King Shaleros looked up at me and the stark hollowness in his eyes was like salt in the wound he had just opened in my chest. “Yes. She loved the stars.” He looked up to contemplate the sky. “Almost as much as she loved her flowers. She often said she felt like she was caught between the two, ever looking up and down.” He frowned. “Unless I was near. Then she only looked at me.”
I knew exactly how she felt.
“Then this was a way of combining two of her great loves.”
“Yes.” The King returned his gaze to the fountain. “Given to her by her greatest love.”
“How lucky she was,” I whispered.
The King's stare narrowed. “Lucky? She's dead.”
“Death comes for a lot of us, Your Majesty,” I said. “It's the risk of living. For humans, it's the price. But it's not how long we live that makes us fortunate or not. It'showwe live. It's who we live our lives with. How they love us. And your mate was loved. She was loved greatly. I can see that, even if you can't feel it anymore. And that is very fortunate indeed.”
His lips parted, but he didn't speak for several long moments. Just stared at me. At last, he said, “I think she was loved greatly, as greatly as she loved me. I think . . . it felt . . .bright. Warm.” He slid his stare upward again. “Like her stars. Sparkling and yet soft. Is that what love feels like?”
“That's precisely it, Your Majesty,” I whispered, not because the moment felt heavy, but because if I spoke any louder, my voice would break. As my heart was breaking.
The King's throat worked as he looked back at me. “Do you think I was lucky too, Sebastian?”
“I'm sure of it. I think you're still lucky.”
“Perhaps in a bad way.”
“Well, that's the great thing about luck. It can change in a heartbeat.”
The Dragon King pressed his lips together, showing more emotion than I'd ever seen from him, then motioned at the fountain. Water gathered in the air, swirling down into the star-shaped basin. Rapidly, it filled, droplets combining to rise up the sides. Then the King bent and pressed a button. Machinery whirred, powered by magic that had lain dormant for a long time. But, thank the Gods, it still worked. Bubbles appeared in the center of the star, just a gentle frothing that created peaceful music. Within a few seconds, water flowed out from the points of the star, filling channels in the low walls that extended from the fountain. Those channels fed the flower beds.
“An irrigation system,” I said in wonder. “I hadn't realized.”
“Yes.” He turned in a circle. “I hope this makes things easier on you. The fountain will need to be filled, of course. Unless it rains.”
“It does make things easier. It really helps. Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The Dragon King stared down at the fountain and whispered, “Lucky. Yes, maybe she was the lucky one.”
Chapter Eight
The sight of the Dragon King filling that fountain would haunt me. The ache in his eyes, spreading across his beautiful face. Not heartache, but a desire for it. The spiraling water, droplets catching the moonlight to create stars on Serai. His tragic words. How could he express so much while feeling so little? He couldn't. There was a wealth of emotion hidden inside King Shaleros. I was certain of it. He'd buried it. All the good and bad. He made himself numb. So numb that even when he wanted to feel, he couldn't. But I had glimpsed the truth.
Back in my guest room, I showered and dressed, then hurried to the dining hall. Our little excursion made me late, but so was the King. And no one ate before the King. I got there only a few minutes before King Shaleros and quickly followed him to his table when he did his nightly wave my way.
The King nodded, dinner was served, and I pondered His Majesty in glances as he filled his plate. Up until then, I'd been playful with him. It hadn't gotten me far. But I didn't want to push him down the path of his memories either. He had enough of that for one night. Even if he didn't feel the pain of his loss, he knew heshouldfeel it. That knowing hurt him in its own way. And I didn't want him hurt.
I wanted to make him happy. Such a simple, almost trite sentiment. But with the Dragon King, it was a gauntlet thrown in the face of a god.
“Do you dance, Your Majesty?” I asked.
“No,” he said.
“Ah. As I expected.”
He finished filling his plate, then looked at me. “Explain that.”
“Oh, you know.” I shrugged and started heaping food onto my plate.
“If I knew, I wouldn't demand an explanation.”
“You did indeed demand it.” I chuckled.
