Below the royal jewels on display were several drawers. Verin pulled out one of them and removed a diadem that matched his crown. Two golden Asian dragons held a glittering sapphire between them. The sapphire was the same shape but smaller than the one in Verin's crown and the dragons were lifted, their bodies forming a triangle while their tails trailed down to form a thin band.
“This is the Royal Consort's crown.” Verin lifted it to show me. “Will you wear it?”
I looked from the diadem to the dragon king. I knew what he was really asking—if I would allow him to subtly announce that I was his. As a queen in my own right, accepting a consort crown was a tricky thing. It was technically a step down from my position and could even be seen as offensive. Which was probably why Verin was staring at me so warily.
“And what will you wear to display my ownership of you?” I challenged.
Verin burst into laughter. “I realize it's a little unfair to ask this of you, but you are in my court, and I would like to give you a tour of the palace.”
“But you don't want to escort me around on your arm, the two of us obviously intimate, and give the court the impression that I'm...”
“A woman not as important to me as you are,” he finished for me. “I want you to have the prestige this will give you. Yes, you're a queen but without this on your head, they will see you as an adulteress and our relationship as a meaningless affair.” His jaw clenched. “I'm afraid that I may injure someone if they fail to give you the proper respect. Don't make me hurt my courtiers, Elaria, please.”
“I will wear it if you will wear one of my pendants,” I bargained as I turned and swept out of the dressing room.
“Which pendant?” Verin asked as he set the tiara aside and followed me. He warily watched me retrieve my necklace from the floor, then looked over the collection of charms. “The onyx?”
In addition to my traveling stone and contact charm, I also wore a raw chunk of onyx. It wasn't a normal jewel but one that had been formed when I merged my magic with that of four men: Darcraxis, Torin, Lucifer, and Rathlin. Our magic formed a piece of onyx that Lucifer then divided into five equal pieces which he made pendants out of, one for each of us. A Naga medium named Daha had recently told me that the onyx was pure magical potential—a source of power that could be used for many things. So far, Torin had used his to save his life and I had used mine to fight back the Devil. Both events had involved Lucifer.
“No. The onyx is too masculine; it will look normal on you,” I rejected his idea and headed back into the dressing room with my pendants in hand. “I want your people to notice.”
“Very well.” He retrieved the tiara and placed it on my head—it fit perfectly—then held his arms out to the sides. “Do with me as you will, Your Majesty.”
I chuckled as I removed all three pendants from the chain. I was about to offer him the barite contact charm—it was a cone-shaped piece with a rosette on its widest end and was the most feminine looking out of all of my pendants—but Torin had given it to me and my stomach clenched at the thought of Verin wearing it. I gasped with that jolt of anxiety, a flash of love for my other men zipping through me.
“Elaria?” Verin asked in concern, his hands going to my shoulders.
“I'm fine,” I whispered. “It's just... Torin gave me this one.” I showed him the charm.
“I see.” He stiffened.
“I love you,” I said immediately. “But it doesn't erase what I feel for them.”
Verin swallowed visibly. “I know. It angers me, but I understand.”
I held out my traveling stone; the clear jewel swirled with light. It wasn't as ostentatious as my tiara but on Verin, with his dark clothes and tan skin, it would garner the attention I was after. And it would also serve another purpose.
“This is my only way to leave you.” I set it in his palm. “I want you to wear it and know without a doubt that I'm staying. We're in this together.”
Verin's hand closed around the stone, then he pulled me into an embrace. “Thank you. I'm sorry I'm being such a brute. These feelings take me to extremes. I thought I had conquered them but having you here has broken my control.”
“I understand.” I leaned back to look at him. “But you have to know that I'm going through the same thing except that I also have husbands I care about. I've abandoned them for you, Verin. That should hurt me—it should, at the very least,registerwith me—but this small guilt over the charm is the first I've felt. I know it's the spell and I should be worried but instead, I'm excited. I want to know you—I want to learn about your world and life—and I don't seem to care about what that means to anyone else. You are consuming my entire being, Verin. So, please, don't be a dick.”
Verin made a surprised bark of laughter. “I promise to do my best to not be a dick.”
“I accept your promise.” I threaded my remaining pendants back onto their chain and fastened it around my neck.
Meanwhile, Verin selected a gold chain from his jewelry cabinet and slid my traveling stone onto it. “Will you put it on me?”
I took the necklace from him. “Of course.”
Instead of going to his back, I slid the chain up his chest and around his neck, then moved the clasp around to the front so I could secure it. Once fastened, I settled the necklace properly and stood back to admire it. The traveling stone gleamed and shone against Verin's skin, bordered by the V of his tunic. There was no mistaking what it was or why he wore it.
I smiled in satisfaction.
“Now that we are properly branded, would you care to see my palace, Consort?” Verin held his arm out to me again.
“Aren't you going to wear your crown?”
