35. Revi
“This is madness.”
Revi looked up from his hands. It had been a few hours since he’d woken up—since Kienna had saved him, since Enlo had left. Revi had bathed and dressed, the motions strange and unfamiliar after so long as a beast. Then he had joined his wife—another thing to marvel over, that word—in the side room Zoya had put them in just as Kienna had almost finished telling her father all that had transpired since he had left her at the gates over a month before. Revi flexed his fingers, enjoying the feel of them as he looked at Boden.
Kienna’s father sat stiffly, his hand on his sword hilt, seeming ready to leap up and drag Kienna from the room at any moment.
She seemed unflustered by his outburst. “It might be a bit mad, perhaps,” she agreed lightly, “but that doesn’t make it less true.”
“Doesn’t it?” her father asked, eyes narrowing as they flicked to Revi. “How can I know you aren’t bewitched by charms or magic?”
“Papa—” Kienna began, but Revi leaned forward and met Boden’s gaze.
“I swear on the life of your daughter, on the lives of my parents, and on my Court that it is all true.”
“I have no proof that what the elves told me is true,” Boden argued stubbornly. “I have no proof that you can’t lie or trick me or my daughter in some other fashion.”
Revi tipped his head in acknowledgment. “True. You cannot know that for certain. And if you do not trust your own daughter’s words because you fear enchantment, then you will not trust her when she says as much, either. So, perhaps a show of good faith is in order. Give me a task, any task, and I will fulfill it to the best of my ability.”
Boden’s brows rose. It seemed the man was certain of his stance. He hadn’t expected to get even that much from Revi. It was as if he merely waited for Revi to show his true intentions. He was going to be horribly disappointed when he realized.
It was a marvelous start to their new familial relationship.
“Anything?” Boden asked.
“Anything.” He would do whatever it took to assure Boden.
“No,” Kienna cut in, shaking her head violently. “No. Anything within reason, Papa. You may not ask him to cut off his own head or anything else equally awful.”
Boden scoffed, but Revi cast Kienna a grateful glance. He did not want to impose any restrictions when the whole point was to gain her father’s trust, but he appreciated her prudence in making the amendment.
Boden watched their silent exchange with a suspicious glare. “Allow my daughter to leave,” he said after a moment. “Rescind the previous bargain and allow her to return home. That is my request.”
“If that is what she wishes, so be it,” Revi agreed, though his heart clenched in his chest. If she had been lying to him, was withholding her true feelings, this would be how he lost her.
“A marvelous idea, Papa,” Kienna said. “I would like to get my own belongings and collect my rabbits.” She turned to Revi with a hopeful look. “That would be all right, wouldn’t it? I would love for you to meet Mushroom. And perhaps we can stay awhile so you can see where I grew up.”
The vise on Revi’s heart loosened. “You want me to come with you?”
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Of course I do.”
Boden protested. “He was never invited—”
Kienna turned back to her father with a steely look. “Whether or not you believe me, Papa, everything I’ve said is true. And you’ll just have to find a way to accept it, because Revi and I are married—which you would know if you hadn’t interrupted my tale.”
“I would love to join you in Makaria,” Revi added quickly. Best to get his intentions fully out into the open before Boden exploded from this latest revelation. He looked at his father-in-law again, doing his best to appear open and nonthreatening. “I would also like you to contact your queen. I think it’s high time the Winter Court renewed relations with their human neighbors.”
Boden’s mouth dropped open even as Kienna grinned. His gaze didn’t seem to know where to land. They flicked from Kienna, to Revi, to the small distance between them that his paling skin said he understood in a new light now.
“He really means it.” He finally managed to find words. “All of this. It’s all true.”
“Yes,” Revi said, even as Kienna rolled her eyes. “I am perfectly serious.”
“That means… my son-in-law is a fae.”
“It does mean that, doesn’t it?” Kienna agreed brightly. “Holidays will be so exciting from now on.”
Boden was too busy staring at Revi, taking him in with new comprehension, to respond to that tease.
“How old are you?” he finally spluttered.
Revi blinked. Of all the things the man could focus on, he chose that. What did Revi’s age matter?
“A hundred and seven,” he said, eliciting bulging eyes from Boden and a startled, breathy laugh from Kienna. He frowned. “I’m still quite young for an Elyri. I only reached my majority several years ago.”
Boden’s skin had taken on a sickly pallor.
Kienna stood. “I think we should prepare to leave. It’s late, but if we make preparations tonight, we can set out first thing in the morning.”
Revi rose, a small part of him enjoying the height that came with being a man instead of a beast.
“I’ve already told my steward to prepare rooms for you and your men,” he said to Boden. “And my chefs should have supper ready by now. If there is anything you’re in want of, you have only to ask. My home is your own. Now and always.”
Kienna moved to her father’s side and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Good night, Papa. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He nodded faintly and left the room in a half daze. Revi watched him go.
“I don’t think we’ve heard the end of his protests,” he observed.
Kienna’s smile curved up in a way that made Revi want to thoroughly kiss her as she watched the door her father had just left through.
“Most likely not, but he’ll accept it eventually. When he realizes that I truly do love you and that you aren’t as beastly as he thought.”
“Most of the time,” Revi corrected.
Kienna laughed. “Most of the time.” She turned bright eyes toward Revi. “Do you really want to treat with Queen Riona?”
