Chapter 30
Caspian was ordered to rest for two more days, and I had to ask my father to move the meeting with Ana to their bedroom to stop him from reopening his stitches and trying to join us.
Mira had inspected his wings and, with a few minor adjustments that had both of us flinching in pain, declared that they would mostly heal.
“You may lilt to the right,” she warned, frowning at the wings. She pointed at a section with short, stubby feathers. “This bone has been broken too many times. There will likely be scarring in the tendons surrounding it.”
“What does that mean?” I asked anxiously.
“I’ll be fine, Urchin,” Caspian drawled, waving away my concerns. “I’ll adjust my flying to compensate.”
Mira didn’t argue, and I trusted her medical expertise more than Caspian’s, so I was satisfied.
“Maybe try not to break them again,” I suggested while patting his cheek condescendingly.
“An excellent suggestion,” Mira agreed as another knock sounded on the bedroom door.
Zephyr returned with Ana, books clutched to her chest and eyes wide as she took in the keep. Astraios and Sereia followed behind them, their hands not quite touching, but just barely brushing.
I added, ‘plan an adventure for my friend and her mate,’ to my growing list of tasks. That, and plan a coronation, reintegrate the sirens, bring Theia home, establish trade with Nordhavn, meet with the kelpies, and rule a kingdom.
Easy.
“Where’s the council?” I asked after greeting Ana with a hug.
“They’re coming,” Zephyr explained, keeping a protective arm around her mate. “Arctos and several of the older sirens stayed in the cliffs, but the other three came.”
“Good riddance,” Caspian joked as Ana threw her arms around him in a rather-too-forceful hug. He hissed in pain, which she completely ignored. “Let them rule themselves.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Zephyr warned. “They could cause us problems, Cas.”
“Then we’ll deal with them,” he murmured as Vitulus entered the room, followed by my parents, several scholars, three priestesses, who all bowed low to me—much to my chagrin—and their advisors.
Vitulus was pale and haggard, but his wound was healing. A pink scar marred his tattooed chest, and I wondered if he’d have to get them redone.
I was about to ask when Caspian’s council entered the room, Mesembria floating in on a wind, Eos stately and frowning, and Hesperus endlessly difficult to read.
Hesperus froze when he saw Vitulus, who stared back, eyes wide and lips parted.
Caspian grinned at Zephyr. “You owe me five gold coins.”
The meeting lasted well into the night, Ana sending Astraios out repeatedly to fetch different books and volumes for her. Sereia kept her eyes on Astraios, watching his every move, and Vitulus couldn’t seem to look away from Hesperus, but the rest of the selkies listened intently, asking questions and producing their own documents to corroborate or contradict the sirens’ records.
It was challenging to meet in a bedroom rather than the archives, as the scholars kept having to run out to retrieve new volumes, but we were able to patch together a fairly comprehensive narrative by the end of the night.
“It changes things,” my father said, looking pointedly at me. The silver crown was sitting on one of the tables next to the bed, and neither of us had mentioned it since the afternoon. “We will have to modify all of our teachings. As soon as possible.”
My mother nodded approvingly, giving my hand a squeeze. She had sat next to me for the whole meeting as if worried my father might change his mind, and her hand kept flying to mine whenever a new part of our history was revealed.
If I thought she was protective of me before, it had nothing on this.
“How soon can you make this known?” I asked, looking at Caspian. He had stayed quiet for most of the meeting, seeming content to let me lead it. “This is the first step in rebuilding trust between our people, especially those who weren’t on the beach.”
I wasn’t sure I trusted the scholars to write the revised history, but Ana was more than eager to oversee the project, and my father agreed to call a meeting of all the clan heads in the coming days to explain everything.
We decided that, at least for now, it was safest for the sirens to relocate to the cliffs on our island if they wished, giving the selkies time to adjust to their presence and the option to leave for another island or the mainland if they were unhappy.
“You did so well, my love,” my mother said as we finished the day’s work. It was only a few hours until dawn, and I was so tired I thought I might collapse as I stood and graciously accepted the departing bows from all present. “Your father has made a wise choice, I think.”
“Have you forgiven him, then?” I asked quietly, glancing to the hall where he waited for my mother.
“Not yet. I'll let him grovel for a few more days, I think.” She kissed my cheek, then stepped back and looked me over from head to toe. “I am sorry we didn’t get to witness your handfasting. Perhaps you can have another ceremony here? After the coronation, of course. That has to come first.”
