“Mm. Perhaps you should take the night off, love. You’ve been working harder than usual lately. Take a little time for yourself away from this place. Spend a bit of time in Elfhame with your family.”
“I can’t.”
“And why the hell not? I have the bar handled, Aengus is performing tonight, and our new servers know the floor better than you do. We have you covered, and we can cover your absence for as long as you like.”
Nimue sighed. “I hate when you’re right.”
“But I usually am. Go. I relieve you of duty. I think you deserve a nice long soak in a bubble bath. Maybe even a massage.”
“You say that as if it will go uninterrupted. Besides, where am I going to get a massage at midnight?”
A hush fell over the normally cacophonous lounge filled with the conversation of five or six dozen supernatural guests, though the tranquil notes of Aengus at the piano and his enchanted string quartet continued.
The air changed. It charged with something familiar, and a tickle at the back of her mind recognized something different.
It was almost as if her bond with Arthur had reignited, a banked hearth suddenly combusted by a hellacious fireball. Once dying cinders arose in a majestic inferno of energy and breathed life into something long dead. Her throat burned hot as it had that day he infused her with part of his dragon spirit.
Nimue snapped her head toward the sudden energy signature darkening the threshold of her lounge, unwilling to believe what her soul experienced until her eyes beheld the sight. Dressed better than the tattered garments of his other self, Arthur Drakenstone strode forward toward her with a smile on a handsome face lacking the weariness of a decade battling Titans. A dark shirt hugged his broad shoulders but highlighted every muscle, with sleeves rolled up above his elbows to reveal the extraordinary definition of his massive biceps.
Her heart forgot how to beat. The whole while that she watched his approach, the members of her lounge began to whisper in hushed voices. Nimue hadn’t seen him aside from the occasional glimpse of him in the television, on a magazine cover, or in the newspaper headlines. Due to their actions over twenty years ago, he’d become more than a national hero. The world loved him.
Nimue loved him, too, but it had been for the best that she stayed away. It would be too strange to visit his younger self and see him as a child.
“Arthur?” Instinctively, she reached toward him only to pause and remember he wasn’t her Arthur. He couldn’t be unless Merlin bent time again somehow. Given the tongue-lashing the wizard received, she doubted it. It wouldn’t do to be so familiar with him. He’d earned his title and respect. “My mistake. King Arthur. Excuse my slip of the tongue.”
He only chuckled in his low and sensual baritone. Pleasant tingles ignited all the way to the bottom of her belly. “Good evening, Nimue.”
She stared at him, unblinking, only to realize she must have come off like a half-wit before she hastily curtsied. “A pleasure to meet you again in this form. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Your Majesty?”
“I find that I am without a special gift this particular lifetime and came here in search of it.”
“Oh?” His words dashed her blossoming hope. He’d only come for fae magic and trinkets. “I would be honored to assist.” She meant every word.
“I’d hoped you would say that.”
Before Nimue could respond, his strong hands were framing her face and his lips were on her. She melted into it willingly, torn between desire and rising confusion.
In all their other first meetings, he’d never greeted her with so much passion.
It was the second time Nimue never wanted a kiss between them to end. The first time had been the evening his other self returned to his proper timeline.
The low murmurs of conversation continued while Aengus played a score that swelled with a dramatic crescendo.
After what could have been an entire lifetime in itself, the kiss finally ended, and Arthur left his brow touching hers. “You’re every bit as beautiful as I remember.”
“I don’t understand. You said you came for a gift.”
“I did. You gave your heart to me, and I’m here to reclaim it.”
It isn’t possible. Nimue’s heart and senses warred with everything she knew regarding the disruption of time. “How do you know that? Did Astrid and Galahad tell you?” She certainly hadn’t told anyone, especially the dragons in his family, her only contact with them an occasional call to Astrid asking after his well-being. “You don’t remember any of that.”
“Nim, love, whoever said that I don’t remember a thing?”
“What?”
“If you never forgive me in entirety, I will have earned it,” he whispered against her cheek.
Nimue’s heart pounded, close to leaping into her throat. “But how? You were a baby.”
“I certainly was, and now I am a man in love and here to take what is mine, Nimue. Once, I asked you to be my queen. Will you uphold that promise.”
“I…I would answer, but I’m waiting to awaken from this dream,” she whispered, gazing into eyes the vibrant green of a faerie meadow. “If you’re truly my Arthur, tell me how.”
“Strange things happen when one dabbles with fate and time, Nimue. The me that went back in time no longer existed, but those memories and destiny didn’t disappear entirely. Not quite. It’s like a touch of déjà vu, giving me memories of things I didn’t witness or experience.”
