“You may lead us now, Lord Batal,” Amalthea said formally.
Zorin gave her a stiff nod. He would never bow. Not to her or anyone else. He turned to lead them into the bright sunlight.
Chapter Seven
Isabelle marveled in passing at the beautifully manicured hedges and the bright flowers artfully planted around the picture perfect statues. It was the picture of opulence and though she enjoyed stepping into that world, Isabelle felt stifled by it as well. She looked to Zorin, her gaze catching his. He was frowning as he looked around at the various statues, but once he caught her watching him, he quickly forced a grim smile. His long fingers brushed at a wrinkle on his tunic, smoothing it as best he could.
“You look fine,” Isabelle whispered.
Zorin’s smile fumbled at being caught, but it was quickly replaced with a broad, playful grin that looked much more natural on his face. “Just fine? I’m not so handsome that I make your heart flutter and your legs go weak?”
Isabelle rolled her eyes and gave him a light shove. She could hear voices up ahead as they neared a large copse of trees. Something dark flashed overhead and Zorin increased his pace. Amalthea and Isabelle struggled to keep up with him.
Isabelle blew out an irritated breath once she caught up with him. She grabbed the back of his shirt, halting him.
“You,” she panted, “walk too fast.”
“Yes,” Amalthea agreed as she glided up to them, not at all looking like she had practically run to catch up to him as Isabelle had. “Now, your spat or whatever that it was is over, right?”
Zorin pressed his lips together in agitation, but still nodded.
Amalthea sighed and motioned him to lead the way. Zorin silently turned and continued up the quickly disappearing path.
What was that about? Isabelle asked him.
Zorin smiled at the irritation in her voice. He doubted if she knew just how cute it made her to be mad at him. I thought I saw something.
She humphed behind him and Zorin shot her a boyish grin over his shoulder. Amalthea serenely ignored them both, but neither woman missed the tension in his lithe body.
A light tingle shivered up Isabelle’s arms. She rubbed at her pale skin and frowned at the goosebumps quickly forming.
“Zorin?” she called to him.
He apparently heard the worry in her voice and turned toward her, taking her outstretched arm between his warm palms. He rubbed her arms for a moment before dropping her hand and stepping away.
“It’s their magic,” he said simply. “You can’t filter it and it’s rubbing up against you.”
Isabelle frowned at him. “What can I do about it?”
Zorin quickly frowned and his answer was immediate. “Not much. You aren’t used to magical creatures so it may just take some getting used to for you.”
Amalthea shook her head. “Be the girl’s filter, Zorin.”
He blushed and held out his hand. A little confused, but willing to see, Isabelle put her fingers in his. Zorin took a breath and the tingling sensation started to bleed from her skin like beads of water. As the last of it left her, Isabelle laced her fingers with his and came up to his side.
“You must have known that would work, right?” she asked him.
Zorin nodded.
Isabelle tilted her chin and considered him for a moment. “Then why would you let me continue to have that odd sensation when you stopped it so easily?”
He blushed easily and nodded toward the trees where they knew the council was waiting. “I didn’t think that you would want Faolan to see us holding hands.”
He saw the tears bead on her lashes and watched as she ruefully shook them away before he could get up the courage to wipe them from her cheeks.
“We’re going to be married,” Isabelle reminded him, her voice breaking. “It doesn’t matter what he or anyone else thinks.”
Zorin nodded, kissed her temple and then pulled her along silently behind him.
The path fell away to reveal a small clearing lined with tall trees. In its center was a mismatched group of creatures Isabelle had never expected to see together in one place.
Isabelle was quite happy to see that her uncle was not present among those gathered.
“Don’t stare,” Zorin chided her, the laughter clear in his voice.
Isabelle flashed him a quick smile and squeezed his hand. She looked at all of the council members, all of them settled into the bright grass and staring impatiently at Amalthea. There was a large smooth stone placed away from the others that the council members had gathered around and Zorin helped Amalthea down onto it. He led Isabelle off to the side and wrapped her arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. She curled against him, breathing in the sea air that laced his skin and felt a pair of eyes on her.
That wasn’t that surprising since once Amalthea had introduced her as the future queen of Feeorin everyone had begun watching her. But as she turned around and met the curious gazes of everyone in attendance, she saw the small black dragon watching her.
“Faolan…” she whispered, the grief thick in her voice. Zorin’s hand tightened on her side as he pressed his lips to her hair. She leaned into him, practically crawling into his skin to hold herself to the spot beside him when she would have run to Faolan and launched herself at him.
“Come,” Zorin said quietly, “you need to meet your council members.”
Isabelle nodded numbly as she was pulled along silently beside him. She politely acknowledged everyone and even surprised herself by managing a weak hello to Faolan though it did help that in his dragon form she didn’t have to listen to his excuses. His sad, dark eyes were evidence enough of his regret. And some part of her was glad of his pain. She knew that it may be petty, but she wanted him to feel just a little bit of the grief she was currently enduring. At least he had his son to go home to. Isabelle’s breath caught in her throat.
