“You look beautiful, if I may be so bold, Your Majesty,” Phoebe said, clasping her hands together and beaming.
Hellebore supposed she did. She looked like a Sun Elf, just missing the pointed ears. She looked like she actually belonged there.
Did she?
Before she could examine it or herself further, Phoebe and Elaine were rushing her off to meet Taiyo for their grand entrance.
Taiyo was pacing in front of the doors, ignoring the footmen pointedly watching him as he moved. Hellebore’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He always dressed regally, but ever since stepping back from his duties somewhat to be at Hellebore’s disposal, he’d been dressing a little less formally day to day. Now… he was dressed as only a king should be. His circlet rested on his head, a pristine white suit jacket fitted perfectly to his chest, and on top of it, a Sun Elf style Hellebore had no name for, only that it matched her dress in color and style.
They were a matching set.
They looked like they belonged to each other.
Taiyo paused and looked up at her approach.
His eyes widened and she heard his breath catch audibly as he froze in place, eyes desperately running over her figure.
She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around herself to hide from his intense gaze. Instead, she came up to him, held her arms out and said, “So? Do I make a decent elf?”
Taiyo blinked several times before her words got through to his brain. He stepped back, ducking his head before looking back at her. “You don’t look like an elf.”
Hellebore’s lips started to turn and she looked down at her dress, but before she could reevaluate, a finger came under herjaw and lightly tilted it back up. Taiyo was barely a breath away. He whispered, “You look like a queen, sunshine. My queen.”
“T—Taiyo—” Hellebore didn’t know why she was so out of breath even though she’d done nothing at all. She didn’t know why her voice caught and stuttered over his name or why her cheeks were flushing a brilliant crimson even under the makeup her maids had put on her face.
His thumb brushed her lip for the briefest of seconds before he pulled it back, taking a deep breath and glancing over at the footmen, their eager audience. “We’re ready; open the doors.”
Taiyo looped his arm through hers and Hellebore pushed every confusing, ridiculous feeling away. If she was going to be facing the court for the first time since her wedding, the last thing she needed was any emotions distracting her and putting her in a girlish tizzy.
The next hour was a whirlwind. Everything seemed to blur the second after the herald called out her and Taiyo’s names as they descended the stairs into the ballroom.
She spotted Haruko and her husband across the room, Haruko raising her glass and giving Hellebore a cold but approving nod. Good to know it was possible to get her sister-in-law’s approval.
Then it was noble after noble in front of them, music filling the air, as everyone was eager for a chance to get their claws into their king who’d been mysteriously absent as of late. A few of them were more eager to get their claws into their human queen.
Taiyo never once let go of Hellebore’s arm.
She didn’t know if that was for her sake or his.
What she did know was that she didn’t mind being attached to his side.
Hellebore did notice the instant Taiyo’s condition caught up to him. His tone became more clipped. His grip on Hellebore tightened.
So Hellebore leaned in, cutting the lord off and demanding some water for her parched throat. The lord’s response was only stunned silence until Taiyo cleared his throat. “Your queen has made a request of you. It would be wise to fulfill it.”
The lord scurried off and Hellebore spotted three more vultures moving to take his place. She lowered her voice. “Come on, you need to go. The sun will be setting any moment now, and you need rest.”
Taiyo took in a slow, deep breath, but she could see the frustration in his eyes. “There’s a door to our left. We’ll have to go the long way then.”
If that’s what it took to escape the ballroom and get him back to his room so he could rest. Hellebore took the lead, noting the directions more nobles were coming from and skillfully weaving her and Taiyo through the crowd, dodging any attempts to catch their attention until they were finally through the door and free.
Hellebore immediately grabbed Taiyo by the shoulders and started looking him over. He waved her off. “I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all. I’m not about to keel over right now.”
“You’d better not,” Hellebore said with a huff. She looked around and then put her hands on her hips. “Well, which way?”
He laughed, grabbing her arm and running his fingers down it until he laced them with hers and started walking. “This way. We’ll have to go to the ground floor and go around.”
“Like around outside?”