“Our bond, though. I never bonded with you in this form? How did it survive the change in destiny?”
“I can only surmise that my soul remains unchanged after I shared a part of it with you. I don’t question it, but I’m fucking glad to have you again, Nim, my Queen of Avalon.”
The next time he kissed her, Nimue didn’t question it. She leaned into it and surrendered every ounce of the heart he’d already claimed.
When it ended, and the room came into focus again, she realized they had become the entertainment of the night, and too many sets of eyes were on them. Her face heated.
“Now, are you ready for that break, boss?”
“More than ready.” Nimue peered at her dear friend. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Maaaaybe.” Saoirse’s wide grin gave her away.
“I might have given her a call and poked around a little,” Arthur admitted.
“Mm.”
“Now go on. Shoo. Both of you,” Saoirse said with an exaggerated wink before ushering them away toward the stairwell. With each step, Nimue’s heart fluttered more.
She had so much to speak to him about.
She had so many questions to ask.
More importantly, she had even more to share.
“If you don’t mind,” she said as she invited him within her suite, “I’d like to take you on a visit to Elfhame. For just a moment. There’s something—”
A piercing cry cut through her words, startling Nimue as much as Arthur. She blinked and whirled toward the nursery.
Her child had been safely left in Elfhame with her mother and father for the summer to be doted on by two grandparents who loved her.
Of course they’re involved. When are they not?
Despite the fleeting irritation with her busybody parents, her heart filled with warmth and love for them.
“What’s that?” Arthur asked as she separated from him and started down the hallway.
“Follow me and see.”
Though she’d never admit it to her father, the nursery benefited from his lingering, fragile thread of a connection to the summer court and its magic. As a gift to her in the year before Nimue gave birth, he swooped in, waved his hands, and unleashed a tide of magic, turning the baby’s room into a forest glade.
In his words, “She’s far too precious to be smothered by the cold, Nimue.”
Morrigan awaited them in a living crib fashioned from twisted branches of silver oak. A bed of plush moss formed her mattress, and blossoming flowers dangled o
verhead from a twig serving as the mobile.
In her biased opinion, her daughter was the most beautiful child to ever grace the mortal realm. Her father’s blasted summer red hair covered her adorable head in flame-hued curls, but her eyes belonged to Arthur.
“Hello, my darling,” Nimue cooed as she swept in and lifted the chunky baby from the crib. When she turned to Arthur to present the baby, he stared at her, mystified.
“You had a child during my absence?” His expression underwent several transformations, anger and astonishment warring against the slow-dawning understanding in his eyes as he made eye contact with his daughter. “Mine?”
Nimue nodded. She hadn’t hidden the child so much as protected her, raising the little girl in Elfhame and part-time in the mortal realm. The whole while Arthur became himself again, she hadn’t wanted to trouble him with the responsibilities of fatherhood. She’d wanted him to enjoy the life the Titans stole from his other-self.
She’d wanted him to grow up to be the man she’d loved, a noble king and loyal friend.
“I...can’t believe it. You never told me—no one told me.”
“I didn’t realize until weeks after you were gone that I…I forgot to ask Aengus for a few loaner seeds of sylphium. By then, it was too late. I felt her stirring.”
“My mother has visited you.”
“She has. I asked her and the others to keep it to themselves until I spoke with you, Arthur. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to ruin this chance that you had to be happy with an actual family by presenting you with a baby you didn’t technically make. I thought the you I’d known was gone forever.”
His mystified expression and the unconcealed wonder in his eyes touched her heart as she placed the infant in his arms. “How is she so small? She should be at least twenty, what, twenty-two?”
Nimue bit her lower lip. “Seventeen by your human years. It was a long pregnancy.”
Arthur stared again.
“I birthed her in Elfhame, where she’s spent most of her life at the palace. I spend days here, but for her, I’m gone for mere hours.”
“Time flows differently for the fae.”
“Right.” Nimue dropped her chin slightly. “I suppose it was my reluctance to let her grow up without you. I didn’t want...for you to miss everything. I didn’t want her to ever wonder where you were.”
“She won’t,” Arthur said, quite softly, gazing down at the infant swaddled against him. Hugging her close, he closed his eyes and appeared to breathe her in. Then he drew Nimue close with his other arm. “Never. Neither of you will ever have to wonder where I am. My place is with you and will always be.”
“How touching,” one fae said over the rim of her wine glass before tossing a casual glance at her dining partner.
The other fae leaned away from the mezzanine rail and returned his gaze to her. “That was incredibly kind of you, my love, to grant them such a gift.”
