Chapter 14 #2
At the far end of the street, the largest building was the two-story stone inn with clay tiles on the roof just like the rest of the buildings around it.
Before the building, several stablehands were in the process of untying a series of destriers and leading them around the building toward the stable.
Several soldiers stood in front of the inn doors, an extra purple sash across the fronts of their uniforms.
Lorne halted his horse. Once the guards halted and dismounted, Orvyn approached them and helped Adeline down. Her knees buckled as soon as her feet touched the ground, and with her arms full of fleech dragon, she would have fallen over if Orvyn hadn’t gripped her elbow to steady her.
Lorne jumped down moments later, moving as if to pick her up again.
Adeline shook her head, taking a staggering step away from him. “I can walk.”
“All right.” Instead of picking her up, Lorne wrapped a steadying arm around her waist, keeping her upright as the two of them walked toward the inn.
At the door, the Lalsacian guards both bowed before one spoke. “Your Highness, His Majesty arrived a few minutes ago.”
“Thank you.” Lorne nodded to them.
Adeline’s stomach twisted, although it wasn’t from the poison this time. “Your father’s here? How did he know to come?”
“He would have guessed we’d come here after you were healed. It’s the closest village.” Lorne waited another moment for the soldiers to open the doors before he steered her inside. “He must not have wanted to wait to talk until we returned to the front tomorrow.”
Understandable, she supposed. The man had spent months worrying about his son in the hands of the enemy, only to have mere minutes to see that he was all right before Lorne had to rush off to save her.
Then there was the whole marriage thing. He was sure to have questions about that.
A servant directed them up the stairs toward the largest parlor the inn had.
Adeline’s legs went so shaky again that she could barely climb the stairs, even with Lorne’s steadying grip at her elbow.
She clutched the fleech dragon to her chest, thankful the creature hadn’t left her just yet.
She would have been far more of a mess without the soothing purring coming from the little thing.
But here in Lalsacia, she needed to walk with her head high, standing as tall as she could as the queen of Kelverny.
Another pair of guards stood before the door at the top of the stairs. With a bow, one of them opened the door and stepped aside.
With a glance at her, Lorne led the way inside, although he returned his hand to lightly rest on her back once she stepped in after him.
The Lalsacian king sprang to his feet, the deep worry lines etched into his face much as they had been in those moments he’d been waiting in the tent with her before Lorne had been brought in.
The king hurried across the room, but he halted short of them this time, his gaze flicking between them and the fleech dragon she still held. The set of his shoulders eased, although his hands remained poised at his sides as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with them.
“Father, I’d like to officially introduce you to my wife, Queen Adeline of Kelverny.” Lorne’s hand on her back was just as warm and steady as his voice. His smile was wide as he looked from his father down at her. “I love her.”
Adeline started, gaping up at Lorne. He hadn’t said those words to her, and yet he was stating them so boldly to his father.
King Philip was gaping too, but he gathered himself after a moment, snapping his mouth shut. When he smiled, the expression held a hint of polite strain. “Welcome to the family, Your Majesty.”
“Adeline.” She worked to plaster her own strained smile on her face. “Call me Adeline. We are family.”
Family. With the Lalsacian king. She couldn’t quite comprehend it.
But the word seemed to relax the set of King Philip’s shoulders. His smile lost some of the strain, and in the genuineness of it she saw the resemblance between Lorne and his father all the more strongly. “And you can call me Philip. Or Father, if you’d like. It seems I’m now your father-in-law.”
He opened his arms. It took her far too long to recognize the gesture as the offer of a hug.
Her eyes filling, she stepped into the embrace. She hadn’t been hugged by a father figure in five years. Not since her own father had hugged her farewell before that mission that had led to her parents’ deaths. Her grandfather certainly hadn’t hugged her.
The Lalsacian king embraced her gently, holding her for only a moment before letting go.
When she stepped back, Lorne wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, as if he sensed her need for steadiness in that moment.
King Philip glanced between the two of them.
“I see both of you are done in. Let’s all get some sleep.
I’ll send a messenger back to the front to alert the Kelvernese that their queen is well.
Hopefully they’ll trust my word enough for that.
In the morning, we can reconvene and hash out both a peace treaty and some of the complications caused by your marriage. ”
Adeline nodded and leaned more heavily against Lorne. She was more than ready for sleep. They could deal with politics in the morning.