“I do,” he said. “I’ve married a human woman. Why stop there? Perhaps if I hadn’t been so tied up in my own pride regarding humans, I wouldn’t have left my Court in such a sorry state for so long.”
“Perhaps.” She curled her fingers through his. “Personally, I’m glad it all worked out the way it did.”
“As am I.”
“And I’m glad,” she added with a teasing smile and a glint in her eyes, “that you’re open to further relations with humans.”
Something about the way she said it sparked over Revi’s skin. He cleared his throat. “I am.”
Her smile widened, sparkling brighter than midday snow.
Oh, how he wanted to kiss her. But it all felt too fresh, too new. Too uncertain. He didn’t want to take liberties and push her in ways she wouldn’t be comfortable with.
At the same time, he wanted her to know, for there to be no room for doubt of his interest, of his devotion. He stepped closer, not quite touching her. “I am,” he repeated, his eyes burning into hers. He could hear her heartbeat spike. “I am very interested.”
Kienna bit her lip, nearly undoing his resolve to give her space and time.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
He blinked at the abrupt subject change and leaned back. Perhaps he had pushed too much after all. “Not really. But if you are, I can...”
“I’m not,” she said quickly. “And I would much prefer to spend my first married night alone with my husband”—her heartbeat increased and her cheeks tinged in a blush—“than eating with my father’s soldiers.”
“Would you?” He barely dared to hope in case he was misunderstanding her words.
“Yes,” she whispered, stepping closer, closing the distance between them and brushing her fingers across his chest like she had once before in her dream.
A pleased growl rumbled through him, and Kienna’s eyes widened before she burst into a delighted laugh.
“Most of the time, indeed.” Her eyes twinkled. “Perhaps refrain from growling around my father.”
He leaned into her fingers. “I’m afraid you’ll have to refrain from touching me around him, then.”
She bit her lip again, this time to hold back a smile.
Enough. Better to be straightforward and know where he stood with her than this half-wondering, half-hoping agony.
“Kienna, my wife.” She gave a happy little hum at the title, emboldening him to continue. “This is new. I understand if you require time, so I leave it to you. Do you want me to escort you to your old room… or to ours?”
Her blush deepened at his word choice, but she barely hesitated—and it seemed more from nerves than misgivings—before she responded. “Ours, if you please.”
He didn’t bother trying to stop the delighted growl that rumbled through him again as he leaned in, gathering her up in his arms and kissing her.
She laughed against his lips, a sensation that he was instantly certain he wanted to experience every day for the rest of his life.
After he thoroughly kissed her, she leaned back, not pulling from his hold, just far enough so she could meet his eyes.
“I suppose I’ll have to accept that you’ll always be a bit feral.”
He grinned wolfishly at her and pressed a kiss to her jaw.
Another breathy laugh escaped her as she craned back to look at him again. “I think it will take far longer to get used to the idea of your age. You’re older than my grandfather.”
Revi snorted. “Yes. Though, for an Elyri, I’m quite young. It’s rare for someone my age to be handed a throne.”
The thought sobered him. Kienna seemed to sense it; she pressed her hand to rest against his chest, a gentle squeeze of understanding.
Suddenly, she frowned. “Does that mean I’m to grow old while you’re still in your prime?” Her eyes darted up to his. “Are you going to have to watch me die one day?”
Revi shook his head. “Our bond means we share everything. Including our lives, in the most literal sense. As long as my magic stays strong, my life—and yours—will extend far longer than a human’s would.” He hesitated. “Are you... comfortable with that?”
Her expression was solemn, but after a moment, she nodded. “It will be strange watching my family age without me, but...” She leaned into him, and he pressed his forehead to hers. “I chose you, not just because I wanted to save your life, but because I chose you. I will take everything that comes with that, good and ill.”
“As will I.” His grip tightened on her. “I would die for you, and I will live for you even more than for my Court.” He shrugged. “Perhaps that makes me a terrible leader. Perhaps I should have let Enlo—” He cut off, his heart contracting at the thought of his cousin, leaving with only a message for him through Kienna. He closed his eyes against the wash of pain.
“You’re a great leader.” Kienna moved her hands to cup his face. “You’ve proven that plenty recently. Don’t start doubting yourself again now. Besides, you’ll have me to remind you.”
The thought was a balm. However imperfect he was, Kienna’s goodness would help him stay the course. He had no doubt that even if his people were uncertain of her at first, eventually she would become hope to them. Just like she had for him.
“I will.” He opened his eyes and met her gaze. “And that reminds me. I have something for you.”
Her brow knit together quizzically.
“Zenovor.” Magic threaded from him into her, but it took far less—or maybe he just felt the loss of it less with the curse broken—than it had to gift language to Zoya.
“Now,” he whispered in Elyri, brushing his thumb across her cheek, “you are ready to be the Winter Princess our people need.”
Her lips parted and eyes widened. “Did you just—” she said in Elyri, and then gasped. “I can...”
“Yes.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me that you could have gifted me with your language from the beginning instead of me trying to bumble my way through it? I made a fool of myself.”
Revi grinned. “Not at all. Your determination is admirable, and your progress was impressive.”
She looked pleased for half a moment before her frown returned. “Still.” She whacked his arm lightly. “The whole time!”
He laughed and gathered her up again in his arms. “I’m truly sorry. Let me make it up to you.”
The half-formed noise of protest died in her throat as he pressed his lips to hers.