Chapter 30 Lily
THIRTY
LILY
We walked away from the banquet hall, the table still overflowing with uneaten food as kitchen maids came running in to clear it.
I clasped Keane’s hand in mine, grateful that he was walking beside me rather than behind me.
I sneaked a quick glance at him, hardly daring to believe this man loved me.
I needed to keep him close, and not only because in his presence I could breathe easier.
We didn’t know what Riala would do next.
“Tell me everything that happened when I was gone,” he said.
I nodded and quickly told him all that had happened in the last few hours, including the revelation that Riala had killed my father. At the end I said, “We played right into Riala’s hands, with me coming here to Gilbrook Castle.”
“This was probably her plan when she attacked you outside Winton Castle, to get you to move somewhere we all felt more secure but where she had more control. There was no way you could have known.”
Regret trickled through me. “I endangered everyone here—including all of those lords who came with expectations of potential marriage.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Have you made your choice in that matter?”
His words brought back our earlier argument. Now we’d admitted we loved each other, but that didn’t change anything between us. We still couldn’t be together. But I knew I couldn’t marry any of those men either. “Yes, I have, and I suppose it’s time I broke the news to them.”
Keane stiffened beside me at the words, as we entered the great hall.
Calling it a great hall felt overly grandiose.
It was much smaller than the one at Winton Castle and felt smaller still with everyone crowded inside.
I glanced at the mirror on the wall with a frown, knowing Riala could be watching us even now.
Keane dropped my arm, walked over to it, and smashed it with his elbow.
All of the other lords jumped and stared at his bold action.
“Princess Lily.” Lord Theund stood up. “It’s good to see you looking so well.”
Each of my suitors stood as I moved further into the room, still clutching Keane’s hand, my gaze landing on Lasloe as he held Gusten’s hand. At least two of them were happy.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice crystal clear, even though I didn’t know exactly what to say.
“Thank you again for helping me this morning. Clearly something terrible has happened in my kingdom, something that I need to put right before I can continue with my plans for the future. I wish all of you well, and I really do count each one of you as a very dear friend.”
Danzin stepped forward. “Please don’t feel you need to continue, Princess Lily.
I think each of us knows where your true affections lie.
It has been one of my greatest pleasures to meet you, and I hope I may visit Talador again soon to study your plants some more.
” He grinned and pushed his glasses back up his nose in a now-familiar gesture.
“I really appreciate your support, and you are welcome—all of you—in Talador always.” I gazed across the room, trying to include them all. “I think it’s safe to say I wouldn’t be alive now if I hadn’t had all of you here to help me.”
Keane squeezed my fingers gently as if conveying his regret, but he was here now and that was all that mattered. I took reassurance from having him at my side.
Theund stepped forward. “We’d like to help you further, if we can.” He glanced over his shoulder at the others as if daring them to disagree. “The evil queen must be stopped.”
The others nodded in agreement, even Covack, who had managed to stay awake somehow. “I think we should prepare to follow her immediately,” he said, and it was possibly the longest sentence I’d heard from him that wasn’t interrupted by a yawn.
The other men all chimed in with their support, even Lord Vasso, who seemed to be completely recovered by now.
Each of these men deserved to find happiness and good wives.
Perhaps I could help when all of this was resolved and my position in Talador was secure.
If nothing else, Riala had strengthened my resolve on two things.
One, I was fit to rule Talador—and I was ready for whatever happened next. And two, I needed to remove the ban on fae magic as soon as possible. She’d exposed all of our vulnerabilities. Without magic, our defenses were weak, and I didn’t intend Talador to be weak ever again.
“We have to assume she’s gone to Winton Castle,” Keane said. “If we base our assumptions on the fact she believes herself to be the true Queen of Talador, she’d likely go straight to the throne to secure it.”
I nodded. “I think you’re right, and it’s going to take us a few days to get there. We should pack and make ourselves ready to leave immediately.”
Keane barked orders and laid out a quick plan for everyone to follow, and then my suitors dispersed to gather their things and prepare to depart. As the room became empty, I sighed.
“We’ll make everything right again,” Keane reassured me.
“I know, but I can’t help worrying about Iris.
” I nibbled my bottom lip. My sister was suddenly with the mother she’d never known, and I wasn’t there to help her through that.
Not only that, but Riala had come far too close to ending my life.
If I hadn’t overheard her and Malren in that cellar room, I might have eaten her poisoned breakfast.
Keane squeezed my hand. “You said it yourself that Riala won’t hurt Iris. Why would she? She’s her mother.”
I grimaced. “Yes, but I suspect she’ll want to mold Iris in her image.”
“We won’t let that happen. Besides, Iris has had twelve years of your influence in her life. Don’t lose faith in her ability to know right from wrong.”
I nodded, my mind still somewhere else. Sun and Moon knew what Riala was doing. Hopefully my sisters were all safe and well.
“I need to pack quickly,” I said. “If Riala is at Winton Castle, she could be doing all sorts of damage and creating no end of conflict. My other sisters are there, after all. How long do you think it will take to get there if we don’t stop overnight?”
Keane rested his hands on my shoulders. “Try to relax. We will get to the castle as soon as we can, but you still need to regain your strength. You recently died, after all.”
