Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
NISSIA
Iknow that Vizarios is trying, and yet I still can’t help remembering how he came into my rooms and insisted we create an heir. I can’t forget how it felt to be stabbed in the chest that way, and now it’s impossible to trust how he behaves, even when he’s kind to me.
Is he doing it simply to seduce me? And don’t I want to be seduced?
But that’s not all it is now, and I won’t be happy with mere bodily pleasure. Giving him access to me means giving him a key to my heart, and if he’s simply using me, I can’t risk that.
So every day, I try to learn him. I sit with my husband at meals and listen to understand, and speak so he might understand me. He is willing to open up about his mother now, how he learned everything he knows from her.
And still, I wonder if it’s all just a ploy to get what he wants.
I’m surprised when the object of my thoughts comes to my door dressed in a deep crimson I haven’t seen him wear before, and it’s striking. He takes my hand without a second thought as Ragnakor catches up to him.
“My queen,” Vizarios says, bending his head low and pressing his lips to the back of my hand. “Will you come with me?”
I’m not used to such intimacies from him, and a tingle spreads up my arm.
“What is it?”
“A surprise. Please come?”
The earnestness in those eyes sways me. “All right. Show me to this surprise.”
Reverently, he takes my hand in his and does not let it go as he leads me down the hall. I chance a look back at Ragnakor, to see if he might give something away, but as usual, his expression is stern and unreadable.
What is waiting for me? Nerves spark to life in my belly, wondering what Vizarios has planned.
We head to the grand entryway and come to a stop in front of the great doors. Still, Vizarios does not release my hand, and I like the feeling of our fingers twined together.
One door opens, and a guard steps inside. Following him is a small... human?
Yes, it’s a human. A human with soft, brown skin and long black braids wrapped up in a traveling bun behind her head. Her eyes are kind and warm, and when she sees me, her smile squeezes her cheeks into pert little apples.
“Ari,” I whisper.
She takes one step, then two steps in my direction, reaching for me. Vizarios releases my hand, and I cross the last bit of distance between us at a run, throwing myself at Ari and wrapping her up tight in my arms.
“What are you doing here?!” I cry into her hair, squeezing her even tighter. Tears sting in the corners of my eyes. It has only been a few months since I saw her, but it feels like years. Almost a lifetime.
“I was summoned,” she says.
I pull away, peering down into Ari’s face. I forgot she was shorter than I am, given I am always surrounded by much taller dragons.
“Summoned? By whom?”
She nods over my shoulder. “The dragon king himself.”
I whirl around to face Vizarios, who stands behind me, wringing his hands.
“I called by pigeon,” he says uncertainly.
“But your father!” I spin back to put both hands on Ari’s shoulders. “He was so sick. You can’t have left him there.”
Her eyes drop to the floor. “He passed about a month and a half ago.”
Oh. My heart breaks for her, and I hug her again, even tighter this time. Her father hadn’t been a healthy man for a long time, but he was always kind and had a generous heart.
Now I understand why I never heard back from her. She has been grieving and probably couldn’t bear to write the letter.
“You went through all that without me,” I say miserably. “I’m so sorry.”
“And you went through all this without me.” She pulls away from our hug so she can peer over my shoulder. “But it looks like things are... going well?” Her gaze darts to Vizarios, and then back to me.
It’s all far too much to explain here. I turn to my husband, the one who orchestrated this, with a mixture of feelings swirling in my heart. He called Ari here like a dog to obey his bidding, and yet, I’m grateful—more than grateful—to see her again.
“I was worried that you were lonely,” Vizarios says. “I ensured she had no other obligations. The humans who brought her here on the journey were paid well from my coffers.”
I’m not sure how to answer this gesture.
“Thank you,” I say, though it doesn’t feel sufficient for bringing me my best friend. But he shakes his head as he strides toward us across the great entryway. Once in front of me, he brings his palm to my cheek and leans down close.
“You don’t need to thank me, wife. I will be happy to see you happy.” He rests his forehead against mine, and a whole swarm of butterflies bursts to life in my chest. After the briefest moment, Vizarios pulls away. “I have dressed the accommodations beside yours for your friend.”
Ari nods thankfully. “It worked out for the best, Niss. I needed to escape that place. It held so many memories of Dad.” She loops her arm through mine, smiling up at me. “Now show me around! I want to see my new room.”
So we depart together, and I brush a hand over my husband’s shoulder as I go. Ragnakor watches us with approval, and I give him a tiny wave.
Zephala smiles radiantly when I appear with Ari in tow.
