Chapter 26 Lily
LILY
When I walked in the door, the villa had been cleaned, and a delicious aroma was coming from the kitchen.
When Callum heard me enter the house, he emerged from the hallway slightly wet, like he’d just finished bathing.
He was in just his black boxers and nothing else, a living tree that entered my living room.
His eyes found mine and stayed there for a second, reading the emotion instantly.
“Xivin.” He made his way around the living room and the dining table and came to me by the doorway, feeling my emotions from across the room.
His hands moved into my hair, and he cradled me as he looked into my face, knowing something was wrong and asking without actually questioning me.
“My father and I talked about Vivian and Lena.”
His eyes softened as he began to understand.
“I told him I already knew so he didn’t have to break his heart telling me, and he didn’t ask how I knew.”
His fingers dug deeper into my hair as he stared at my wet eyes. He dipped his head and kissed me, kissed my forehead as he cradled the back of my neck. Then he gripped me by the ass and lifted me into him so I could wrap my legs around his waist and hold him at eye level.
My arms circled his neck, and I buried my face in his shoulder, smelling his soap from the bath, feeling his heat warm me from the crispness outside. He held me like that for a long time, like he enjoyed my weight in his arms, enjoyed touching me in any way that made me feel good.
I eventually pulled my face out of his shoulder and looked at him. “I feel closer to you now.”
He stared into my face.
“The way I felt closer to you when you told me about your family.”
It was the middle of the night, and we were in bed together, the fire burning low in the fireplace.
It’d been raining nonstop since the afternoon, and we could hear the raindrops pelting the roof and the windows.
When the fire nearly burned out, Callum would wordlessly feed it with the wood he’d cut himself and hauled back to our home next to the castle.
He stroked his fingers through my hair before he trailed them lightly down the back of my neck, his callused fingertips sometimes feeling sharp against my flesh when he applied too much pressure. But I had the same calluses on my hands, the same scars, and I liked feeling his.
His dark eyes looked into my face the way they had all week, more intense than they’d ever been, like he’d never really seen me before.
It was the first time in our lives that we had each other without limitation.
Our hearts both beat as mortals, and my family had accepted the man I’d chosen for my husband. So it was this—forever.
He stared at me like that for a long time, probably for hours, never saying a word.
I loved the quiet companionship between us, the way we could just be together and be content. Whether we made love or cuddled or just looked at each other, it all felt right.
He interrupted the quiet with his soft-spoken words. “Marry me.”
I’d been waiting for the moment he would finally ask me, because every time I tried to initiate it, he didn’t react.
He just let my words fade into the silence between us.
I didn’t need a proposal, felt it was beneath us and the connection we shared, but now I understood why he’d waited—because he’d wanted my father’s blessing.
It was a night like any of the others we’d shared together that week, but tonight was the one he chose to reciprocate what I wanted. I slid my fingers into his hair as I lifted my leg a little higher over his hip. “When?”
He cradled my face with his palm, looking at me, utterly transfixed. “Now.”
“Right here in this bed?”
“Yes.” His thumb swiped at the corner of my mouth.
“I’ve lived without you for so long.” A distant moisture came from the outskirts of his eyes and lined his gaze.
“Every night, I stare at you and wait to be pulled back to the underworld. Every night, I hold my breath and worry something will take you away from me. But the battle is won and the war is over, and I finally have you. Queen Lily Rothschild…Goddess of the Southern Isles.”
My father looked at me with a love so deep and real that I knew no one would ever love me the same.
But I felt the depth of Callum’s love every time he looked at me, every time he spoke to me, every time we breathed the same air.
It felt deeper than the flesh, even deeper than the heart.
All the way to the soul. “Then I take you, Callum Riverside, to be my husband…for as long as I may live.”
He brought us closer together, his forehead resting against mine as he closed his eyes and cherished what I’d just said. “And I take you, Lily Rothschild, to be my wife, to serve you as my queen, to protect you with my life, to love you every day, as long as I may live.”