She quickly spun back to Faolan when Zorin would have pulled her along. His contact on her side was pulled away and Isabelle instantly regretted the loss as the magic of those around her bombarded her until she saw stars and her breath came in sharp gasps of pain. In an instant Zorin was once again at her side, his arm firm around her as she sucked in big gulps of air. He frowned down at her and began tugging her along again, but she stilled him with a look.
“Faolan,” she began as the black dragon watched them both curiously. Isabelle frowned, noticed the proximity of a young man and decided to switch to mind speak. Sebastian is fine, right? Tell me that you aren’t sad because of something that has happened to him.
The dragon blinked down at her and slowly shook his head.
Isabelle growled in frustration. “Tell me that he’s fine, damn you,” she snapped.
He quickly nodded and Isabelle let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She nodded to him in thanks and then let Zorin pull her along. She smiled sheepishly to the few people that had heard her outburst, but most pretended not to notice.
“Sebastian is okay,” she whispered hastily to Zorin’s questioning gaze. He nodded and loosened his fingers lightly on her side.
But as she greeted the unicorns and said hello to the dragon Lysander, she found herself angry with Faolan. How dare he be sad, she seethed. He cheated on her. He agreed to marry another woman while she was pregnant with his child and living just down the hall from him. With that thought, she kissed Zorin on the cheek, knowing full well that Faolan saw and that she was being petty. But dammit she had a right to be petty sometimes.
She was glad to see a few human merchants among the council and even those that were pure Angelus, although they stood removed from the others, did not seem outwardly hostile to her or the idea of having a human queen. Though, as Amalthea began to outline Isabelle’s new laws they began to eye her with speculation and more than a bit of distrust.
They know that you’ll die of old age soon enough. They can wait, Zorin told her
after they had left the Angelus, we immortals have a great deal of patience.
You’re quite cheery today, you know that? Isabelle scowled at him. And stop reading my thoughts.
Zorin gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. Stop yelling them then.
Distantly she heard Amalthea wrap up the meeting and thank everyone for coming though she couldn’t have said what the meeting had been about. She would have to pay better attention next time. Zorin was speaking to her, but Isabelle’s attention was on Faolan. She watched as he spread his inky black wings and lifted himself into the afternoon sky.
* * * *
Faolan landed softly outside of his father’s rooms just after nightfall. In his anxiousness to see his son again, he had flown hard and fast, ignoring both the ache in his wings and the burning in his lungs. Exhausted and wild eyed, he stumbled into his father’s rooms, said a few quick pleasantries to the man before he scooped his son into his arms.
He was hoping he wouldn’t have to see Celeste until he was feeling much stronger, but as luck would have it she was in his rooms waiting for him on the bed. In dragon form as he was, she was small and fast, but barely a concern for someone of his size and experience. The sleeping baby in his arms though would have been an easy target for her.
She swayed as she approached him, her head down and her wings tight against her body. She hummed low in her throat, inviting him to bed as she rubbed against him. He bared his teeth to her, rejecting her advances. She tried again, but he turned from her, ignoring her as he laid Sebastian amongst his many pillows. He forced his shift back to his human form. It took time and energy that he didn’t have as hot pain shot through his already burning muscles. But he preferred to hold his son as a man rather than worrying about hurting him as a dragon.
From across the room, Celeste wrinkled her nose at him and snorted in disgust. She had often told him humans smelled foul and he was disgusting for wanting to bed her as a human on the rare occasions when he approached her. She gave in, but she resisted his touch and told him how foul that awful that form was and how it disgusted her, even as he shared his bed with her.
Brushing all of that aside, Faolan looked to his perfect son and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead before sleep claimed him. In his dreams, he thought of Isabelle and the life they could have had together if things had been different.
Chapter Eight
It shouldn’t have surprised Zorin that Isabelle had wanted to get married as soon as possible. As she had explained it to him the night before, she wanted to end that part of her life with Faolan as quickly and surely as possible and marriage certainly could do that for her. As usual he felt like he was being led around by the women in his life. He was thankful he would never have a daughter to further lead him into destruction.
He was dressed simply in a soft shirt and a pair of loose pants that tied low over his hips. His shirt was slim against his body and the blue fabric was a nice change from his normal black attire. His pants though were the same comfortable black ones he often wore. He left his feet bare and brushed his unruly black hair away from his face. With a short puff of air, he attempted to push the last strand off the bridge of his nose.
He briefly considered using a flare of his magic to will away his wings, but instead left them out. He flexed them gently, fluffing up the feathers that were still damp from his morning bath. They were black, as usual, but he didn’t mind the color as much as he used to.
With a few quick strides, he leapt from his balcony window and flew the short distance to the clearing where he knew Isabelle and his mother would be waiting for him. He kept low to the ground, the tips of his long wings just barely gliding over the tops of trees. With his wings still damp, his landing was far more abrupt than he would have liked and he found himself cringing as he landed on a twig with his bare feet. Fortunately no one had seen.
He walked the through the dense trees to the small grassy area his mother had picked for their wedding. He resented that she had chosen this clearing over any other. This small scrap of grass was where he had watched the only woman he had ever loved give her heart to another man. But he plastered a smile on his face and approached the gathered people. As he caught sight of Isabelle, his smile turned almost genuine in appreciation for her beauty.
