I step out of the bedroom and into the area where all of my clothes are kept. And there’s Annaleigh, moving my clothes around like she’s my maid. She must not hear me coming because when she turns and sees me, she jumps, putting her hand to her chest.
“Oh, my God, you’re awake!” She rushes over and throws her arms around me. “We were so worried.” When she pulls away, still holding onto my shoulders, there are tears glistening in her eyes. “When Cage found you missing, I thought he was going to burn the whole mountain down.”
Hearing that does something to my stomach. I take her wrists and lift her hands off me. “He wants me to go with him to address the kingdom. Help me find something to wear.”
When we come out into the sun, the valley extends before us, and standing in it are all the people of the kingdom. They stretch far, all their faces pointed toward us.
I look over my shoulder, where Annaleigh offers me a reassuring smile.
Taking my hand, Cage leads me out into the sun, where I immediately feel the rocks under my shoes. When he speaks, his voice is loud, carrying out over the valley that spans between the High Mountain and the human village.
“Thank you all for joining me,” he says to the crowd. “As you all know, two days ago, there was an attempt on my life.”
I squeeze his hand, fear slicing through me. No one mentioned this. No one said that Cage was in any danger. I must have been the back-up plan. Plan A was to kill Cage, but if they couldn’t manage it, they took me as a bargaining chip.
Cage ignores my reaction to this news and continues. “Those responsible for the attack and the fools who kidnapped my wife are all dead.” A murmur goes through the crowd, but Cage ignores it, too “I am now aware of a rebellion in Isiriel, a group of humans upset that their king is and always will be one of my own. I will say this only once.” He pauses, and when he speaks again, his voice is louder, firmer, his solis flaring high and powerful. “This land belongs to my people. We were here long before the humans came through the portal and settled here. I have married a human in hopes that our union would bring the humans and the Isiriel together. We will have heirs—”
From somewhere in the crowd, someone yells, “Disgusting, half-blood filth!”
Cage drops my hand and roars. His entire body lights up. He is a raging inferno. “This will not be tolerated!” he shouts, voice booming out across the valley. “We will have peace in Isiriel.” The flame dies down, flittering away until it’s all contained inside his eyes again. “Isiriel will be home to my people, to humans, and to the descendants that come from the union of the two. I will not stand for hate or for prejudice or for war. So, I’m offering a solution. The portal will be open to Isiriel and humans alike for the rest of the day. Anyone who does not wish to reside peacefully in Isiriel may leave with my permission. And any hint of rebellion against your ruler or against the merging of our two people will be crushed beneath my heel.”
His gaze sweeps across the valley. Everyone is silent, watching him with mouths fallen open and eyes filled with fear.
I feel nothing but pride. Pride that Cage cares enough to end the rift between humans and Isiriel before it can begin. Pride that he wants peace in his kingdom. Pride that I get to stand by his side while he fights for the right of his own kind…and mine.
“And lastly,” he says, his voice lowering and yet somehow dripping with something far more terrifying than before, “if anyone touches my wife again, I will burn the entire human village to the ground.”
“Cage,” I whisper to him, and when he turns to me, he bends, finding my mouth with his. His kiss is urgent, possessive, and I whimper against his mouth, tasting all of his rage and fear.
When he pulls away, his voice is quiet, just for me to hear. “No one will ever take you from me again.”
My heart pounds in my chest, and all I can do is nod.
Cage asks Kale to oversee the mass exodus of the humans involved in the rebellion. According to Cage’s sources, the rebellion was merely a spark and was made up of a very small group of angry humans. All the ones who were named are either dead or going through the portal. Hopefully, that means Isiriel can be a peaceful place again.
Cage leads me down a dark hall in the High Mountain, his solis the only light, until we’re in the largest cave I’ve seen in the mountain so far. I gasp, amazed by what I can only assume are the king’s quarters, on the opposite side of the throne room from my own. His quarters are all one large room, and just over his lush, giant bed is a long beam of sunlight.
I laugh and rush over to it, climbing onto the bed to get better access. The small hole in the side of the mountain is almost exactly the size of my face, and when I look out, I cansee the valley between the mountain and the village. I feel a giggle rumble up in my stomach. I’ve always thrived on sunlight, craving it the way some other people don’t, and…well…now I live in a dark mountain.
“Does this please you?” Cage asks. I spin around, aware that I’m standing on the king’s bed without asking permission to do so. I immediately drop down onto the mattress.
“Yes, my king,” I tell him, feeling like I just got caught with my hand in the cookie jar. But when I look up under my lashes at him, Cage is smiling.
He reaches out a hand to me. “Come. I have something to show you.”
I crawl off the end of the bed and take his outstretched hand. And that’s when I see the open wardrobe on the other side of the room. A pile of my clothes lay on top of a long table, like they were abandoned, but the rest of my things hang inside the wardrobe beside Cage’s.
“What’s going on?” I ask him.
He’s poised to tug me further into the depths of his quarters, away from the bedroom, but when I ask this, he turns, following the path of my eyes. “I’ve asked Annaleigh to oversee the moving of your things to my quarters.”
I blink at him. “But I thought you said—”
“Come. I want to show this to you before the sunlight is gone.” He takes my hand again and leads me further into the cave. We pass through a long stretch of darkness, and I’m surprised when we find the sun at the end of it. We’re standing on some sort of cliff, a mouth into the cave that’s high above the valley. A large stretch of rock hangs over us, so that we’re still covered. It’s a huge room, almost as big as the bedroom in my quarters. Are they even my quarters anymore if I live with Cage now?
“Wow,” I say.
Cage crosses the room and turns to me, the length of the cliff between us. He spreads his hands out before him. “I will have beds cut into the rock and filled with soil. Here, you can plant whatever you want. It receives enough sun throughout the day for almost any plant to thrive. And there will be room for furniture, so that you can sit in the sun with your plants and your flowers.” There’s a slight tremble to his voice. Is he…nervous? He tilts his face up, looking at me. “Does this please you?” he whispers, so quiet I barely hear him.
