26. Merrick
26
MERRICK
A s the beast led us down the shore-front streets of Evergorne, a feeling of vulnerability crept through me. As always, the city was a patchwork of vibrant colors and content souls.
Something had changed within me.
As we passed, a few people paused to watch, smiles brightening their faces, especially when their gazes landed on Reyla. My heart raced at their cheers, and both excitement and embarrassment flooded me.
It had never hit me like this before, how odd it was to have people cheering me. The weight of my crown was a constant reminder of the burden I carried to benefit us all. Now Reyla—my wildfire—sat beside me, and everything felt new and different, as if I was seeing it through her eyes and not my own. The way she smiled and returned their gazes with a sweet charm made me realize how much more there was to her new role and the one I'd taken on when I was ten. I saw myself as me, a male determined to do the best he could for those around him, but they saw me as a ruler, one who dispensed law and a smile with equal justice.
For the first time, I didn't feel like one of them but someone standing outside a circle, wishing he could step forward and fit in.
“Still find our city appealing, Wildfire?” I asked her. Using this pet name for her was both a jab at Lorant and a gouge to myself. Swords cut with both edges.
I knew why I did it. I wanted to snatch some of what he’d found with her and claim it as my own. It was natural to feel possessive when I thought of the two of them speaking together, laughing together.
As we got closer to the central marketplace, we passed a few stalls filled with fruits and vegetables of every color imaginable. A woman hawked bunches of fresh flowers, and I stopped and climbed out of the carriage. I gave her a coin, and she offered a gorgeous bouquet to Reyla with a deep curtsy.
“Thank you,” she told the woman, not me, though I liked this about her as well. Yes, I'd purchased the flowers for my bride, but Reyla could see that this woman had used her talent to take simple blossoms of pink, white, and purple and weave them into true art.
As I signaled for the carriage to keep going, she held the flowers to her face and sucked in a breath of their perfume. “You're sweet to get these for me. I'll put them in a vase when we reach the castle.”
Someone would do that for her, plus everything else. They'd vie for the chance to fulfill her every whim in the hope it would help them rise through the ranks and gain more status. Should I tell Reyla to watch out for those who'd curry her favor with their own needs in mind or let her find out on her own? I hated to break the tender, na?ve way she approached everything around her. Let her hold that for as long as she could. The fates knew I'd gouged out any tenderness I'd possessed before I turned three.
Children raced through the thickening crowd, either leaving the marketplace or heading toward it. Their shrieks of happiness mixed with the chatter of those bartering for goods. Clothing hung above the stalls on lines draped from one building to another, the fabric fluttering in the breeze like flags.
Ladies strolled, wearing gowns of rich, flowing material, their laughter bursting out as they chatted with friends and family. Others had chosen elegant tunics and pants, the fabrics woven with shimmering threads. Men wore everything from simple tunics and pants to more ornate clothing depending on their status or what they planned to do this day.
Warmth throbbed through me. This was my city, and I was its king. Yet my heart was tugged in two different directions. The pretty facade hid the unrest simmering beneath the surface, a tension coiled like a snake ready to strike.
As the beast carried us through the bustling streets of Evergorne, I took in the brightly painted buildings, the boxes overflowing with flowers below each window, and the flags rippling in the sea air. I was proud of this city that I'd done my best to grow and maintain. My father had done the same, and my grandfather before him. So, too, would my son if the fates granted me one with Reyla.
The scent of flowers drifted through the air, and the smell of freshly baked bread and meat pies made my belly rumble. I hadn't eaten this morning, instead rushing to the deck, hoping to find my wildfire standing on the bow, waiting for me to join her.
Instead, I'd beaten her there and leaned against the side of the ship, soon realizing my presence made the crew uncomfortable. A few kept darting concerned looks my way and one or two scurried to the opposite side of the ship to avoid catching my attention.
They must know I wouldn't harm them unless they tried to hurt me or my own.