“Mother, I cannot possibly think about that right now,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“I’ll take care of it,” Caspian groaned, rising from the couch and limping slightly as he made his way toward us. “And we’ll get out of your room as soon as we can. I’m sorry for the inconvenience we’ve caused you.”
My mother beamed up at Caspian, who towered over her only slightly less than he did me. To my great surprise, she lifted onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Keep the room,” she said, waving a hand dismissively at the bedchamber. “These are the quarters for the King and Queen.”
As I got ready for bed, my body aching with exhaustion, I began to overthink all of the plans we’d made.
“Do you think any of this will actually work?” I asked as I brushed my hair. I didn’t really have the energy for it, but it was soothing to do something so mundane.
“I heard them chanting your name from all the way up here, Urchin,” Caspian joked. “They’re not going to be unhappy.”
“It’s not going to be that simple,” I replied, sighing as I put down the comb and reached for the silver crown. It was far too big for me, but I held it atop my head anyway just to see.
My face was stark in the mirror, the silver making my eyes glow and my freckles brighten as my teal hair floated in a frizzy, unruly cloud around me. I shook my head and placed it back on the table.
“There are thousands of selkies who will need to be convinced. Thousands who will be afraid and confused, and who weren’t at the beach to witness what happened.”
“They felt the storms,” Caspian pointed out, lounging against the pillows with his hands behind his head. “Saw them stop. Word will spread. And if we can form alliances on the mainland, it will help. Flourishing trade tends to have that effect on people.”
“Right as we’re heading into winter.” I sighed. “We could have picked a better time of year.”
“We’ll ask the kelpies to help,” Caspian suggested. “And the sea dragons. Perhaps they will exchange fish for something. Hunting rights or lake rights, or something.”
I rolled my eyes at his eternal optimism. “What happened to the pirate who took what he wanted and offered no apologies?”
I rose from my chair and went toward the bed, standing just out of Caspian’s reach.
“What happened to the princess who wore pirate leathers so well?” Caspian teased, trying and failing to reach for my nightgown. “What is this horrible thing you keep wearing?”
“It’s a nightgown,” I laughed, realizing that the style was completely different than anything I had worn in the cliffs.
“It’s an obstacle to your perfect breasts,” he corrected. “One which I intend to remove.”
He snatched again at the fabric and I skittered away. “No defiling,” I chided.
“You heard your mother. The room is ours now.”
I skipped back another step as he reached again. “Mira said you need to rest for two more days.”
“Mira said I had to stay in bed,” Caspian corrected as I finally relented and let him catch the hem of my gown. He pulled me to him by the white fabric, his eyes glowing gold in the candlelight. “She didn’t specify that I had to be resting in said bed.”
“This feels very familiar,” I teased, crossing my arms over my chest as Caspian pulled me closer. “One of us injured. The other one begging.”
“And I do beg,” Caspian growled, winning the battle against the nightgown and tugging it so hard that it ripped at the seams. “I beg you to end my suffering and make love to me, mate.”
I had to pretend very hard to be annoyed. “That was my only nightgown,” I protested as Caspian pulled me to him, bare but for my hair covering my breasts.
“I’ll get you another,” Caspian growled, hands square on my hips as I kneeled beside him, his eyes darting to the patch of teal hair between my legs. “Better yet, I won’t. It’s a ridiculous garment.”
He brushed my hair aside and pressed his lips to my breast, his tongue flicking gently over a nipple. I gasped as he repeated the move on the other side, and he grinned against my breast.
“Still no defiling?” he asked, teasing my nipple with slow, torturous circles as his hands squeezed my hips. “You can be gentle.”
“Menace,” I hissed, his tongue still flicking over my tightened bud. “Mira will have my head.”
“She never needs to know.” He pulled me over him, groaned, and rethought his plan. “Perhaps I need to be on top.”
“Perhaps you need to be resting,” I suggested, annoyed that he’d worked me up.
“Nonsense,” he argued, biting his lip as he took in my naked form. “I know.”
He tossed the pillows, throwing them to the floor, and shimmied down the mattress with a faint hiss of pain. I raised my brow, not even trying to hide my judgment.
“Come here,” he said, motioning to the empty space above his head.
“Where?” I laughed. “Your face?”