“I’ve been keeping it a secret for a while now,” she says, leading us down the hall to the next door. “The king asked me to set this up for the queen’s companion, and I’ve been working on it while you’re away.” She arches a brow. “You’ve been with the King’s advisor a lot, so I had time.”
She turns the knob and opens it for us, revealing a lovely sitting room much like mine. I push Ari in first, and she twirls around, her mouth open in a circle.
“This is beautiful,” she whispers, heading to the adjoining room. Here, she gasps, then looks back at us. “The bedroom is mine?”
“Yours,” Zephala says graciously. She goes to another open door and gestures through it. “And this is your washroom. All you have to do is call and someone will come fill the tub for you.”
Ari covers her mouth as she jogs over to peek through.
“Wow,” she breathes. “I’m just a handmaiden, though!”
I’m thrilled to see her so happy, spoiled like she should be.
“I suppose you aren’t anymore,” I say, turning to Zephala. “I might have replaced you.”
Ari gives a squawk of mock outrage, and Zephala giggles.
“Wine?” Zephala asks as Ari opens her new closet and lets out a cry of surprise.
“As long as it’s not firewine,” I say.
My handmaid frowns. “I don’t know if we have anything else, but I will ask around.”
When she’s gone, Ari comes to sit with me at her new table. She runs her hands over the fine wood, her eyes wide with wonder. “This is all for me?”
I’m equally surprised that this was organized all behind my back and I had no idea. “I suppose it is. That’s what Vizarios said.”
Her eyebrows waggle. “I saw that. Are things going... well?” She says the last word with a seductive lilt to her voice, and I snort.
“Maybe. I’m not sure. It’s a very long story.”
“Well, I have time.” She leans back in her chair and puts her feet up on the table, and I laugh.
“What about you, though?” I ask. “Things have changed so much for you in just a few months, and—”
Ari sighs wearily. “I don’t want to talk about Dad. I want to talk about you, because that is much more fun, and now that we’re together again, I want to have fun, damn it.”
Again I giggle, and I forgot how easy it is for that to happen around Ari.
“All right,” I say, leaning forward. “I’ll tell you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“So, let me make sure I understand.” Ari squints, like she’s sorting through all the information I’ve given her. “You watched the captain fuck your husband—again—and now... you’re doing nothing?”
“Not ‘nothing.’ I am watching Vizarios to see what he does next.” What I’m waiting for him to do, I’m not sure.
“But what about the captain of the guard?” she asks. “Can’t you, well, sleep with him while you’re ‘waiting’?”
Aghast, I stare at her. “I couldn’t do that. I don’t even know how he feels about me. Ragnakor loves Vizarios.”
Ari studies me as if she thinks I’m telling a joke, and when she realizes I’m not, she rolls her eyes.
“All right, fine. But your husband? Come on. The man—er, dragon—has practically gotten on his knees. You know the letter he sent me?”
Zephala has been sitting with us ever since she brought back the wine.
I’ve told her very little of what goes on behind closed doors before, but now she’s privy to every last filthy detail.
She and I lean over together as Ari reaches into her bag on the floor and picks through it until she finds a rolled-up piece of paper.
She opens it and slides it across to us.
It’s written in very formal, neat handwriting—handwriting I recognize immediately as belonging to Vizarios.
The letter asks after Ari’s health and her father’s, which I didn’t think he remembered.
Then it cites his “beloved queen,” who has little in the way of friendship.
It asks if Ari might consider coming to Selvumrrest, all expenses paid.
“Of course, I said yes.” Ari lets me have the letter. “Imagine my surprise when I hear you’re not even fucking him.”
I let out an indignant huff. “He’s only after sex.”
“Well, of course he wants sex. He did the scent gland thing, right? And now he actually likes you and clearly thinks you’re hot. You’re his wife, might I add, and he seems to be taking that seriously. Why wouldn’t he want to also do the deed?”
I hadn’t considered that. I’ve always believed that we are animals, ultimately, and have animal urges like any other. Of course we want to be intimate with those we like, those we find attractive, those who we’ve already had unforgettable sex with before—
“I believe Ari is right.” We both turn when Zephala speaks for the first time. “It could even be healing, Your Majesty. It could be just what the two of you need to truly reconnect.”
Ari slaps the table. “I like how you think, new handmaiden.”
I glare at both of them, feeling outvoted. I decide I don’t want to talk about it anymore and change the subject to Ari’s journey.
That night, it’s a marvel unlike any other to hug my best friend and say goodnight to her as she climbs into her new, fluffy bed. I pick up Daina and carry her back to my quarters with Zephala at my side, mulling over what I should do.