Chapter 74
It was strange not being the one carrying the tray of food. Aegir and I made our way back to his room in silence. The second Aegir closed the door behind us, he said, “I’m so proud of you,” just as I blurted, “I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry? What are you sorry for?” he asked with a creased brow.
“Galen, he—he died in my stead,” I replied, my lips turning wobbly. “He shouldn’t have.”
Aegir set the tray on the coffee table. “All right, come with me.” He grabbed hold of my hand and walked us towards the bedroom.
He removed my coat, leaving me with a silky blue mini-dress that moulded to the soft curves of my body.
Aegir blinked, as if he wasn’t the one who fetched me the clothes.
He kicked off his boots, then sat on the bed, his back resting against the furry headboard.
With a reaching hand, he pulled me onto him.
I wrapped my legs around one of his and nestled my face against his chest. He caressed my cheek and pressed a kiss on my forehead before murmuring to me, “Tell me about him.”
I had to suck in a breath before starting, already holding back tears.
“The first memory I have of Galen is him kneeling in front of my mother. He swore the oath of tears. It was the day he became our personal guard and Captain of the Vanguard of Water. My father was often busy with his teachings and so I spent most of my mornings with Galen. Him and his training.” Aegir let out a small huff through upturned lips.
Then my eyes prickled. I swallowed. “On my tenth birthday, when Naar attacked us, I remember my mother, Galen, and a dark woman—a witch—holding me down against the table. I fought so hard. The only moment I stilled was when I watched Galen shifting into my form, his brown eye turning blue. I remember going to sleep as a wild-hearted girl—who believed she could take the Fire King down all by herself—and waking up as a scared and lonely child bearing the surname of the person I once was. Aegir, he—he sacrificed himself for me. I wish he didn’t. I’m sorry.”
Aegir wiped away my tears. “Cordelia, you don’t have to be sorry.
None of what happened is your fault. I always thought of Galen as my brother, and now—now that I know he sacrificed himself to spare the life of my soulbound, I have never felt so grateful.
” He pulled me closer. My face snuggled against his neck.
“All this time…we always wondered what happened to him, wondered if he was truly dead or somewhere out there, suffering day and night. You gave us the answer to that, and now we can ease our pain. Aunt Emika can finally have closure.”
“Aegir, I—I may have upset your aunt.”
“Oh, I know.”
“You do?” I asked, daring to peek at his face.
“Mmhmm. Eldric and I stopped by on our journey north. Eldric couldn’t shift. We got caught up in a bad storm, so we sought shelter there for a couple of nights. My beloved aunt welcomed me in her home with a slap on the head, demanding to know what was wrong with me.”
“Oh,” I said, hiding my face beneath his own. I pursed my lips, suppressing the start of a laugh that I felt building up.
“But don’t worry, she took your side. Even after explaining that it was just a misunderstanding.”
“She deserves to know. We must tell her,” I whispered, lifting my face once more.
“We will,” Aegir assured me, brushing his lips against my forehead.
“Tell me something else,” he whispered, nuzzling his face against mine before tightening his grip on my waist.
And so I did. I told him something else, then another, and another. I told him everything—from Elara Briartide to Cordelia Wildheart, from princess to servant, and from servant to queen.
I told him everything.
He smiled whenever I laughed and wiped my tears whenever I cried. Then he just held me tight, brushing my hair with his fingers.
After a while, he whispered near my ear, “I have some things for you.”
“Things?” I asked, lifting my face.
“Mmhmm.” He covered me with a blanket and lifted us both off the bed, then carried me into the sitting room. I snuggled beneath the blanket with my legs folded beneath me and watched Aegir place a bag on the sofa. When he untied the lace and pulled it open, I almost yelped.
My beautiful bow, the cry-for-war, and my book—Against the Tide.
I hugged the bow against my chest. “You brought them with you,” I breathed.
I placed the bow at my side and let the blanket fall on the sofa before rising to my feet.
I lifted myself onto my tiptoes and smacked a kiss on Aegir’s cheek.
