Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
OPHELIA
THREE MONTHS LATER
This time, no one dares to ignore me. His family and friends know me now, and the palace learns to accept me—halfling and all.
I’m the one who ended the curse, after all.
It takes time for me to embrace the title of curse breaker, and even longer to grow accustomed to the awards, knighthood, and hanging of my portrait in the great hall.
I am still working on not blushing every time I pass that damn portrait.
There’s a greater reason than a curse to respect me today.
It’s my wedding day. Our ceremony is smaller than his mother wanted, but that’s all right—it is what we want.
My friends and family are here as well. Helena, Tibalt, Raia, and Elisa.
Though none of them are related to me by blood, they’re the closest I have to family.
Someone is missing, someone other than my father, but I can’t quite put my finger on who it is. Besides, my father is here in spirit.
Emyr and I stare up at my father’s grand portrait. It’s hung in the ballroom, just for today, and he watches over the celebration of fae as they waltz around the room in sparkling dresses.
“Do you think he would approve of me?” Emyr asks.
“Hm…” I tilt my head. “You should’ve asked this sooner, if it’s of great concern, because I think he would have preferred Tibalt—”
Emyr’s fingers poke into my side. “You’re a pest.”
“And yet you married me.” I turn to him with a cocky smile. “You can no longer take it back. Well, I suppose you can, but it is an awfully big hassle.”
He pushes his face closer. “I’ll never do that. I adore you, my silly love.”
“And I adore you.” I weave my fingers into his hair.
He nearly wore it in a bun, but his white locks are loose around his shoulders at my request—just how I like it. It makes it easy to pull his face to mine and kiss him hard, letting the room witness our love.
“That’s why I married you, you know,” I say.
Spark passes by us. He swishes his tail and gives us a look of disgust, as he often does when we are affectionate.
“Spark,” Emyr exclaims. “It’s our wedding day. Can we not have one day without your judgment?”
“Ignore him.” I giggle. “You’re right. Today is for us.”
It’s for both of us, but in so many ways, it’s for me. This is the day his kingdom fully accepts me. It’s the day I become royal. It’s the day I am part of something greater, the Sun Palace, which is now bright, with bursts of light cascading through every window in rainbows and yellow beams.
What a beautiful day to be alive.
A voice like bells comes from over our shoulder. “May I have a moment?”
I turn, and my eyebrows creep higher. “Isa…? I wasn’t expecting you. I tried sending you an invitation, but I couldn’t find an address.”
“That is all right, dear one.” Isa chuckles. “I will always find a way to come, whether or not I am invited.”
“We both have much to thank you for,” Emyr says. “If it weren’t for you… well, I would rather not think about what would have transpired.”
He would have married Minetta, who is now happily betrothed to someone else. The curse would not have been broken, and I would have died. Perhaps we should not put such grim things into words on our wedding day. Isa likely does not mean to ruin the mood in such a way.
“There is a reason I have been of such great assistance.” Isa ducks her head. “I am not as selfless as I pretend to be, and it’s time you know why. Perhaps you have already deciphered why that is.”
“Um…” I clasp my hands together, nervously twiddling my fingers. “Then it wasn’t from the kindness of your heart? Please, don’t tell me we owe you a debt. I can’t take any bad news today.”
“No, no. There is no debt.” The older fae steps closer. “Your father truly never told you about me?”
For reasons I don’t understand, my eyes fill with tears. “Forgive me, but he didn’t. Is it possible to speak more plainly?”
Isa’s chest puffs out and deflates. “I am your godmother. Your mother and I were dearest friends.”
Words fail me—my heart races. Tears fill my vision, not from joy or sorrow, but confusion.
Emyr usually has something to say, and I trust him to break the silence.
“Her godmother?” he yelps. “Since when?”
“Since she was born.” Isa chuckles. “Perhaps this is not the right day to tell you, and I apologize for the interruption. I will leave you to your merriment.”
“No!” I grab her hand. “Forgive me. It will take some time for me to accept this news, but—”
“Is it such a surprise?” Hurt reflects in her eyes. “I cannot believe your father told you nothing about me. He and I were once friends, you know.”
“He rarely spoke of my mother. She was a sore subject to him, and he may have wrongly assumed she would be to me as well.”
She frowns. “It is a good thing I found you after all, then. I have plenty of stories to tell.”
My eyes light up. “Do you truly?”