She would never be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but she had a way of capturing his attention and holding his gaze. The year in the mountains had added curves to her lithe body and the green dress she wore took full advantage of those lush curves. A gold ribbon tied under her breasts and looped over her neck, holding the dress up and otherwise leaving the creamy skin of her shoulders and upper back bare to the light touch he ran over her as he moved to take his spot at her side. Her hair was up and although he preferred it down and flowing about her in wild curls, the loose tendrils that were purposefully left free to curl over her shoulders appealed to him as well.
She caught him watching, staring really, and blushed. His mother had been talking to her and they carried on in hushed tones as Zorin surveyed the people gathered. Caden was there of course and he gave the boy a nod. Meggie stood near him and while he would have expected her attention to be on his mother, her queen, he was surprised to see the young girl’s focus solely on the boy at her side though Caden seemed unaware of her interest. There were a few others, some Angelus and some human, that he paid little attention to. Etana and Riordan were not in attendance, but that was unsurprising considering what a rushed matter this wedding had been.
His eyes caught on a pair of shimmering gold wings and the woman who stood near the back of the small crowd. She only had eyes for him and it warmed him in a way Isabelle’s attention never had. Rhiannon was his mother’s best friend and she had been his friend for centuries. Once upon a time they had been more and they had spoken of being so again. If that came about he would tell Isabelle at once, but their marriage would hardly be one of love and endless devotion to each other. They had spoken of having affairs and he would be discreet as he knew she would as well.
Rhiannon gave him a teasing smile and ran her tongue over her full lips. She was toying with him, Zorin knew, reminding him of what he once had willingly but through his own stupidity had lost. It hadn’t been so many years since he had pushed her away for the last time, a decade or two at most. She would come to forgive him eventually he was sure.
Isabelle’s hand on his shoulder pulled his attention back to her and he offered her an apologetic smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rhiannon sit on one of the provided chairs and begin talking to another Angelus. His wings were a bright gold, just as pure as she was. But she looked bored with the polite conversation and soon her attention returned to Zorin. He preened under her constant, hungry gaze.
Is that her? Isabelle’s voice was like ice water to his desire. But it shouldn’t have been. Turning back to her, Zorin saw only curiosity in her soft gaze as she considered the other woman. She even gave Rhiannon a little, discreet wave, which Rhiannon returned after a moment of startled hesitation.
Zorin nodded, his mind tumbling over the realization that Isabelle really was as accepting of their arrangement as she had said she was. It was head clearing in its simplicity. He really would be the king consort and Isabelle would be the queen. And Rhiannon, beautiful, regal, Rhiannon, would be content with that. Someday, if she still wanted him, he would make her his bride in a century or two.
But he would take what Isabelle was offering now. They needed each other and their arrangement was perfect for them both.
The wedding was quick and simple. The formalities were observed, as they always were, and Amalthea said a few quiet words over them both to bless their marriage. She said that she hoped for a fruitful union and that it would continue peace throughout Feeorin. Both Isabelle and Zorin agreed and then they were led out of the clearing with a happily smiling Amalthea. Isabelle was loaded into a small carriage with Caden and they were taken the short distance to their new
home.
“That was it?” Caden asked after a few moments.
Isabelle nodded. “Yes.”
“Didn’t seem like much,” Caden scoffed. “I was expecting a party, a grand ceremony, or something. That was a group of people we didn’t know and Amalthea speaking in whispers to you and Zorin.”
She ruffled his hair before giving him a tight hug. “That’s how we wanted it though. Simple and short.”
“Seemed cold,” Caden said.
Isabelle shrugged and settled into the plush cushions. “It wasn’t what I would have liked for a wedding with love in it, but there was no love here.”
“Just like with Faolan,” Caden said before he could stop himself. Isabelle stiffened beside him and he instantly mumbled out an apology but she waved him off.
“It was what it was,” she whispered. “And it’s done now.”
Caden nodded and remained quiet for the rest of the ride.
An hour later Isabelle knew the moment they were coming toward the small manor. The road had narrowed and the trees were overgrown, but there was a quiet peace to the forest. The carriage turned slightly with the dirt road and the estate came slowly into view. She saw the well-worn stables first, their stone walls weathered and their roofs lightened from years in the sun.
“It looks old,” Caden said as he looked at the small buildings, storage sheds, she guessed across from the stables.
Isabelle nodded. It did look old. At least a few decades if not longer. But the pasture for the horses and livestock looked as if it had recently had a new fence put in. She could see the original holes where an older fence stood, but there was fresh dark dirt around the posts. She ignored it as the manor house itself came into view. It was smaller than she imagined for a summer home for the royalty of Feeorin. It looked to have no more than two bedrooms, if that. But there was ivy going up the side and the walkway looked well cared for. It had obviously been loved once. She could easily imagine children running over the green grass, laughing and smiling as they played. They wouldn’t be her children of course. But maybe Caden would have some in a good number of years.
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