“Thank you…I left them behind because they were very important to me, not because they weren’t. ”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get the red dress.”
“It’s all right. I don’t need a dress to remind me of the day you claimed me. You knew I was your soulbound then, but not before.”
He held my hands and sat down on the other sofa, pulling me onto his lap, my knees set astride. My hands went to his face and his went around my waist.
“Cordelia, if your scent hadn’t been masked, I would have known who you were to me the night you brought me the towels.
I admit that I couldn’t get you out of my head, but I thought that it was only because you were strikingly beautiful.
Without a scent and with a clever mind, I suspected you were a Naari spy.
I can’t believe I hurt my own soulbound…
and I let that son of a bitch hurt you. I’m so sorry. ”
“I’m not.”
My reply confused him. “You’re not?”
“Well, I simply cannot imagine myself missing the opportunity to call you a merciless brute. And besides, I saw you unclothed when I brought you the towels—I, too, couldn’t get you out of my head.”
“You’re wicked.”
“You’re a brute.”
Aegir poked his fingers along my ribs, causing me to squirm and giggle. But then he grabbed hold of my back and hugged me so tight.
“Falling in love with you was terrifying, you know,” Aegir admitted, loosening his grip so that I could look at him.
“It was?”
“Whenever I fantasised about meeting my soulbound, I always thought that it would be my soul falling first, then my heart and body to follow—not the other way round. But the moment I entered that stable, I—I knew I had fallen.” He grazed my cheek.
“I had always wished that I would get to meet my soulbound—not everyone gets to have that, you know. But the second I laid eyes on you that afternoon, my wish changed. I wished for my soulbound to be you. And the most frightening thing was that without your scent, I couldn’t sense how you felt about me—hell, how you felt about anything.
And the thoughts of you hating me, or worse… fearing me…I—”
I traced my thumbs along his jawline.
“I do not fear you one bit, Aegir Hailin. And if you knew the thoughts I had about you, you wouldn’t have needed to worry in the slightest.”
“Oh,” Aegir cooed, interest sparking in his eyes. “What kind of thoughts?”
“Mmm, a queen never tells.”
“Oh, come on,” he said with nothing but mischief. “Then at least tell me one good one.”
My cheeks blushed. “Let’s just say that I thought about you whenever I…you know.”
“Whenever you touched—” he asked, looking down at my spread legs.
“Mmhmm.”
“Show me.”
“What?”
“Show me,” he repeated, biting on his lower lip as he pulled down the strings of my silky nightdress.
He reached for my wrist and slowly lowered my right hand all the way down.
Then he pulled me close, exploring my breasts with his tongue, teeth, and mouth.
I used my free hand to help him pull down his trousers, undershorts and all.
“Fuck, Cordelia,” he groaned against my neck.
“Mmhmm.”
I breathed heavily against his chest as we lay sprawled across the sofa. Blood trickled down my arm, now dried; the fresh marks on my shoulder healed. I both lowered and lifted my nightdress, adjusting its straps over my shoulders. The jar of water, I noticed, was undisturbed.
Wait, did I unknowingly control my powers?
“You did good today,” Aegir said, smiling. He tucked a strand of stray hair away from my face. “Day one as queen and you literally destroyed my brother.”
“I did not literally destroy your brother. He was in one piece the last time I saw him. And oh, his finger, really?” Our chests rumbled against each other as we giggled.
Then my voice turned quiet. “It makes more sense now, don’t you think? That your god chose a queen for you and not a servant.”
I had barely finished my sentence—he had already pulled us up into a sit.
“Look at me.” I looked. “Whether you’re Cordelia Wildheart who reads stories to a mare named Cinnamon or Queen Elara Briartide, ruler of Ilma, you are worthy of me just the same.”
“I miss her terribly.”
“We’ll make sure you’ll see her again. When it’s time to go back south, you’re coming with me. I never want you to leave my side.”
Then I told him what I hadn’t told anyone in over ten years. “I love you.”
He grazed my jaw and pressed a soft kiss on my lips. “I love you.”