Alira #3
I wish I’d been born a demon. Maybe I could’ve been more entwined with his life. It feels like I’ll always be playing catch-up with him. As a demigod, I’m not sure we will ever truly get to a place of full understanding with one another.
I force a smile even though I know he can’t see my face. I’m a firm believer that you can still hear a smile in another’s voice, whether it’s real or not. “I guess I can wait two years for her to warm up to me.”
Kalel flinches at that and tightens his hands on the reins.
My brows knit. That was odd. I try not to read too much into it, but my mind keeps picking and prodding at it until I have to pry.
“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“What?” he asks with a tone that suggests he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
“Flinching and getting uptight when we talk about the future. Or the veil. Or why you’ve been having so many meetings with King Achill… Is there something wrong?”
My eyes flick to the fields where part of the veil meets the earth, shimmering as it always does.
Knights have been patrolling more frequently lately, in bigger groups of five or six.
It’s hard not to assume that they’re waiting for an attack.
But Alzhor and Devicit are at peace now with our marriage.
Could it be the dragons? Or are humans maybe what has him so concerned?
“No, I promise everything is fine, Alira. I’m just a bit tired from all the demands the king has been putting on my shoulders.
Everyone is still a little on edge from the battles in early winter and you coming here.
He’s just taking extra precautions.” His voice is convincing, but his tight muscles wrapped around my body aren’t.
I slowly nod. It makes sense, now that he says that. I think any kingdom would be on high alert on the off chance something happened to reverse the treaty. Embarrassment prickles at my cheeks for jumping to conclusions.
We leave the horse at the market stables and make quick work browsing through the alleyway shops for the café we are meeting Tessa and Nikolai at.
The buildings are very close together on these streets, leaving only a two-person walkway.
Storefronts have little signs, lit by the lanterns that hang overhead.
Rustic brown brick and black wrought-iron window panes make up the vast majority of the architecture.
The cobblestones are well kept, and even though the kingdom is centuries old, one wouldn’t know it by how clean the stones are.
It’s perfectly impossible not to fall in love with.
The scent of fresh cinnamon and tea wafts through the air, rousing my stomach.
I turn to ask Kalel if we are getting close yet, but my attention snags on a few knights who are lingering behind us.
I narrow my eyes. Weren’t they behind us a few streets back too?
They look away once they spot me staring at them.
My chest shifts with discomfort. Are we being followed?
Kalel’s voice steals my attention away from the troubling thoughts. “I believe it’s the next left—the one with the bubbled-out windows and black door.” Kalel nods toward the left street ahead. I look in that direction, and I spot it.
I glance back once more and don’t see the knights lingering any longer. I’m being paranoid.
The café is a stand-alone building, thinner than anything I’ve seen in Alzhor. It makes up for its lack of width with height. It’s at least four stories tall, and with one peek inside, I can already tell how crowded it is.
Waitresses and waiters bustle around, wearing floral-printed aprons and dark-green blouses and shirts to match. They carry around teacups of every color I can imagine.
Tessa and Nikolai spot us and call out from above.
My head inclines, and my lips part as I take in the floors above us.
A black metal spiral staircase extends to the platforms above.
The floors stop ten feet shy of the front of the shop, creating a balcony-like look for each level.
Railings line the edges, and the ends of tables are visible from here.
Tessa and Nikolai peer from over the railing on the third-floor balcony and wave down at us.
I’m struck by the beauty of the café and have to blink a few times before I manage to wave back.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” I murmur, studying and absorbing the atmosphere.
In Alzhor, the architecture was much more mundane, no balance between the gothic design and color like there is here.
While the kingdom is made of primarily black organic materials, like the rock surrounding it, the demons grow and cultivate so much life and color that they create a beautiful balance.
Kalel threads his fingers through mine as he guides me to the spiral stairs. “Me neither,” he says casually.
I turn and give him a suspicious look. “You’re kidding. You’ve never been here? You live here.”
He shrugs and takes the stairs with his back a little bent since he’s so tall. “Have you been into every shop and business in your kingdom?”
That stumps me, and my silence makes him laugh. Butterflies lift my diaphragm and my heart flutters at the sound of it. No matter how often I hear his laughter, it doesn’t get any less charming.
“You are much wittier than they say, you know.” I peek at him from over my shoulder once we reach the third floor.