“Arach, that wasn't just her first flight, it was also her first shift. That's why I haven't wanted to risk the whole tossing her out a window thing. You know that. Rian shifted as a baby. A baby, Arach. He'd gone through many shifts before he had his first flight. We had to fireproof the nursery. But Sam has never shifted.”
“Some Dragon-Sidhe are late bloomers.”
“If you say so,” I whispered, staring down the stairs.
“What else could it be?”
“Arach, have you forgotten how I ate that fey apple full of Wild Magic while I was pregnant with her?”
Arach blinked his yellow dragon eyes.
“You did forget,” I said.
“It may have momentarily slipped my mind.”
“In light of your recovered memory, is that normal?” I pointed after Samara.
Joyous cheers and applause suddenly echoed to us from the dining hall. Our court had no doubt seen their Princess's first flight. There would be much celebrating that day. I, in particular, would be celebrating the fact that I didn't have to watch my husband throw my daughter out of the flight tower. Yes, it even had a name. But overwhelming my relief was my worry over Sam's sudden shift.
“It's normal, Vervain. I'm sure of it,” Arach finally said. “She's just taken longer to set her dragon loose, and once she summoned it, it burst free and flew.”
“I don't know.”
“Come now. She's a Dragon-Sidhe who turned into a dragon. It's not as if she manifested a strange version of her god magic.”
“Oh, my goodness, do you think she will?” I asked. “What will that be like? Twisted love? Will she be like Aphrodite? No, not my precious girl.”
“Relax, A Thaisce.” Arach pulled me into a hug. “Samara will be fine. She's not just a goddess like Hades's daughter. She is a faerie, and her Fire essence will know how to handle a dose of WildFeyMagic. But that's only if she was affected. So far, she has only done something normal for a Dragon-Sidhe child. That apple may not have touched her at all.”
“Yes, okay. You're right.”
Someone cleared their throat. “Good morning, my King and Queen.”
I looked over my shoulder to see one of the maids walking down the stairs, her gaze set resolutely forward.
“Good morning,” I said weakly.
As soon as she was gone, I shoved Arach toward our bedroom.
He burst out laughing. “What are you embarrassed of? You've been naked in front of people before.”
“Yes, but we were both naked and embracing! That's different. She'll think we were having sex in the hallway.”
“So what? It's our hallway. The whole castle is ours. We can have sex wherever we wish.”
I rolled my eyes. “Now you're acting like a Wild Faerie.”
“If you want wild, I can give you wild.” Arach grabbed me, tossed me over his shoulder, and carried me to bed.
Chapter Eighteen
I stopped Arach from getting too wild. We had to go downstairs and celebrate our daughter's first flight, and we didn't have much time for that. Because we also had to be at the Castle of Eight by noon.
So we got dressed and headed downstairs, where the Fire Court was already toasting my daughter, and she was sitting between her brothers at the high table, grinning ear-to-ear, and wearing Roarke's tunic. Thank goodness I had thought to bring her a fresh dress. The last thing we needed was Roarke strutting around shirtless.
“I flew, Mommy!” Samara said as I got her into her dress.
“I saw, baby,” I said with a grin. “It's so exciting.”