“Exactly.” He grinned. “It’s been too long since I tasted you, Marina. Sit on my face, and let me feast.”
I gaped, trying to ignore the delicious squirming in my gut that thought this was an excellent idea.
“I’ll crush you!”
“You won’t.”
“You’ll suffocate.”
“I promise you, I won’t.”
“I’ll hurt you!”
“Urchin,” Caspian growled, pushing himself up on an elbow and wincing at the movement. “Get over here now, or I will rip my stitches and get you myself.”
I bit my bottom lip, stepping closer. “This is a terrible idea.”
“It’s an excellent idea. Stop arguing.”
I could feel his need and desire thrumming in my own chest, our bond taut with anticipation. My resistance wavered.
“Promise to stop me if anything hurts,” I commanded, kneeling on the mattress next to Caspian’s wing. He shifted so I wouldn't crush them with my knees.
“I promise,” he said, holding out his arms eagerly for me.
“Seas,” I sighed, deciding that I may as well show him how badly this would go. I cautiously positioned my knees on either side of his head, lowering myself gingerly and gripping the headboard for support.
Caspian made a faint noise of discomfort as I put pressure on his injured chest, and I immediately tried to rise.
He banded an arm around my hips, pulling me down and preventing me from moving as his tongue met my center.
I gasped, his desire a heady drumbeat through my body as the bond took over, magnifying each sensation.
Rain began to patter on the outside of the keep as I felt my insides go molten.
“The storm,” I gasped.
“Will pass,” Caspian murmured under me, “when you come.”
I moaned as Caspian found the bud between my legs and circled it with his tongue, sucking gently in time with the rolls of thunder that had joined the rain.
“Will this happen every time?” I asked, squeezing my breast with one hand while I reached for the headboard with the other.
“Skies, I hope so,” Caspian replied, his voice muffled as he kissed my inner thigh. “Stop talking now, Urchin.”
Caspian, either through sheer skill or because of the bond, knew every place I wanted to be touched as soon as the desire crossed my mind. He held me firm against him, his tongue sweeping in and out of me as my pleasure grew. The creaking of the bed joined the rumbling of the storm outside as I moaned and rocked against him, my concerns about his injuries fading away as release shimmered in me. I heard the waves crashing against the rocks of the keep as ecstasy spiraled out of me and I moaned, shuddering above my mate as he licked every last drop of pleasure.
“Seas,” I breathed as the rain lessened and the thunder made a final rumble over the isles. “That’s mighty inconvenient. It’s like a signal to anyone who knows that it happens.”
“I like it,” Caspian said, pulling me down carefully until I was positioned over his hips, his length hard and already damp with desire. “I like that the whole world knows I’m claiming you.”
“Scoundrel,” I snorted. “I don’t want to hurt you.” I tried to position my hands in a way that wouldn’t injure his shoulder further.
He pulled my chest flush against his and kissed me, arms wrapping tight against me and forcing me to relax my body completely. “You won’t,” he assured me. “Now let me fuck you, mate.”
He slid into me as his lips crashed against mine again, desire too heady a drug to be long denied. It was slow and gentle, this lovemaking, but not only by necessity. It was a re-exploration of each other after days apart. After facing the knowledge that there might not be another chance to be with each other this way again.
When the storm grew again to rattle the windows, I followed Caspian in his release. Spent, I panted against his neck as he held me fast, like he feared the world might still take me from him.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, fighting the urge to light more candles and check all of his stitches.
“I’m perfect,” he rumbled, his breath hot against my ear as he held me. I felt down the bond, not completely convinced he was telling the truth. There were some small aches and hurts, yes, but nothing severe, and I relaxed into him. “Marina.”
“What?” I asked, sliding off him so that my head rested on his shoulder. He groaned slightly as I shifted, his wings paining him no matter which way he lay.
Finally finding a comfortable position, Caspian tilted my face toward his into the darkness. “You’re going to make a magnificent queen.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, eyes darting to the crown left on the table.
Caspian chuckled as if he knew exactly what I had done. “Because I watched you today. The way you spoke to your father’s advisors, ordered them around. You told me that females were not seen as equals in the isles, but that’s not what I saw today. And if this is day one of your rule, then I can only imagine what years of it will bring.”
I blushed at his praise. “Technically it was day zero, since I haven’t been crowned yet.”
Caspian laughed again and kissed the top of my head. “Then we’d better make sure to address that problem with haste.”