Or did they? I'd known some of them from the first time I snuck onto the ship and boldly asked the captain to take me for a sail. Eight at the time, I’d thought my life would never change, that I'd grow up taking to the seas or working with dragons. I’d never dreamed I'd be crowned only a few short years after that. But these men knew me. I didn't wield my magic as a sword unless needed. I only slashed it out when I couldn’t avoid dispensing justice in any other way.
The marketplace sprawled ahead of us, a huge open area I used to love running through when I was small. My mother would bring me here after dark when she needed a break from castle life. She hadn’t been born to be a queen; my father had chosen someone from among our people, though the daughter of a high lord and lady, of course.
As I grew older, she’d changed, though I could never determine why. Perhaps because of my father. While I sensed she’d respected him, I'd never seen adoration on her face when she looked his way. I held my suspicion for who she might’ve cared for instead, and it burned that she'd gotten that close. One gained while another lost, I supposed.
“We'll go around the marketplace,” I told Reyla, taking her hand. “But I'll bring you here one day if you'd like.”
She nodded, gazing around with sweet wonder on her face.
I linked our fingers, wanting to be connected with her at all times. I resisted my aching need to stroke her hair and kiss her here, where everyone could see. I wanted to do so much more with her, though I wouldn't push it. I'd give her the time my father may not have offered my mother, though she'd never alluded to anything like that. But she’d met him on their wedding day, and I believed they were together from the start.
Why hadn't he taken it slower, coaxed what he needed from her? He was dead, and I'd never know now.
My own course was set, and in this, I'd veer onto a different path than him.
Merchants called out from ahead, hawking their wares, their voices shrill and bright and endlessly appealing. Colorful fruits overflowed baskets and bundled spices hung from strings spanning above the tables, their pungent scents sharp in my nose.
In one stall, a vendor skillfully twisted strands of fresh honeyed pastry into all sorts of fancy shapes, and the warm, sweet scent drifted toward us. A woman striding down a street to my right balanced a basket on her head as she wove her way to the market center .
Reyla took it all in, her wide eyes sparkling with excitement. “It feels magical here,” she breathed, and the sincerity in her voice tugged at something deep inside me.
“Like you.” I leaned closer, the warmth of her body brushing against mine. I was acutely aware of the way her breathing hitched and the way our shared space made the air pulse between us.
“You do know I'm not very good with magic,” she said softly.
“I've spoken with Lorant, and he's agreed to work with you. I believe you have a lot of power to command, and I want you to learn how to use it.” She might very well need it.
“You want me to work with Lore ?” She yanked her gaze from mine.
“You call him that?” My smile curled up. How ironic.
Her cheeks pinkened. “It seems to fit. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all.” It was all I could do not to laugh.
But I wanted her to like him. He was my bodyguard and friend. But still, my belly tightened as a burning knot seared through my guts. I had no right, no need for this jealous feeling, but there it was, making blood pound in my temples and my jaw clench hard enough to hurt.
“Is there anyone else who could work with me instead?” She leaned into my side and gazed up at me with an expression I'd take for complete adoration if a sharpness didn't linger in her eyes.
Was my pretty little bride trying to use her wiles to manipulate me ?
“It should be Lorant,” I said. “His power is nearly unrivaled.”
“Is his stronger than yours?”
“We're equal,” I barked, softening my tone when someone on the street gaped at us before pivoting and scurrying in the opposite direction. “He's no stronger than me.”
“I'm glad to hear that. I suppose I don't mind that he teaches me.” She traced her finger along the swirling pattern etched into the fabric of her gown lying across her lap. “But if you're equally powerful, you should train me.”
“If only I had the time.” Her words and lulling tone stopped my jealousy from gnawing all the way through my spine.
“You'll be busy,” she said with a twist of her lips, pulling away to lean on the side of the carriage opposite me. “I understand. Lord Lorant will do as well as anyone else, I suppose.”