“Yes, but they are stories for another day.” She looks around and sighs happily. “I have always loved this palace. I think I will stay for a bit longer, if you do not mind.”
“Of course,” Emyr says. “We don’t. You may stay for as long as you’d like.”
Thank the gods for him. He may be able to form a coherent thought, but I can’t. I have far too many questions, and even though she doesn’t wish to address them today, I need to know.
“How did you find me?” I ask. “Why didn’t you find me sooner?”
Her face becomes grave. “I was led to believe you… well, that you died with your mother.”
My stomach drops. “Oh.”
“It was an accident when I stumbled upon you in Far Water. I was in town for the ball, and when I saw you in the village, you looked just like your mother.” Her eyes grew misty. “Then, when I saw you two lock eyes in the village, I knew what you were.”
“A halfling?”
“No, dear one. A curse breaker.”
I press my lips together. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to know you sooner.”
“We have plenty of time now.”
“That’s right. She’s here now,” Emyr says, squeezing my shoulder. “And she will remain for as long as she’d like. Now that the curse is broken, we have all the time to spend with the people we care for.”
EMYR
My parents have given us an entire wing now that we’re married, and it’s a good thing, considering what we have planned tonight.
Ophelia and I return to our bedchamber, having had a few drinks and danced until our feet were sore. Giggles fall from her lips as I unlock the door. She stands behind me, rubbing my chest and crotch.
I groan. “Please, darling. Allow me to focus on the task at hand.”
“You are the task in my hands.” She presses harder, as if to make a point.
At last, I unlock the door and stumble inside.
Ophelia—my wife—is still wearing the champagne, glittering gown she’s worn all evening.
She reaches behind as if to unfasten it, struggling, gasping.
I allow the adorable display to continue for a few moments before moving behind her, chuckling under my breath.
“My Queen.” I tug at the ties of her gown, and they come undone with ease. “Allow me.”
She inhales heavily. “Thank you.”
I push the fabric down, letting it drop. As I remove the rest of her underthings, revealing her smooth skin, I work far too slowly for my liking. The torture will be worth it. My lips press against her shoulder, my hands brushing over goose-bumped skin.
“Tell me what you’d like to do with me tonight,” I say. “I will give it to you. All you must do is ask.”
She turns in a fluid motion. Her soft wings brush against my chin as she goes, and when I finally see her face, her eyes dance with light.
“What if I want three of you?” She unfastens my breeches. “Is that possible, My King?”
If Ophelia asks me for something that is within my control, it’s done. If it’s out of my control, I will find a way to make it happen nonetheless. This? It is all too easy.
“Yes,” I breathe. “That’s more than possible.”
She pauses, her expression somber. “Are you sure? I only want this if you want it, and if you have the energy for it tonight.”
Ophelia and I have spent a considerable amount of time in the bedroom.
Most of the time, it’s just the two of us, and I know I can please her just as well without my doubles.
It took me a while to learn to trust that, but she is one of the few who has never made me feel pressured to use them.
That only makes me want to use my magic more in this way, finally feeling safe to explore my pleasure fully.
For the first time, it doesn’t exhaust me to use my magic in this way… and I crave it.
My doubles appear on either side of me, each as aroused as I am.
“Are you sure you can handle what we have to give you?” I murmur.
“Yes,” Ophelia breathes. “Please. I’ve dreamt of this since we met.”
“What did you dream of?” we all ask.
One of my doubles moves behind her. He palms her breast. With a snap of my fingers, their clothes are removed, even though most of mine remain.
“Filling me completely.” Ophelia trembles in his touch.
I slide my fingers between her legs, wetting them.
“All of me.”
“Remove my shirt,” I murmur.
She listens. How good she is—delicate and perfect, trembling under our touch.
The third moves to her side and nips her earlobe. “Is that truly what you want, Queen? You want us to fill every hole? Claiming you? Making you ours?”
“Yes,” she whines. “Yes, please. It’s all I desire.”
The second lowers to his knees.
I push my fingers into her wet cunt and sigh. “We must take our time—make sure you are prepared.”
The second dives his face into her behind.
She gasps. “What—what exactly will that entail?”
“Give in to your pleasure.” I take her lip between my teeth, scraping against the soft flesh. “I’ll show you exactly what to do and how to take us all. I know you’ll do perfectly, darling. All you must do is listen.”
