Shit, seriously, did I want to know the gods expected great things from me? That sounded like a lot of pressure on top of the mammoth job I’d already taken on!
I blamed James.
James, at least, looked delighted. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he placed the crown on my head. No getting out of this, was there? Still, I planned on bending Nimus’s ear tonight before bed. He hadmuchexplaining to do. For now, the show must go on.
I stood with James’s hand in mine, and Judge Galbraith’s voice rang out throughout the room. “The kings are crowned. Long live the kings!”
It took a second, but after people got over their shock, the room reverberated with their enthusiastic cries. “Long live the kings!”
The unease died down and my stomach settled some. I greeted my people as their new king with a brilliant smile, feeling the warmth and strength in James’s grip on my hand. It had taken many a sleepless night of planning to get here, but I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Whatever the future had in store for us, I now knew for sure I could handle it. I had a loving and supportive spouse, the power of a king, and apparently the blessing of the gods themselves. With those things combined, there was little that could thwart me.
Seventy-four
James
Turned out getting married and crowned at the same time wasexhausting.
Someone could have warned me.
I lay on the sofa like a wilted lady after a ball, one leg propped up on the arm, my jacket and cravat shed at the first opportunity. Edwin lay on the sofa opposite me, in much the same fashion; although, he’d made himself a cup of peppermint tea to sip. Habit or had his stomach rebelled again?
Most of this was his fault. And by “this” I meant today’s crowning. “Well, you got what you wanted.”
He quirked a brow at me, challenging, but I saw a spark of amusement in those blue eyes. “Blaming me, are you?”
“Who else am I to blame, then? You’re the one who wanted me to be king.”
“Yes, I did, and I love how that meant I got dragged into insanity with you.”
“Misery and company, my love, misery and company. But holy fuck, we did it. The gods indeed blessed us. This went so, so much better than my first life.”
“From what you’ve said, agreed. I feel blessed. But tired.”
“Truly.” I blew out a weary breath. “I know we needed to do both ceremonies at once, butgodswas that exhausting.”
“The afterparty somehow was worse? All that peopling.”
“Agreed. One hundred percent, agreed. And I like peopling.”
“Yes, it does say something that you’re agreeing with me.” Edwin sipped his tea, then snorted. “I loved the ones who were not-so-subtly trying to suggest you’d need a concubine to have children with, and their daughters were the perfect candidates.”
“Yes, those people I wanted to throw off a cliff. How fucking dare they say that. On my wedding day, no less!”
“You think Beatrice put them up to it?”
“Why are you asking such an obvious question?”
He snorted another wry laugh. “My mistake.”
“I think the wisest decision I made this year, aside from marrying you, was kicking those two out. Beatrice can’t help but meddle, it seems.”Whywas my question. It never gave her a good outcome, but she seemed incapable of learning from her mistakes.
“I’m quite pleased for my in-laws to live on the opposite side of the country from me,” Edwin said. “Especially after observing them this week. They’d make our lives hell. I now have a better understanding of what you put up with in the first lifetime.”
“Aren’t they just atrocious? They can’t keep their opinions to themselves.” His tea concerned me, so I switched topics abruptly. “Are you drinking peppermint tea?”
“For digestion,” Edwin assured me, well able to discern what I truly asked. “I had too much of our wedding cake, so I’m feeling overstuffed.”