No more nickname for my bodyguard?
As the beast carried us through the heart of Evergorne, the steady pulse of my connection to Reyla grew. She was a wildfire, a force I was falling for much too quickly—or not quickly enough. Had it been like this for my father? I felt bad for him if he'd loved my mother and hoped she'd feel the same, only to leave her to raise me alone.
“Are you ready to experience life as a queen?” I asked, studying Reyla’s profile. I saw a beautiful woman. A strong one. Strong enough for what was coming?
“When will I be crowned?” she asked.
“We need to make the arrangements. My mother will help.”
“She lives nearby?”
“She has a suite inside the castle. ”
“Ah.”
I lifted my eyebrows, a smile teasing across my mouth. “What does that sound mean?”
“She lives with us.”
“If living with us inside a building with over three hundred suites and more parlors and sitting areas than I can count means living with us, then yes.”
“You know what I mean.” Why couldn't I read her expression? This woman projected sweetness, but it was time I looked past the surface. She’d been a dragon trainer. She’d ridden a dragon into battle for much of her life. While a sweet woman could handle things like that, this sweet woman also possessed a core of steel.
She'd need it.
“Elaborate,” I said, laying my arm around her shoulders, tugging her closer.
“ She's the queen, isn't she?”
“She was, but with our marriage, you'll wear the crown.”
“I don't want to take something from her if she wants it.” She nibbled on her fingernail. “I don’t want her to feel like I'm shoving her out.”
My low laugh rolled through the street. “We won't pack her bags and push her out the front door of the castle, I assure you. She'll remain in the suite she moved into after my father's death, one worthy of her status as the queen mother.” I wanted Reyla to understand, and I didn't want her worrying about something like this, though my mother could be challenging. “She married my father and was crowned queen, but with his death and my coronation, everyone knew she'd move into a role where she'd advise me only until I was grown. She knew she’d have to step aside when I married. But I promise you, she'll help us arrange for your coronation; she won't act spiteful about it.”
“Alright.”
“It needs to take place soon.”
“How soon?”
“A week.”
She gulped. “How can we arrange something like that in such a short time?”
“You won't be cleaning the throne room—”
Her nose twitched. “You have a throne room?”
“Don't all kings? It's a place to meet with visiting dignitaries, dispense justice, and—”
“I know all that. Ivenrail dispensed justice in a unique way.” She tilted her head and watched my face. “Do you keep a dragon in the throne room with you?”
“Why would I?”
“To burn people who displease you.”
My huff of a laugh ended abruptly. “You're not joking.”
“You didn't know Ivenrail well.”
“I heard about him. I wouldn't have allied my court with Lydel and Riftflame if I thought he was a fair, kind king.”
“Anything but.”
“He truly used a dragon to burn people?”
“On occasion.”
“I don't have a dragon in my throne room,” I said.
“That's a good thing.”
Was it? Not to burn anyone. Never that. But to . . .
The thought slipped away .
“I like dragons,” I said. “I wish I had more time to work with them, ride them. They’re ferocious beasts but I admire everything about them.”
“Work with me on my magic, and I’ll help you train a dragon.”
Here we went again. At least she was persistent; she didn’t easily give up. “Lord Lorant will work with you during the evenings.”
“When you’re sleeping.”
“I need to sleep. I get tired.”
She turned to face me fully, her gaze flickering over me. The concern in her eyes made my heart weep. “You’re not sick, are you?”
Not yet, but soon. “I’m not. I promise.”
“Good.”
I grinned. “Good.”
She turned to look around as we passed beneath one of the arches of the inner-city walls, and I was glad when she leaned into me again, because that meant I could wrap my arm around her.
Countryside and hills rolled away beneath the carriage wheels, each hill taking us closer to the castle.
When Farris whined, I lifted my hand, and the zephyl came to a stop. “I think your pet would like to roam beside us.”
She tightened her grip on the nyxin’s leash. “What if he runs away?”
