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“Orc Emperor and Human Empress are truly mated! Let revelry begin!” the Orc mage calls out.

A great cheer goes up, along with so much stomping that the bass vibrates in my chest. But after Ivar lifts me up and into his arms, all that noise fades into the background.

He stands, cradling me as if I weigh nothing.

I’m shocked when he carries me straight toward the red door I was eyeing earlier. And I’m even more shocked when I see what lies beyond it.

Chapter 16

Behind the Red Door

Earlier, I thought this Silent Blood Wood door would lead out of the castle. I mean, why else have an enchanted red door, if not to protect against outside magic?

But instead, Ivar carries me into a bedroom.

A huge one. The ceiling is so high up, it might as well be the sky. I have to wonder how they even got a golden chandelier with candles instead of bulbs up there.

At eye level, there’s a fireplace I could park my mid-sized Kona in, and at the top of a raised dais, I find a four-poster frame, hung with red velvet drapes, towering above a gigantic bed. The bed is covered in the fur pelt of some humongous animal. His head is still attached and his curved horns rest on the top step as if he’s only fallen asleep. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

But maybe I’ve read about it? Could this be the glawackus that terrorized the gentle TreeSqueaks before the Autumn Fae King struck it down with the last arrow in his magical quiver?

In any case, nearly every inch of wall is covered in weapons: battle axes, broadswords, spears, and a couple of maces with spikes as long as my “teeny” fingers. All of them are polished and arranged the way other people hang family photos.

So, I guess that explains where all his weapons got off to.

Ivar kicks the door closed behind him, and the revelry in the hall instantly cuts out.

If I hadn’t re-read the Silent Blood Wood arc in Autumn of the Fae so many times, I would have been surprised by how well the seemingly thin piece of wood blocks out all sound. Still, I jolt. It’s wild to actually see it in action… to actually live in the world of my favorite books.

Ivar lets out a low rumble above me. “Your smell has once again shifted to surprise.”

“Oh, you can… smell my emotions?” Not sure how I feel about that.

“Smell and hear—though not all of them. Only the ones that can assist us in hunting, such as the quickening blood rush of a sudden startle or the sharp change in your smell when you first gazed upon me in abject terror.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know you as well back then.” I give him a wry, apologetic smile. “That was a whole few hours ago.”

I’m teasing, but he nuzzles his tusks against my face like my words are sincere. “Yes, you were not aware then that we are star-fated.”

Star-fated… What exactly does that mean?

“I have so many questions,” I admit out loud. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“We have a lifetime to answer them all. But first I must grant your request.…” He heads toward a second red door.

And my heart leaps at the prospect of a bath and the other benefits of indoor plumbing.

Clara Quinn quite famously never mentions her characters having to relieve themselves or so much as walk into any kind of bathroom. They have a love of going on long journeys and stopping at hot springs to bathe. So the inner workings of the Middle Realm’s castle hygienics are a total (and heavily debated on r/Quinnvers) mystery to her many readers.

However, my heart sinks when I’m hit by a gust of cold air, and I look up to see we’re now outside a black stone fortress lined with spiked battlements.

So, going through the red door would have led me outside. I just would have had to run through another one and orienteer my way to a mage cave through a frozen swampland dotted with twisted trees covered in moss and ice. In nothing but a towel. While hoping not to get shot down by one of those Orcs standing guard on the battlements.

Yeah, I would have most certainly died out here. Getting married instead of making a run for it was definitely the right call—even if that call didn’t come with indoor plumbing.

“The hot spring is right over there,” Ivar tells me, nodding toward a body of water in the distance. Wisps of steam rise from it, and it’s encircled by stones.

Good thing Orcs can’t smell disappointment.