“Why is father coming to visit the principality?”
All eyes turn to me, but it’s Vel that speaks up when she asks, “what do you mean?”
“Did you tell someone from the capital about my contract with Niska?” I ask, not missing the way Vel’s gaze drops to where I’m still holding my little human’s hand. I do not let go. Instead, I give it a light squeeze.
“What?” she says, looking truly perplexed. Vel is good at putting on a facade. When we were young together, she used to quite easily trick me into playing various childish games with her, claiming that Zann and Az had refused. They hadn’t, of course, and my cousin had managed to run rings around us all in this palace as a small girl.
Something tells me she is not pretending now, though, as she steps forward with concern on her features. “I only told my club, Kiahn, I promise. When will he be here?”
I take in a large breath through my nose and let it out again. “He will arrive any moment now.”
My brothers and Vel know that can’t mean anything good. If my father is arriving with such short notice, it means he’s not giving us sufficient time to prepare to receive him as king, which means this little visit is not an official one, and he doesn’t really want the people to know he’s here. He probably doesn’t even want them to know he’s left the capital.
“Is that bad?” Niska asks from beside me.
The concern in her voice bothers me, so I turn to her, gently cupping her small, human face in my hand. “No. Not for you. You have nothing to worry over -ever.”
Fuck, I wish I could rewind time. I would go back to when I’d had her moaning and panting up on the royal balcony, my hand stuffed down her undergarments, playing with her needy little cunt. I’d return to that moment, and I’d stay there.
Slight movement catches my eye at the periphery of my vision. It’s Zann. He’s trying to sneak away through one of the doors that connects to the servant’s walkways. “Where areyougoing?” I growl, stepping into the room now. My brother’s shoulders hitch as he freezes on the spot.
Quickly regaining that air of charm and ease he’s perfected over the years, my brother turns, an affable smile already placed on his irritating face. “Just felt like someone should probably go and check that the king’s chambers are ready to receive father-dearest, the kitchens have his favorite foods,etcetera, etcetera.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“Oh, no need for any of that.”
That voice is behind me, and it makes me somehow stand taller, straighter. Makes my jaw tick. Makes me turn and try to tuck my Niska behind my larger frame.
“Your Majesty,” Vel falls into a perfect curtsy as my father enters the room. His hands are clasped at his back, his intricately embroidered robes trailing along behind him, complete with a trim of glowing black ‘star-feathers’ the people of the capital are always sporting. Two of his security detail melt into the room, following him like shadows. My brothers and I bow our heads like we have done all our lives, and I can’t help but tug Niska a little behind me where I’m still clasping her hand. I’d like to just outright step in front of her to shield her completely, but that would likely attract more notice than anything else.
“Sons,” my father acknowledges my brothers and I with a nod of his head. “It has been a long while since last we met in person.”
It’s true. We avoid going to the capital if we can help it, and it has been almost five years since my father’s last official visit to the Northern Principality. With my jaw tense, I watch as he takes us in, his gaze briefly dusting over Niska at first, only to zoomback over to her, blinking like he cannot grasp what he is seeing. He only seems to notice Lois and Jaya in that moment, too.
His brow furrows. And those furrows deepen when his eyes trace down to where I am still holding Niska’s hand in my own, no doubt wondering why a female would allow such a thing. My father’s bejeweled ear twitches as he seems to be trying to make sense of what he is seeing.
Which makes me think he is not here to oppose my breeding contract with Niska.
“Father,” I say, bowing my head once more as I step forward. “I would like for you to meet our guests, the humans, Lois, Jaya,” I say, indicating to each female with an outstretched palm, “and my bride, Niska.”
Stepping aside to allow my father his first unimpeded view of my female, my gaze can’t help but to gravitate to Niska, too. It is like the act of introducing her prompts me to take her in again, as if it were the first time.
And she is beautiful.
I do not even care that she is so small and has no horns. Her smile is like a shower of shooting stars and twice as stunning.
She is magnificent, and I can’t help but feel great pride in the fact that she has entered a contract with me.
I can hardly believe that she lets me touch her, invites me to ‘cuddles’, and will permit me to breed her precious little cu-
Someone’s words cut through the obsessive fog that had clouded my mind while I stared at my Niska.
Turning away, it is like my head had just resurfaced above water, and I come to realize it wasn’t just ‘someone’ trying to talk to me while I had ignored everyone else in the room except for her.
It was my father.
The king.
