“You are going to be sick,” Mal told him.
“No I’m not! I feel GREAT!”
“He’s going to be vibrating off the walls in about ten minutes, the entire day,” I said quietly. “Perfect timing for a formal banquet.”
Killian was bouncing, oblivious to the chaos he’d caused. “Uncle Aurion said there’s SO MANY people coming!”
“Yes, pup. Many people.”
“How many? Like... twenty?”
“More like seventy.”
Killian’s eyes went huge. “SEVENTY?! That’s... that’s... that’s SO MANY I can’t even count that high!”
“We’ll count together, baby.” I took his sticky hand carefully.
“Okay! Can I tell them about the honey?”
“Absolutely not,” Mal said immediately.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s our special honey secret,” I improvised.
Killian dropped his voice to what he thought was a whisper but was actually just him talking slightly less loudly. “A SECRET! I’m good at secrets!”
“He told the guards about my birthday surprise,” Mal said, raising an eyebrow at me.
“And the cook about the new puppies.”
“And Aurion about-”
“I’m REALLY good at secrets now! I’m bigger!” Killian insisted, drawing himself up to his full height.
We somehow managed to corral our sticky, sugar-high son toward breakfast. He grabbed both our hands as we walked, mine in his left, Mal’s in his right, leaving sticky honey prints on our fingers. Torin followed at a respectful distance.
Sorcha was already waiting in the breakfast room, sitting at the table with tea. She took one look at Killian, covered head to toe in honey, vibrating with energy, and sighed deeply. The kind of sigh that said she’d seen this exact scenario play out a thousand times.
Mal and I looked at each other and tried very hard not to laugh.
***
After breakfast and bath number two (getting honey out of a four-year-old’s hair was its own special kind of nightmare), I realized I needed to visit Earth today before the banquet.
The time difference between worlds meant my friends on Earth hadn’t seen me in weeks, even though it had only been a few days here in Lytopia. Time moved faster there, a quirk of the portal magic that made my head hurt if I thought about it too hard.
“I need to check on the bookstore,” I told Mal as we watched Killian race around his room, riding the sugar high. “Visit the girls.”
Mal’s jaw tightened. “Alone?”
“It’s my bookstore, Mal. I’ll be fine.”
“I do not like you traveling through the portal without protection.”
“Protection from what? Aggressive book browsers? Demanding coffee orders?”
He didn’t smile. His worry was genuine, even if it was unnecessary. Ever since I’d become Queen, he’d gotten more protective. More cautious about letting me go anywhere without guards or himself.
