Skadi lifted her chin. “Likely as much as I trusted you, Ever King.”
Trust would build. Someday. We could not expect after bitter fighting between clans for everything to be forgotten. The sea folk were attacked by the elven first. Their trust would likely come last.
With a vow to recount every bleeding detail of my life to Livia (which I planned to do until she was lost to boredom from descriptions of how I dressed and ate each day) Nightseer bowed no less than five times to his king and queen, and sailed us toward the shores of the fading isle.
Chapter 36
The Mist Thief
On the dockswas a great huddle of blue and silver robes and gowns. Courtiers and palace guards all surrounded my grandfather who stood in the center of it all.
My spine was as stiff as a tree. Jonas tugged me against his side, drawing his lips to my brow. “What is troubling you?”
“I’m ashamed.”
“Of what?”
“I should be overjoyed to see my land, but it doesn’t feel . . . like home.” I let my head fall to his shoulder.
Jonas led us to one side of the deck, out of the way for the small crew of sea fae to secure the sloop. Near the end of the gangplank, palace guards arranged themselves into two stiff lines on either side of the dock, spears tilted in a sort of tunnel for us to walk beneath.
Jonas watched the uniformity with disquiet written over his brow. He was a prince, he knew how to be regal, but it was not a constant thought on his mind.
Not like it had been for me.
All at once, the difference of my life with my nightmare was stark to what it would’ve been as Arion’s wife. As an elven prince’s bride,appearances would be everything. I would be a quiet face in the shadows, compliant to the future king’s rule.
The alver clans were at ease around their royals, engaging with them, dining with them, like old friends in the palace.
I leaned in close to speak. “You’re to disembark first. The king will greet you and they’ll expect you both to walk a step ahead of me.”
“They can kiss my ass, Fire,” he whispered from the corner of his mouth. “You’ll walk with me where you belong.”
A bloom of heat filled my chest. “As you say, Nightmare.”
Jonas stepped onto the dock, eyes heady with suspicion as he took in the curious faces of the Dokkalfar court. One palm reached for mine, and he eased me down the gangplank. As promised, he kept his stride in time with my own, hands clasped.
“Prince Jonas, you grace our shores.” My grandfather approached, arms outstretched. “And my Skadinia, how lovely it is to see your beauty back home once more.”
Clad in his finest doublet of blue silk, my grandfather looked like a glittering king. A circlet of bronze topped his smooth, silver hair, and gold adorned his fingers. The bands were cold against my cheeks when he took my face in his palms.
“You look well, dear girl.” He kissed my cheek. “Dorsan sent a report that you seem to be acclimating to alver lands.”
“They have welcomed me with open arms, Grandfather.”
Eldirard made a sound like a hum of delight and gently patted one of my cheeks. “I am pleased to hear it, Granddaughter.” The king faced Jonas. “And you, Prince Jonas, I assume the alliance has been favorable.”
“I have never been more certain the right moves were made, King Eldirard.”
Grandfather studied our clasped hands for half a breath, then opened an arm toward the wood. “Come. Let us take this back to the palace. I wish to hear all you’ve done these first weeks.”
Jonas kept his tone to a playful whisper once the king turned away. “I doubt he wants to know everything we’ve done.”
I jabbed his ribs with my elbow, drawing out his low chuckle.
Courtiers parted and bowed their heads as we passed. I drew in along breath of sweet honey air from the misty trees. The procession wove through the black wood. Planks and wooden pathways honeycombed across the groves and swamps.
When I did not fall back as my grandfather took Jonas’s other side, the king shot me a look. I could feel his annoyance when I ignored it and merely tightened my hold on my husband’s hand, keeping right at his shoulder.
