narrowed just slightly. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for one of the Blackhand women already,” she mused in a playful tone.
He chuckled under his breath and shook his head. “As appealing as they’ve made themselves, no. Nothing like that.” He pulled her close and held her hand against his chest. She could see a seriousness rise in his gaze, and he sighed audibly.
“It’s actually more of a question,” he clarified.
She eyed him. “Okay…”
“Will you help Nadir with one of the water serpents?”
Her face faltered, and she wanted to slap the rising smile off his lips. “Seriously,” she muttered, unable to keep herself from smiling. “You are such anass,Draven.” She pushed his chest slightly as he continued to chuckle at her, pink rising on his cheeks. “I thought it was something serious!”
“I am serious,” he argued. “He wanted me to ask. Apparently it’s terrorizing the children because of the ships.”
She shook her head and felt her lips twist up at his grinning face. “Maybe it is he who is terrorizing it,” she uttered. “I can’t believe you just tricked me like that. I thought something was wrong. Like you were suddenly going to tell me you didn’t love me or that—”
“If I ever tell you that, something is very,verywrong. Someone is trying to kill me or worse,” he interjected, squeezing her hand. A different seriousness rose in his gaze, and he swallowed hard as he stared at her. “Aydra, you… You are my equal core. My partner. My comforted darkness in a world of deafening light.” He paused as they swayed, and she watched him exhale deeply and give her a small shake of his head. “Shrouded with you in the shadows of our Sun is the only place I ever want to be.”
A rasp of a breath left her as her heart caved in her chest. “How am I not supposed to tell you I love you when you say things like that?” she whispered.
His jaw tightened, and he cupped her cheek in his hand. The glistening in his eyes made her own tear up, and he looked as though he would shake his head again, but instead he sighed audibly.
“Restraint,” he uttered.
She almost laughed, and she shook her head slightly at him, feeling her eyes dance as she gazed up at him. “You’re ridiculous.”
He smiled and laid his forehead against hers. “Say it again,” she heard him whisper.
Her hands wrapped around his neck beneath his hair, and she pulled back just slightly so she could see his eyes.
And then she pressed her lips to his.
Ancient enemy races, the Queen of Promise and Venari King of the South, kissing before every race in Haerland.
She felt him smile against her lips, and he grasped her tightly in his arms before picking her up off the ground.
Aydra didn’t care that everyone in the room was staring at them. She didn’t care that the music had stopped playing, that a bewildered intensity had filled the air. All, except for the Blackhands, who’s noises of cat-calls and whistles were echoing around the room, were silent.
Kissing him in front of every being in Haerland was the best way she knew how to express how much she loved him.
Her feet hit the ground, and he wrapped a hand in her cheek as he pulled back, a grin spread over his features. “So much for restraint,” he mumbled.
She huffed amusedly under her breath. “You should know by now, restraint has little place in my core.”
He pulled her flush against him again, and his nose nudged hers. “My Queen.”
The words once more sent chills down her spine as she inhaled the forest scent of him. “My King.”
“Ahem.”
The deliberate clearing of someone’s throat brought her back to the reality of the room. Every couple around them was staring. Aydra caught Nadir’s gaze, knowing he was the one that had cleared his throat, and he gave her an amused wink from where he stood. Calls from the Blackhands of ‘Get a room!’ and whistling continued. But it was the silence of her own people that made Aydra’s stomach knot.
Aydra caught Lex’s eyes towards the door, and she gave her a large grin. Aydra fought the returning smile and stepped back from Draven to look around at her own people, who looked as though they were frozen to the spot on which they stood.
“Why have we stopped dancing? Has the band suddenly died or is that what they are asking for with this silence?” Her eyes cut to the corner where the band was sitting, and at an instant, they started back up.
A few of the Blackhands started trying to dance again, but the Dreamers they stood with were rooted to the floor. They continued to stare at the pair.
Aydra’s eyes wandered around them, meeting every Dreamer’s gaze. Her jaw clenched. “If you value breath, you’ll dance,” she warned.