“I’m fine,” I said, though I did relax a little at his touch. “Though I’m much better now that you’ve returned.”
His calloused fingers brushed against my cheek. “I won’t leave you ever again.”
“See that you don’t.”
I took hold of his jacket before pressing my lips to his.
He grunted his surprise and took a moment to respond.
After everything that had happened today, and the threat looming over us, I needed Keane’s comfort more than ever.
Then his fingers threaded into my hair as he held me to him, and he walked me backward to the nearby table.
“I’m so relieved. I thought you were gone without me ever saying…” As he spoke, he released my hair from the pins and it cascaded down my back. He buried his face in my hair and breathed deeply.
“Shush.” I drew away and pressed my finger against his lips. “We’re together now and that’s all that matters.”
His lips moved against mine, confident and possessive, more so than before, and a thrill of excitement darted through me now I knew what to expect and how Keane could make me feel. “I think I know how to calm your nerves,” he said.
“Yes, please.” I yielded to him, arching my neck, offering myself to him as he pressed his kisses there.
I felt a desperate urge to be connected to him, to have him soothe away all my worries.
He nipped my ears gently with his teeth and stroked me with his tongue, and heat sparked under my skin at his careful control.
He reached around me and slowly unfastened my ties, each of his movements slow and filling me with anticipation.
I held my breath, waiting for his touch.
But he surprised me, pressing me to lie on the table as he drew my bodice low, my breasts spilling from its confines. His hands were on them immediately, his thumbs stroking across my nipples until they hardened under his touch. I gasped and he grinned, suddenly a little wicked.
“At your service, Your Majesty…” he whispered, and I moaned at how deliciously forbidden those words sounded now.
Just when I thought he might kiss my lips, he surprised me by bending over the table and pushing my skirts up around my waist. Instinctively, I pressed my thighs together. Confusion spiraled adrenaline though me, and my breaths came in spurts. What was he doing down there?
“Relax,” Keane said. He skimmed a hand up my leg, starting at my ankle, and goosebumps broke out over me at his soft touch.
His lips touched the inside of my knee and I drew in a breath.
Then a little higher, and higher still, and I stopped breathing altogether, holding all the air inside my chest as I waited.
But Keane drew the moment out, tormenting me as I lay there. His lips were hovering above my skin. I could feel his presence and my core heated as a rush of desire flooded me.
His fingers probed against my center, and I realized I’d relaxed without even meaning to. Then he urged my legs to part further before he continued his trail of kisses and my heart pounded fiercely in my chest as his tongue flicked out, grazing across my heated skin.
I gasped and pushed my hands into my skirts, bunching the fabric in my fists.
Keane sucked in a ragged breath as he pressed closer to my body, running his tongue between my folds and dipping it inside me.
I writhed against him as he coaxed the fire in my core.
I didn’t know what I wanted. I just wanted more.
“Don’t stop,” I whispered as I reached beyond my skirts, to his head, and threaded my fingers into his hair. I closed my eyes, letting his tongue dictate everything I felt. My hips moved of their own accord and my muscles trembled softly.
As he did the most incredible things with his tongue, I covered my mouth with my hand, fighting to keep my pleasure quiet.
It became too much, and I moaned with every new exhale until I could only hear my pleasure and feel Keane’s mouth on my skin.
It was exquisite torment as time sped up, racing me to the moment of release, and then everything stopped and my center convulsed, my body tightening and releasing in wave after wave.
I let my arms relax and drop to my sides and a slow smile spread across my face. “I didn’t imagine…” I started. “I thought everything was…”
“There’s always more.” Keane’s voice startled me, and when I saw him, the bulge of his arousal evident in his trousers, my mouth dried afresh and I craved him.
I opened my arms to him, wanting him inside me as he’d been before. “Please, Keane,” I implored him, and his eyes burned with fresh desire.
He unfastened his trousers and took hold of his hard length in his hand. I moaned at the sight and heat rushed to my center again. I’d never felt such wanton need before.
He remained standing, dragging me down the table so my legs hung off it, then wrapped them around his hips. This table was the perfect height to align our bodies together, and as he hovered over me he looked every inch the dangerous Captain of my guard.
I met his clear blue-eyed gaze. When he didn’t move any farther forward, I rocked against him a little, making him gasp as the motion pressed the tip of him into me.
I tightened my legs around him, until he groaned and thrust against me, sinking himself inside me.
I gasped at the sudden invasion stretching me wide, and horror filled his gaze.
“Lily? Are you hurt?”
I shook my head as the sensation eased, becoming one of deep satisfaction. “No. You feel good there. Don’t stop.”
He pushed into me again, and gripped my hips as he thrust into me. With each moan, he went harder and faster, realizing I could take it. I wasn’t weak. Not when he was beside me. Together we were so much stronger.
It didn’t take long for his rhythm to spiral me to fresh heights. My body fluttered fresh waves around him, drawing a deep groan from him as he froze above me, his eyes shut tight in what looked part like pain, part like pleasure.
He dropped his weight to his elbows and kissed me softly on my lips. “Queen of my heart.”
A different kind of pleasure claimed me at his words, and I held him against me, luxuriating in the man I hadn’t dared to love…yet couldn’t imagine ever giving up.