“It was the right thing to do,” she replied lightly, wearing a soft smile on her plum-painted lips. “The only thing to do.”
“But why?” He tilted his head and gazed at her. When he reached across the table and touched her chin, raising her face to meet his eye contact, she merely purred.
“Does it matter why?”
“It is a matter of curiosity.”
“You know why, Oberon.”
“Perhaps I want to hear you say it.”
They cloaked their energy signals as only two of the most powerful fae in Elfhame could do, appearing to the magical eye to be no different from the rest of the commoners frequenting the Violet Hour. Slipping in beneath their daughter’s notice took no effort despite her many spells and protections.
After all, they had taught them to her, and they also knew how to cheat those protections.
“They deserved a second chance,” Mab admitted. “Just as you did. When I found you, you were a broken king without a throne and were it not for your second chance, I would not have her or you. I would not have had centuries of undeniable happiness.” Mab tilted her head to rest her cheek against his palm. “Does that please you?”
“Immensely.”
“Do you believe he’ll be a good father?”
“Absolutely. You’d have gutted him if you believed he would be anything less than suitable for our Morrigan. Now, let us go before someone notices us. I tire of hiding.”
Satisfied with their daughter’s happier future, the two faerie monarchs joined hands and faded from the Violet Hour, leaving the care of the mortal realm to its two new rulers, the King and Queen of Avalon.
The End
Turn the page for an important note from your authors.
Afterword
I can’t believe it’s over! Chronologically, this is the final book of every Vivienne Savage World novel! Thank you to everyone who followed me from Saved by the Dragon to this point. We have two final books to offer you to conclude Blood Heiress and Impractical Magic, and then we consider this chapter closed. It’s been wonderful. It’s been a dream to wind down this long series, and we have you to thank for your support.
I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as we loved writing it. Please feel free to check in and holler at us in our Facebook or Discords.
If this book was your first experience with us, we recommend you go back to the beginning with Dawn of the Dragons. We tried to knit up every plot line from across the many series. If we missed someone, we apologize, but we had quite the saga to complete!
We will also try to give you a fun freebie chapter in our newsletter if time permits, because boy do we have ideas for Arthur and Nimue’s wedding night.
Love ya all,
Nicole and Alisha
Other Books by Vivienne
If you loved the hell out of this and want to read another romance with fantasy elements, check Domino’s series, Daughter of Fortune.
For fantasy romance with mermaids and the like, read Kingdom in the Sea.
Sci-Fi Romance
Super Sexy Aliens, Cyborgs, Psychics.
Reverse Harem Romance
Three Greek gods, one reincarnated modern goddess
Divine Ambrosia
Divine Rival
Paranormal University
College has never been this exciting. Or hot.
The Hidden Court
The Scary Godmother
Birds of a Feather
Dragons
Loved by the Dragon
Smitten: Dawn of the Dragons #2
Crush on a Dragon: Dawn of the Dragons #3
God of Mischief: Dawn of the Dragons #4
Military Shifters
Hot and Wild military alphas
The Right to Bear Arms (Book #1)
Let Us Prey (Book #2)
The Purr-fect Soldier (Book #3)
Old Dog New Tricks (Book #4)
Texas Pride (Book #5)
A Man of Many Talons
Impractical Magic
Impractical Magic
Better Than Hex (Impractical Magic #2)
Blood Heiress
Blood Kissed
Werewolves of San Antonio
Training the Alpha
Mythological Creatures
Making Waves
Epic Fantasy by Dominique Kristine
Shadows for a Princess
A princess who would rather die than wed. A warrior priest who would rather kill than see her harmed. A kingdom of shadows and treachery that threatens them both...
At the age of twenty-eight, Princess Ysolde Westbrook is a spinster duchess, the adopted daughter of Hindera's eccentric monarch. Commoners love their benevolent leader, but the kingdom's gentry take offense to the outsider among them. Amid noble plots and demands for her to marry a local aristocrat, an assassination attempt places her life in peril--if she will not have one of them for a husband, they would sooner see her dead.
Finding allies in strangers with powerful gifts and even darker secrets, Ysolde must learn what it means to lead and fin
d her own inner strengths. Whether or not she survives the tangled web of treason will determine the fate of her duchy, the royal family, and the kingdom she loves.
About the Author
Vivienne Savage is the pen name of two best friends who write together. One works as a nurse in a rural healthcare home in Texas and the other is a U.S. Navy veteran. Both are mothers to two darling boys and two amazing girls.
All of their work varies in steam level, so pop by the VS website for details on which series is right for you!
For more information
www.viviennesavage.com
[email protected]
King of Avalon: a Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Rise of the Elder Gods Book 2) Page 16