She moans. It’s impossible to say whether her pleasure comes from the curl of my fingers or my magical double’s tongue diving into her asshole. It doesn’t matter. Each bit of pleasure comes from me.
I’m as hard as a diamond, and she can barely stand when we finally collapse in bed. I lie on my back, guiding her onto my cock. She gasps as she lowers herself, and I bottom out. The second stands behind, and the third kneels at the head of the bed.
“Are you ready?” I ask, rubbing my thumb against her clit.
“I—”
The second presses his cock against her other hole, but goes no farther. Not yet.
“I am already so full,” Ophelia says.
“My love, we don’t have to—”
“No. Take me.” She leans back, pressing her head against the second’s chest, locking her eyes with him.
I whimper at the sight.
“Just go slow,” Ophelia whispers.
The second pushes deeper, and I can’t look away from his face—my face—so full of ecstasy. My pleasure. It may appear to be someone else, but I can feel it all—how tight she is. With my cock already filling her, her back hole is even tighter, and gods…
I feel it all.
Ophelia’s pleasure is evident. She shakes on top of me, and we’ve hardly begun moving. The second rolls his hips in gentle circles, barely giving her anything, and with a soft rub of my thumb against her clit she falls apart.
I lift my hips, bucking into her as she loses herself.
The third tugs her hair, guiding her lips onto his hard cock.
“Tap my chest if you need to stop.” I grunt. “You know the rules.”
Rather than answering, she wraps her mouth around the third cock, and I’m in heaven.
Moans echo through the room, loud enough that anyone passing may hear. Ophelia loses herself, too. It doesn’t seem as though there is a thought behind her glazed, tearful eyes as she allows us each to thrust into her. Her cunt is still clenching, deep in the throes of pleasure as we claim her.
Inch by inch, every spot of soft skin, and every sound she makes…
It belongs to me. We belong together.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“Surely, there’s nowhere you can show me in this land that you haven’t already taken me to.” Ophelia’s voice has become softer lately. She laughs more and watches me with a twinkling eye, and I know it is all for me.
“You would be incorrect.” I take her hand and help her lower herself from the carriage.
The driver begins unloading our things, and another carriage arrives just behind us. Tibalt, Helena, Raia, and Elisa all scramble from it with less grace than Ophelia carries.
We’re in the most beautiful place in the realm. I can’t believe this is all mine.
The bright light glistens on the white beaches, beaming so brightly that Ophelia shades her eyes from it, squinting into the distance. The estate is smaller than the castle, but it’s still a towering home situated beside the beach.
A soft gasp falls from her lips.
The curse was broken before we were married, but there’s no denying that our marriage has made everything brighter. I longed to show her the beach house sooner and to experience our beach for myself for the first time, but saving it for the summer felt appropriate.
I was correct. It’s worth the wait to see her parted lips and glowing cheeks.
“This is our beach?” she breathes.
Ours. Everything is ours now. The kingdom. The life we share.
I nod, emotion forming a lump in my throat. “Yes. I thought this could be a favorable place to spend our holiday, but if you’d prefer to go elsewhere—”
There are other places I could take Ophelia. Farther away. Prettier beaches. She does seem to adore the Moon Palace, as one would expect.
“No.” She takes my hand and shakes her head. “This is perfect, Emyr.”
“Hells!” Helena yells. “Forget perfect. It’s bloody gorgeous.”
Tibalt wraps an arm around Helena’s shoulder, pulling her against his side and whispering something in her ear. They’ve been courting for some time now, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before they are betrothed—but Tibalt has his reasons for moving more slowly in love.
I’ll give them time. Hopefully, Helena does as well.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Raia breathes.
“It puts the old lake in Far Water to shame,” Elisa says.
Spark lowers himself from the carriage and stretches out, yawning. This will be his first time seeing the beach, too. He casts me a look of confusion, as if he’s unsure where he’s supposed to go.
Ophelia answers the question for us. She lifts the trail of her dress and bounds toward the water, letting out a shriek of laughter that startles Spark.
“Where are you going?” I call, chasing after her, sand filling my shoes. “We’re not dressed for a swim!”
“It doesn’t matter.” She turns to face me, gliding backward, her wings carrying her. The salty air whips her hair around her face. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me from enjoying the water.”
She’s positively wild, but I would not dream of stopping her. I bound after her, and to my surprise, Spark does as well.
The others follow us, squealing and giggling as they run through the sand.
This is how we’ll spend the rest of our lives. Together.