Page 10 of Her Ivory Flame

“What are you reading?” she asked quietly.

“An old Fae history book,” he replied.” I’m trying to see if there is any hint as to the reason Emris and Mavros started their fighting.”

Her eyes glanced over the old leather-bound book in his hand, the pages faded from the centuries of wear.

“The Valkyrie always thought it was over a girl, but that seems a bit overkill if you ask me. We never got the full story,” she chuckled.

“Well, Emris did marry a beautiful female and it was known back then that Mavros was supposed to marry her. She was part of the old king's bloodline before Emris was put into power. It wouldn’t be surprising.”

“All of this over a girl? That is really hard for me to believe.” She smirked and settled into him more.

“Love can make a male do some crazy things.” He shrugged.

“Well if I ever return home to Mydalsa maybe the royal library has something to help if it survived.”

He set his book down and wrapped his arm behind her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll make sure you get home, Alyra, I promise.”

She smiled, her eyes closing before taking a deep breath. “You should probably bathe too. You kinda smell.” She giggled, lifting herself off him.

He gave her a nudge with his shoulder and grinned at her before getting up to head towards the bathroom. She watched him close the door and she settled herself in the bed, sleep finding her quickly.

Chapter 5

Sleep only took her for a few hours before she was awake again, the fire nothing more than burning coals. She wasn’t cold, Silas’s body heat kept the air under the blanket warm but she could feel something in her chest tighten.

Anxiety slammed into her again, the calming effect of her bath wearing off, leaving her on edge. She could feel her heart racing in her chest, her muscles tightening and breathing started to become difficult the longer she tried to calm herself. She closed her eyes trying to block out the feeling of anticipation for the day, of what all this was going to mean.

An arm wrapped around her from behind and Silas pulled her in close, his voice a faint whisper behind her. “I can feel you panicking.” his breath drifting around her neck.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered.

“After all the countless nights we have spent together, you know I don’t mind.”

A gentle reminder of how he cared for her after carrying her out of the darkness of the dungeon. He spent weeks with her, held up in a shack tucked away in a forgotten part of Ambros. She had open wounds and bruises that needed medical attention from not being able to heal, the iron Mavros kept her in stopping her healing ability. With most of her magic buried, she struggled to heal herself even after the iron was removed.

Luckily he was able to get all the wounds to heal without scars except the one on her face, the location making it hard to tend to correctly. Silas spent every night after that comforting her for months.

After she was well enough to function on her own, they had found the house she had called home all these years and he helped her settle.

Eventually she could see he was getting restless and decided he needed to make his own path instead of taking care of her forever.

He quickly joined the military to fight for his new king, becoming his top general, and had limited time he could get away. They agreed to meet once a year where he would stay a few days before returning back to military life, and she cherished every moment they had together.

She did love him, but then again she didn’t really know what love truly was. At one point she thought she did but the conceptwas so unfamiliar she was no longer sure. She had little experience with it and there was nothing she could give him that would equal all he had done for her. Until now, she had been in hiding and would never have forced him to a life of isolation when he loved serving his king so much.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked in a low voice.

Tucking her body into him more, she let a smile surface on her face even though he couldn’t see it. “Just how you always have taken care of me. It’s also weird to think we can see each other everyday if we choose to from now on.”

His arm tightened tenderly around her, his face burrowing into the back of her neck. “Whatever you want, Alyra.” She could feel him tense against her before he spoke again. “There is something you should know though before we arrive at court.”

She rolled onto her back so his arm was still around her waist, but her eyes were looking into his. “What is it?” she could feel the shakiness in her voice.

He let out a deep breath, eyes closing before opening again with worry “Declan is part of the court now. He is the King's Commander and he will be there tomorrow.”

Her eyes widened at him, breath catching before turning to stare at the ceiling. She could feel her stomach tighten and panic setting in for a new reason. Silas kept his arm around her, his thumb gently brushing her skin just under her shirt hemline.

Declan.