I was given a new set of armor, made not just with Khazmuda’s and Zehemoth’s scales, but with scales from all the dragons.
My armor was no longer black, but a beautiful collage of colors from the various dragons who had donated their own hard scales.
My family crest was still in the center with Khazmuda flying overhead.
I stood and looked at myself in the mirror, catching my mother stepping into the room to escort me to the ceremony. She came up behind me and looked me in the eye in the mirror, her eyes watering in pride. “All hail the queen.”
I looked at myself in the reflection, seeing a woman I hardly recognized. I’d been forged in the hottest fires of the earth…and had grown into a brilliant diamond. My long hair was secured back in a thick braid like I was going to battle.
“You’re ready, Lily.”
I took a breath before I gave a nod.
“Why do you hesitate, honey?”
“I don’t hesitate,” I said quietly. “It’s just hard to ascend to the throne and not think about everything else that led to this moment. The men and women who fought for the Southern Isles with me. The dragons that served…and fell from the sky. I’m responsible for them all now.”
Her hands moved to both of my shoulders. “And you’re the only one worthy of that responsibility, because you feel it.”
She released my shoulders then stepped aside so I could leave the mirror and walk out the door.
But I remained for a moment longer, looking at myself for the final time as a woman and a princess, not tasked with the responsibility of so many others. When I’d finally had enough time, I stepped away from the mirror…and said goodbye.
My mother watched me walk past her, her eyes watering again as she saw me go. Then she took her place behind me, following me as we left the castle and took the path outside the gate to the village below.
People were gathered as far as the eye could see. The largest crowd of citizens I’d ever seen in a time of peace. I hesitated as I stared down at them all, waiting for me to join them.
I moved farther down the path downhill and approached the dais that had been constructed as a stage for everyone to see. It was still hazy because it was such a great distance away, but the closer I got, the more the details emerged.
Horns and trumpets started to play to signify my arrival, my approach to take the crown. My heart started to beat fast as I heard the crowd below, as this moment became more and more real.
I finally could see my father, standing there in his armor and cape, facing me with his arms by his sides, looking at me like I was a vision rather than his daughter.
There was a line of guards on the dais also, Hawk as the general, along with the commanders…
and Callum, who had asked to be my private guard.
When I was close enough, I heard the loud clapping and cheers, even over the music that played. When the distance to my father grew short, the horns and trumpets stopped, and then there were just drums. Drums that matched my footfalls as I approached my destiny.
I stopped feet from my father—and so did the drums.
The sound of the crowd died away, and a powerful silence filled the air, a silence even more powerful, considering the number of people crowded together.
My father stared at me for a long time, the emotion and pride visible in his eyes as he looked upon me. He took a slow breath before a film of moisture entered his gaze. When he blinked, it was gone. And then there was a smile. It was small but true.
He stepped toward me. “I, Talon Rothschild, have served the Southern Isles faithfully and selflessly as my father did before me, and his father before him. Battles have come and gone, and I raised my sword for my people and will continue to do so. But it’s time for someone new to take that power and responsibility, and no other should have it but Lily Lena Rothschild, my daughter.
” He took a step closer to me. “When I was unable to serve our kingdom, you took up your sword and led our people to victory. Overwhelmed by enemies we couldn’t possibly defeat, Lily Rothschild found a way to persevere.
I have no doubt you will continue to do so.
We all will sleep soundly in our beds tonight knowing Queen Lily Rothschild, Queen of the Southern Isles and Protector of Free Dragons, watches over us all.
” He reached behind his neck, where his cape was secured to his armor.
With a single tug, it came free, and he displayed it to me.
Instead of the solid black like I was used to, it had a silhouette of the cliffs and the castle, and the sky overhead was covered with dragons, one of them breathing an impressive trail of fire.
Because it was the new reign of a new monarch, it would be a different design, specific to the person who ruled.
A breeze moved through the valley and lifted the cape slightly, showing its beautiful artwork. He stared into my eyes before he gave it to me, holding on to the moment for as long as he could before it was over.