Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Lanche
My nerves were completely shot.
I still couldn’t believe I’d had the courage to give Dain my gift.
I should’ve talked to him about it first, but whenever I was around him, it felt like my throat dried up and words never came.
I knew my face turned red—a big feat for a snow monster—and I spluttered like an incoherent moron, which only made the problem worse.
The more I flushed and the more I spluttered, the more and more embarrassed I became, and the cycle just kept on going and going.
So… I’d come up with an idea.
I knew what Dain was to me, I could feel it in my soul, and I wanted him to know it too. I wanted to reach out to him. I wanted to connect with him.
But maybe giving him a piece of my magic was… too much.
Would he be okay with it? Would he even understand the significance?
I quickly drove to the Tower—the biggest building in the city where the king lived and the government worked—so I could check in.
I’d kind of hoped Dain would’ve opened the gift right away, but I didn’t blame him for waiting until the end of his shift—I’d waited around to listen in, so I’d heard him tell his vampire friend. I didn’t want to get him in trouble or anything so that was a good plan.
But since he’d waited, there was nothing for me to do at the bookshop. Which meant I had plenty of time to work on my own project.
After parking my car, I grabbed my bag of tools, including a small step ladder, out of the trunk, headed inside, went up to the reception desk to scan my temporary ID, then headed into the back courtyard.
Our king and the agusha—the king consort—had decided to add some decorations to the courtyard to get into the spirit of the upcoming holidays. They wanted something representing every culture in the area, so I’d been hired to make an ice sculpture for my fellow snow yetis.
Sedoba—a territory in Gauhala—was always, always freezing, but especially so in the winter.
So keeping an ice sculpture in the courtyard would be no problem at all.
Plus, there were a ton of spells surrounding the building and courtyard itself, so I was sure it would be well-maintained for the next few months.
I was making a large snow yeti with snow swirling around them. Trying to get that movement within the solid and still ice was the biggest challenge, but it was one I enjoyed very much.
Since I’d done the basic shape with a chainsaw yesterday, I was doing the fine details with my chisel today.
Being a snow yeti myself, I was able to manipulate the ice and snow to a certain extent, but I enjoyed using my chisel and embedding it with my magic, rather than trying to create the entire sculpture in one go with magic alone.
People did it that way all the time, but it never quite took on the finer details. It was very easy for me, for any artist really, to tell the difference between a magicked-up piece and a handmade one.
I took pride in my work, so handmade it was.
Letting myself fall into my artwork was the perfect distraction I needed today.
Before I knew it, hours had passed, and my ice sculpture was nearly finished.
I stepped back to take a look and see what else needed fixing.
The yeti itself was life-size, which meant it was taller than me in my human form.
I wasn’t really sure where my mass went when I was shaped this way, but in my yeti form, I was twice as wide and nearly eight feet tall.
Many shifters didn’t change mass the way yetis—and dragons—did, so the only conclusion I could come up with was… magic.
Which was probably a lame reason, but how else could one explain it?
The swirl of snow, filled with detailed snowflakes, wrapped around the eight-foot-tall yeti, and with its hands open and moving with the swirl, it really made it look like it was controlling the magic.
I leaned in and fixed a small bump on one of the tiny snowflakes, then stepped back and assessed my work again.
It actually looked… pretty damn good, if I did say so myself.
With a smile on my face from a job well done, I cleaned up all my tools and left the courtyard, making my way to the front desk.
As I approached, the receptionist asked, “Are you all finished?”
“I sure am.”
She smiled widely. “Wonderful. I can’t wait to take a look after my shift. I’ve seen your work before, and it’s always so detailed and beautiful.”
Well, I hadn’t been expecting that at all. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
She smiled widely at me and gestured to the waiting area off to the side. “You can have a seat while you wait.”
My brow furrowed. “Wait for what?”
“The king and agusha, of course.”
My eyes widened. “T-the king? The king is coming down here?”
“Yes. He and Tan—” She cleared her throat. “Excuse me, their majesties have been coming to see every finished piece and thank the artists personally. When you informed me yesterday that you’d be done today, I let them know so they could plan to come down.”
“Uh… um… okay… um… thank you.”
She nodded and gestured to the waiting area again. “You can have a seat. They’ll be down in about ten minutes or so.”
I nodded my thanks and headed for the closest seat as my palms became sweaty, and I felt a drop of sweat roll down my back. Holy crapola. Was I seriously about to meet the king of Sedoba? I needed my ass in a chair before I passed out. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest.
The king and his viramore—his soulmate—were coming down here to look at my artwork and meet me.
What the actual hell?
I rubbed my sweaty palms on my thighs, hoping they didn’t want to shake my hand or anything like that. Yikes. The longer I waited, the sweatier I became. I was going to look like I’d taken a dip in a pool if they took any longer.
Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my breathing, but by the time the king arrived on the first floor, I was a mess and felt like I might pass out.
Garrick Von Stein, the dragon shifter king, and Tanyl Helegolor, his viramore and the king consort, came off their private elevator, both smiling widely—and for some strange reason, there was an orange cat on top of the king consort’s head.
It took me a moment to remember that he had a cat familiar.
Why she was riding on top of his head, I had no idea.
A cat hat. Ha!
The king laughed at something his mate said, and other than Dain himself, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen anything more beautiful.
The king was a big man—being a dragon, that made sense.
He was broad-shouldered and muscular with golden hair and golden eyes that looked light and happy when he looked at his mate. He looked at peace. Content.
Our king had been in a dark place for many years, so seeing him look so carefree was… wonderful, not only personally for him, but also for our territory.
Since Tanyl Helegolor came on the scene, the kingdom had flourished. In more ways than one. The fae were free again—thank the Ice Goddess—and now, even our economy was growing. And the people, holy moly, the people were so much happier in general.
There was a sense of peace in our territory that I hadn’t felt in over two decades.
As soon as the king and agusha were noticed, everyone on the first floor stopped what they were doing to bow to the majesties.
I scrambled to my feet to bow as well, even though it made me feel like I might puke from nerves. I’d never seen the two of them up so close, and they were coming closer and closer as I held my breath and prayed I didn’t spew on their shoes.
A few moments later, four sets of feet approached me. I glanced up to see the king, king consort, and two guards standing behind them.
“Please rise,” the king said.
I gulped before straightening to my tall height—I was taller than the average person at six and a half feet. Not quite as tall as my yeti form, but still taller than even a dragon shifter.
“It’s w-wonderful to meet you, Your Majesties,” I said, barely stuttering over my words. “Thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Both of them smiled, and the king consort said, “We should be the ones thanking you. I’ve been a big fan of your work for a long time, so I can’t wait to see what you came up with.”
My eyes widened, my nerves and anxiety squeezing in my chest. Did he just say what I think he said? “You… you…”
The king put a hand on his mate’s back, smiling at me. “We have one of your pieces hanging in our living room. A painting of the snow-covered city. It’s very beautiful.”
My eyes widened further, and my head went lightheaded for a moment.
Holy shit.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
The king and king consort bought one of my pieces? That was… that was… amazing. Phenomenal. Unreal. So fucking unreal.
The king consort grinned and stepped forward, taking my hand—ugh, he could probably feel how wet it was. Ew. “It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Tan.”
My eyes widened. He was giving me his first name? Should I really call him that? I licked my lips. “I-it’s nice to meet you too, Your Majesty. I… I’m Lanche.”
“Lanche. Nice. You can call me Tan. You don’t have to do the whole Your Majesty thing.”
I… wasn’t sure I could do that.
“Why don’t we go take a look at your sculpture?”
I nodded mutely, and to my surprise, the king consort led me to the courtyard, holding my arm and keeping me steady the entire time. Luckily, it wasn’t far, but still. That was pretty amazing and kind of him. Who knew he’d be so aware of my emotions and eager to make me feel better?
When we reached the sculpture, he stepped closer to it, and I released him, surer on my feet now that I wasn’t moving. He looked at me in question—was I really okay to stand on my own? I could pretend to be—and I sent him a nod and a smile, so he turned back around.
“Holy shit!” the king consort exclaimed before he winced and glanced around, looking guilty. “Oh, thank the Mother, there aren’t any kids out here.”
The king chuckled and stepped forward, staring at the ice sculpture. “This is the best ice sculpture I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful.”
I felt my face go red. “Th-thank you, Your Majesties.”
They both smiled at me before the king wrapped an arm around his mate’s shoulders, pulling him into his side.
Tan—holy crap, I could barely think his name in my head, let alone say it out loud—rested his head on his mate’s shoulder, and I sighed, looking at the love written plain as day on their faces.
I wanted that. I longed for that kind of love. The kind that went soul deep. The kind that was unbreakable. The kind that beat the passing of time.
The kind I hoped to have with a certain werewolf.
The royals of our territory stood in front of my ice sculpture, praising it for a long time. I was really surprised at how much time they devoted to me and how genuine they seemed.
It was… one of the best interactions of my life.
Something to remember when I was old and gray.
As they made their goodbyes—and thanked me a million times—I picked up my bag and headed for reception again. I needed to check out since I was leaving the building.
The receptionist smiled at me, checked me out, and sent me on my way.
It’d been really nice working in the Tower this week. It wasn’t a place I’d ever thought I’d work, but I’d enjoyed my time there.
I put my bag in the trunk and walked around to the driver’s door. Just as I was opening it, I felt a shock of magic shoot right through my chest.
I grabbed it, trying to grasp my heart before it burst, as I fell into the side of my car, my breath knocked out of me.