Public displays of affection were perfectly normal among the gentry, but I had never made any secret of my disdain for them. I’d always rejected them, no matter how much Dorian tried to coax me. Right now, I really didn’t care who was watching. It was actually kind of a surprise that he was the one who pulled back from the kiss, though his grip on me didn’t lessen at all.
“This,” he said, “might be the most astonishing thing that’s happened in a while.”
I gazed up at him, momentarily caught in the green of his eyes that our children were already starting to inherit. “I missed you,” I said simply.
His lips twisted into a smile. “Even so, I’m not quite sure what I’ve done to deserve a welcome like that.”
“What haven’t you done?” I asked, echoing his constant “What wouldn’t I do for you?” rhetoricals.
“Um, Your Majesty ...”
Muran’s voice was tremulous, and glancing over, I saw he was dangerously close to falling into the water. Dorian studied my face a few moments longer before finally turning to see what his servant wanted. “Eh? Oh, that.” With an impatient gesture, Dorian sent a whole set of rocks across the water, completing the path. Muran sprinted across it, sagging with visible relief when he reached the other side. Dorian returned his attention to me.
“I wasn’t sure if you were coming back,” he said. “I figured you had a lot to occupy you in the human world.”
I smiled back. “Yup. But I have a lot to occupy me here too.”
“So I see.” Dorian traced my cheek and then touched the edge of my crown. “Jeans and emeralds. Quite the fashion statement.”
“Story of my life,” I said. “I don’t think I can give up either world. And I can’t give you up either.”
“Well, of course not,” he scoffed, as though I had just said the most absurd thing in the world. “Who could?”
I silenced any more witty Dorian quips with another kiss. His court sighed happily, as though it were the best thing they’d ever seen. It was certainly one of the best things I’d experienced in a while. My life was split by two worlds, but he kept me whole. Lost in his arms and his kiss, I could see a whole glorious future with him. The secret of Isaac and Ivy burned within me, and I regretted that dishonesty. At the same time, now that I was with him again, I had serious doubts about whether I’d actually be able to keep the truth from him. Dorian was kind of irresistible.
Whatever decisions I made, however, would be because I chose them. I chose to be with him. I chose to be an Arizona shaman. I chose to be Queen of Rowan and Thorn. My future was mine.
And not some prophecy’s.
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Copyright © 2012 by Richelle Mead
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Shadow Heir: A Dark Swan Novel#4 Page 37