57. Long Live the King
57
LONG LIVE THE KING
*Kieran*
I run my thumb nervously over the back of Raven’s hand as Fleming, the royal healer, looks her over in his study. The wizened old man mumbles to himself as he works but never anything I can understand. My heart pounds. I will not have gone through all of this to lose my wife at the end. I will fight the Goddess herself, if that is what it takes.
She squeezes my hand, just as strong as usual. She doesn’t seem much weakened, other than the sudden burst of vomiting.
“Mm-hmm!” Fleming sits back with a sharp nod. “Just like I thought.”
“What is it?” I spend all my willpower not biting the little man’s head off.
He grins. “Your lady wife is pregnant.”
I can’t imagine five more perfect words.
* * *
Three days later, I stand at the foot of the throne dais, staring up at the towering, moonstone chairs that have symbolized power all my life. One for the Alpha King, one for his Luna Queen. And by the end of today, they will be in good hands for the first time since the kingdom was created. I take a deep breath and glance at Raven next to me. She shines in her coronation dress, but she looks a little unsteady, like she often has since her first bout of morning sickness. It seems her pregnancy won’t be an easy one, but I know my wife is strong. I’m not worried.
A holy woman from Escuro, Aylin, raises her hands. “Today, we gather to crown the Alpha King and Luna Queen of Dun’s Crossing. This is not my land, but the moon shines the same on all lands, and so does the Goddess.” She smiles. “Or they will from this day forth.”
Slightly nervous chuckles fill the room. Behind us, people of both packs mingle, trying to overcome years of fighting.
“Kieran Solberg, first of his name.” She looks to me. “You have claimed this throne by right of blood and combat. Which do you believe gives it to you truly?”
I blink. The Escurian ceremony is different from ours, from the words I’ve spent my whole life practicing. But Raven squeezes my hand, and I know the answer.
“Combat.” My voice rings through the hall, proud and true. “This land, these people, were led by a king who was not honoring them. I may be his son, but I’ve earned the right to lead them by saving them from that fate.”
Aylin smiles softly. “And how will you lead?”
This is the answer I know, and I realize Aylin is giving a blended ceremony, as much Escuro as Dun’s Crossing. Exactly what we need.
“Bravely as my wolf. Proudly as my ancestors. Steadily as the moon in the sky.”
She looks at Anwen, on her left. Were my father stepping down, he would do this part. Instead, it feels right for the brother I’ve worried about my whole life to drape my silvery royal robe around my shoulders.
‘Maybe not as proudly as all our ancestors ,’ he says through the mind-link.
I smirk. The heavy fabric settles over me, a reminder of the duty I’ve sworn to uphold. Anwen steps back, and Aylin turns to Raven.
“You have claimed this throne by right of mating, but you were raised as blood. What do you believe gives it to you truly?”
Raven swallows. “I think… I wasn’t raised as blood. I was raised as nothing. So I know firsthand the cruelty that people outside of Dun’s Crossing have known for years.” She nods. “That’s what gives me the right. That, and my desire to change it.”
Aylin inclines her head. “And how will you lead?”
Raven answers with the words I taught her just this morning. “Bravely as my wolf. Proudly as my ancestors. Steadily as the moon in the sky.”
Candace steps forward with Raven’s royal robe, which we had to have made special for the occasion. The robes match the pelts of our king and queen, and centuries of silver, white, and gray had no space for my wife. Instead, she glows in jet black, embroidered all over with jagged lightning strikes in the same silver and blue as the flecks of her eyes. A new robe for a new day in Dun’s Crossing. Aylin gestures us to the thrones, and we sit. The power of the moonstone courses through me.
“May the Moon Goddess bless and keep you,” Aylin says. “And may we all raise our voices in honor of Alpha King Kieran Solberg and Luna Queen Raven Blake of Dun’s Crossing!”
Howls split the air just as easily as a grin splits my face. I kiss my wife.
With the ceremony over, we leave the throne room for the ballroom next door, already decorated in a striking blend of Dun’s Crossing silvers and Escurian blacks. Raven and I proceed to the middle of the floor and lead the first dance. She fits so neatly in my arms, and I can’t help but wonder if this is why Mother and Father forced us to have separate dance lessons so long ago. Other couples flood the floor, and an air of celebration fills the room. We’re done being somber. There’s no more fighting to do, no more enemies to conquer. Nessa chose to remain in the palace after Raven’s threat, but she sulks along the wall, not saying a word. Mother remains in the—at Raven’s request—much better tended dungeons, where I imagine she’ll be for the rest of her days. There is peace in the kingdom.
I dip Raven and see King Cole and Queen Delaney spinning over to us.
“Mind if I cut in?” King Cole asks. “I’ll offer you my partner in exchange.”
“How could I refuse?” I pass Raven into her father’s arms and accept her mother into mine.
Queen Delaney is a brilliant dancer, despite how long her people spent underground, I quickly learn. She puts me through my paces and chuckles kindly every time I stumble.
“Is this how things are going to be?” I grumble. “You and King Cole laughing every time Raven and I stumble in our leadership?”
“Never.” She smiles. “This partnership is only until my husband and I decide we tire of leading. Then, all of Dun’s Crossing and Escuro are yours. We’ll teach you, not laugh at you.”
“Then start by teaching me that complicated little weaving thing you’re doing with your feet,” I challenge.
Queen Delaney rises to it, like I knew she would, and the party blurs into a series of feasting, dance partners, and laughter. As the night starts to grow old, I finally find myself dancing with Raven again. She looks tired, but she’s still smiling like everything is right in the world, and I struggle to disagree.
“Well?” I ask.
“Well what?” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Are you ready to lead, my queen?”
She laughs. “I have no idea. But I know I can do better than your mother, and you can do better than your father.”
“That, I won’t deny.” I kiss her. She arcs up into me, hungry, and my body responds. “Do you think they’d notice if we left?”
She giggles against my mouth. “As far as I’m aware, the Escurian ceremony is over. What about Dun’s Crossing?”
I grimace and pull back. “I owe them a final speech.”
Raven runs a finger over my lower lip. “Well? Who are you going to disappoint?”
Her touch burns through me. “You’ve taught me the value of compromise, my love.”
I hook an arm under her knees and lift her into my arms, then bellow, “I am your king, and I will do right by you, but now, I need to do right by my wife!”
Laughter chases us out of the ballroom as I carry my impossible mate up to our room.