“Would you hold him back if this is what he needs?”
She pinched her eyes shut before opening them and shaking her head. After leaning over to rub Farris’s ears, she undid the collar and dropped it and the leash on the floor. “Go, friend. Please . . . I’m not going to name it. You’re right. He’s a wild creature and if he wants to be free, he should be. I just . . . I told myself I’d never love anyone else, yet here I am already pining for a pet who probably only wants to slip into the woods to poop before he returns to my side.”
“Like me?”
Her laugh rang out. “Do you need to poop?”
“I meant run free.”
“You’re probably one of the freest people I know. You’re a king, ruler of all you see.” Her hand swept out to the world around us. “Nothing and no one binds you.”
“I wish that was true.” Did she hear the wistfulness in my voice?
“I assume duty calls to you much too often.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
Farris bounded from the carriage and raced into the woods. We waited because I also hoped he’d come back. He did, but he sat beside the carriage rather than jump in to rejoin us.
“Want to run along the side?” I asked, and he yipped.
“He did come back,” she said in a plaintive tone. “I’m glad.”
I stroked her back and gave the signal for the zephyl to start moving again, Farris zipping around behind the carriage before racing forward and back again.
Reyla studied everything, taking it all in.
“I saw the manors from the ship, but I didn’t expect them to look like this.” Her low voice revealed her wonder. “They’re huge. Opulent.”
I wanted to let my pride show and tell her that these homes held nothing on the castle, the might and power behind my court, but I'd rather see her reaction when she took it in up close and for the first time.
“I noted inner walls, but I saw the outer one stretching behind the castle.”
“More protection from predators.”
“They could get past the outer wall?”
“Some could back then, but remember, there may be predators within the outer wall.”
“You mentioned that already.” She reeled around to look up at me, her surprise giving way to confusion. “You're not teasing.”
“There was a time when my ancestors were not as kind to the people as they should be.”
“You said the lesser fae and powerless work inside the castle, that you pay them.”
“Payment is a relatively new thing.”
“Ah.”
I tilted my head, watching her face. “Another ah?”
“When did your family start paying them?”
“My father was the first, but I’ve aimed to do more.” He’d done as much as he dared. I’d do better.
“This can’t be true. Only one out of many generations?”
I winced, though I wasn’t responsible for those who’d come before me. “In the past, they were granted the use of land for their home and tilling the soil, and in exchange, they served inside the castle.”
“Do you still maintain control of the land? ”
“Much of it, though I'm slowly granting it to those who have worked in the castle the longest.”
“Change takes time,” she said, and I was grateful she understood. Even more grateful to see her admiration for me shining in her gorgeous brown eyes. “I like that you're trying to do the right thing.”
And that was what mattered. It wasn't long ago that I faced what was coming alone. I had my friends, and if anyone was sympathetic, it was Lorant, but my fear of what I couldn't control wasn't something I could talk about to anyone. I'd share what I could with Reyla, and I was sure castle gossip would feed her more questions than answers, but this was how it had to be.
At least I didn't feel quite as alone any longer.
The carriage took us higher, one hill after another with manor houses buried in the woods along either side. Then we reached the winding road that would take us to the castle itself. Dense forest closed in, sending cool air out to drift across our skin.
No one had been offered land here. My ancestors made sure of that.
When a shiver tracked down Reyla’s spine, I turned her to face me. So pretty. So much potential. If only I could bring that potential out and make it work for me.
Of course, I couldn't escape staring at her mouth. I should remain on guard. It wasn't long ago that someone tried to kill her, but I was lost almost from the moment I met her.
I accepted it. I needed it.
If I didn't succumb, all would be lost.
“Reyla,” I rasped as she trembled in my arms. The column of her throat begged for my kisses. But it was her lips that I had to claim.
I could not go one instant more without tasting her.
When I caught the heat rising in her eyes, I gently held her face and staked my claim on her mouth.