“Your figure is perfect, and I don’t think that eating a cake would change anything at all. I’m sorry that your mother couldn’t see that.” Xavier pressed a soft kiss on my knuckles, and my entire body felt warm. Not because I was aroused, but because I felt safe.
“Have you heard anything about Malakai?” I asked after a while.
“I asked Sparrow if he could use his siren powers to ask Seth, Lydia’s mate—” Damien replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee, “—who was sleeping with my cousin when I was knocking at his door…”
“Nathaniel?” Xavier asked, rolling his eyes.
“I had no idea, but the Veil opened when there was the ball…and he kissed a blonde man with a purple mask. I can’t believe my brother really snuck the prince of Aetrum into Carnivalland.”
“Is it bad that he is here?”
Xavier looked at me.
“No, but Dandelion will ask himself one day where his precious marionette is… and I don’t want my brother to take the blame for it, considering he isn’t even allowed to enter Aetrum.”
“Why not? I mean, if they love each other, can’t he just visit him, if it is the wish of Nathaniel as the prince of Aetrum?” I asked, confused. Why was it so complicated?
Xavier sighed, his fingers brushing mine. “Because… it is not just about love, Gwendolyn. Sparrow’s existence itself is already seen as dangerous by many, especially for Dandelion. Siren men like him are too powerful.”
“Powerful in what way?”
“Sirens pose a unique threat to the order of the Elven Court. It is not just their ability to seduce you or manipulate your emotions. They can bear children and also impregnate both men and women.”
I blinked, stunned. “Wait… you are saying… your brother could get Nathaniel pregnant?” Xavier nodded, intertwining his fingers with mine.
“But that’s… that’s not possible. Is it?”
“In your world, maybe not,” Xavier said softly, pressing a kiss against my hand. “But in ours, magic doesn’t follow human biology. The fact that siren men could create life, especially if it is Sparrow, terrifies Dandelion. Their connection to each other threatens everything they built their politics and bloodlines upon. My brother could destroy the entire legacy of Aetrum if he did that… and that could mean war.”
My eyes widened, flickering between Xavier and Damien, my mind struggling to catch up. There were so many things about this world I didn’t know, things that went against everything Ihad ever been taught. But it didn’t scare me. It made me sad to realize how much of a burden Damien had to carry. The powers, the rules of where he came from, the dragon form.
I glanced at him now, sitting across from me, the light catching the white strands in his hair, the strength and power in his eyes. The dragon hidden beneath his skin. And still, he had chosen to save me, without hesitation, without expectation.
A lump formed in my throat.
“And... are you allowed to visit Aetrum?” I asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.
He shook his head.
“If I want to keep my freedom, I probably shouldn’t even try,” he said, his voice calm but laced with something deeper, something bitter. “I was also banned, so if I enter the land, my father could put me in captivity.”
For a moment, none of us spoke. The only sounds were the soft clinking of cutlery and the low hum of the coffee shop around us. It was one thing to hear about political games and punishments. It was another to sit across from someone who lost their home, their family just for being who they were.
I reached out instinctively, laying my hand gently over Damien’s. His gaze lifted to meet mine—stormy, beautiful, and so full of things I would never say out loud.
I smiled. I felt Xavier’s hand stroking mine…
“There is something we want to show you before we go back home.”
I looked at both of them, bewildered, but instead of asking what it was, I took his hand as both led me out of the coffee shop. The smell of frosted cream and sugar left behind, replaced by the silence of the forest, as I followed them a little bit further into the forest.
And then, as we turned a corner, I gasped.
In front of me was a carousel, dazzling in different shades ofsilver and gold, with horses wearing pink-silver attire. It was beautiful, almost ethereal, as if it had been plucked from a dream.My dream.
Xavier reached for my hand, tugging me gently to my feet as I didn’t realize I kept standing.
“Is… is this for me?” I whispered, barely daring to believe it.
