CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
“I rather like being married,” Ilain remarked. She played with the fire in the hearth absentmindedly, making it leap behind the metal screen. Without a magical quest, she had little regular use for her magic, and she found herself seeking out flames to manipulate with a twirl of her finger.
Lounging on one of the settees in their suite, Ethenn ran his thumb along her ribcage, sending a tiny spiral of magic across her skin. A contented emotion filled the air around them. Now Bonded, she’d readily grown used to feeling his emotions, a benefit of their union she greatly enjoyed.
“I expect you should,” Ethenn said casually.
Ilain leaned closer against his chest, dropping her head back to look up at him. “Because you’re such a splendid husband?”
“Well, I am,” he replied with dry humor. “But I meant that marriage is intended to be enjoyable.”
With a light chuckle, Ilain turned back to the fire. The fabric of her full skirt rustled as she stretched her legs to the length of the settee. “What are we going to do?”
“Be happy for the next two hundred years.”
“I meant about—”
“I knew what you meant,” he interrupted, then placed a kiss on the back of her head. He rested his mouth there, murmuring into her hair, “I don’t know.”
Ilain chewed on the inside of her cheek. “This was supposed to be the easy part,” she lamented. “I always knew that once Allund was raised, I would become Highlady Chancellor of Doorstunds Reach. That was my future from the beginning. Why is it so hard for me to accept that now?”
“It’s probably my fault,” Ethenn said apologetically.
Ilain tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “Why would it be your fault?”
“We’re Bonded,” he noted. “Your emotions are affected by mine. You can probably feel that I’m hesitant, and it’s causing you to doubt yourself.”
“Hm.” Ilain picked at the beading on her skirt. “Why are you hesitant?”
He shrugged. “It’s like you said earlier: They’re our family. Evylin and I actually share blood, even if it is distant. You know how important that is to me.”
Ilain did know. Before their marriage, Ethenn had explained everything about his past. He fought in the taverns and worked constantly for Terrina’s sake. When Terrina was sold off to Bastien Muirren, it felt to him as though he’d lost his last family member—his only reason for living.
Discovering his relation to Evylin was like learning he had a second sister. For the first time in a long time, it gave Ethenn hope that he could still belong and had a purpose. There could be a reason for him to live and fight beyond the anger urging violence under his skin.
Ilain threaded her fingers through Ethenn’s. “It’s important to me too,” she whispered.
“And if we take the position,” Ethenn concluded, “we’ll be weeks away from them. We won’t see them for years at a time.”
Ilain stared dejectedly at the flames dancing low in the fireplace.
The Doorstunds Province apartments were decorated in the red tones of Fire.
A crimson rug splayed over the stone floor.
Lush scarlet drapes hung open around the windows, and a light breeze drifted in to cool the room.
In the mountains, Aulton grew quite hot in the summer.
Nearer the sun, it heated the great city like a stove.
“We could make that a condition of our acceptance,” Ilain said hopefully. “If we take the position, they have to allow us time to visit at least once a season.”
A sardonic knowing filled the air. “We’ll be governing a province, Ilain. We can’t just travel to visit family whenever we want.”
She sighed. “Then we don’t accept it.”
Ethenn hesitated, his reluctance palpable. “What else would we do?”
“We’re a Mage and a Warrior,” she said. “Bonded, need I remind you. We would make splendid bodyguards.”
He chuckled, his ribcage pressing against her back. “And who are we going to protect?”
“Jonn and Evylin, of course.”
“Why would—?” He started over, understanding. “Thom doesn’t think they’ll take it.”
“Of course they will,” she insisted. “It may take time, but Evylin will help him see reason.”
“You think she wants it?”
“No. It’s Jonn who wants it. He’s just too pious to admit it.”
Ethenn paused. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense, dear. You’re just not looking at it correctly.”
He didn’t argue, though she could feel that he wasn’t convinced.
Ilain patted his arm placatingly. “Don’t worry. They’ll accept, and we can join them in Loclight as one big happy family. And worst case, if they don’t accept, we’ll simply request to go wherever they go.”
Ethenn nodded. “I like that.”
“Me too.”
Resting her head against his shoulder, Ilain settled in.
It wasn’t the future she’d originally imagined for herself, but somehow, it felt right.
She’d always held a secret desire to be free of her impending duty.
It was weighty, considering herself as a ruler.
In this version of their lives, Ilain would simply get to live as Ethenn’s wife, enjoying the tranquil life for which she’d always wished.
The press of Ethenn’s lips against her neck drew her to close her eyes.
Yes, she quite liked marriage. And Ethenn truly was a splendid husband.
With their ever-growing trust, his reservation had eased.
He was still quiet and temperamental—she had to watch how often she teased him lest he become annoyed—but he’d grown vastly more tender and caring.
He was steadier, as though her magic and his had combined to level out his inner fire.
It soothed the ember within Ilain too.
Ethenn’s hand glided across Ilain’s waist, his fingers tracing the crystal beads and embroidery on the dress.
She’d chosen the gown to represent her brother.
Golden yellow like Day. Auden might not have survived their mission, but he was in the Heavens now, watching over them proudly.
The Alliance had accomplished its goal. Magic was restored to full power (a slow return, though Ilain could already feel a subtle burgeoning within her each time she touched her power), and Allund was a unified nation once again.
After all his hard work and sacrifice, Auden’s life would not be in vain.
A sudden thought struck Ilain, stilling her under her husband’s amorous touch.
Ethenn’s lips paused, his affection halting on her bare shoulder. He lifted his head, looking at her. “What is it?” he asked.
Ilain blinked at the fire. How had she forgotten? She was a miserable excuse for a sister.
“Ilain?”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“Can’t what?”
“I can’t do this.”
Ethenn furrowed his brow. “I hate to inform you, love, but we’ve already done this about a hundred times.”
Ilain turned to him with a scrunched-up nose. “We’ve only been married for a month,” she said.
He shrugged lightly. “I rounded up.”
She smirked. “That isn’t what I was referring to, anyway.”
“What were you referring to?”
Forcing herself to sit up, Ilain pulled out of his arms. She shifted on the crimson settee to face him fully. “I made a promise to Auden,” she said.
Ethenn’s chin lifted with ready understanding. He took her hands comfortingly.
“I told you about Maura,” Ilain began. “She’s locked in the Deep, dying slowly. If she isn’t healed, she’ll be lost forever. It was Auden’s aim to save her.”
“By Bonding,” Ethenn noted.
Ilain nodded. “He thought that if he became the Day Chancellor, with the power of the Relic and his amplified magic, he could find a means of a cure. That’s what Day does, after all. It heals.”
Staring into Ethenn’s dark eyes, Ilain knew he understood without her even having to say the rest. But she continued anyway.
“I have to use the Alliance’s favor to press for this cure.
They’ll try to help, yes, but . . . If I don’t put my everything into it, it may never happen.
Maura can’t wait much longer. And I must save her. For Auden.”
Ethenn nodded. “They’ll agree, of course,” he said. “But you’re not a Day Mage, and only so much can be done.”
“But if you and I go to the Order of the Day,” she said, “if we add our powers and skills into searching for this cure alongside the Day Chancellor and Commander, we can ensure that it comes.”
Slowly, Ethenn lifted his chin. “That will only take a few years, Allore willing. What will we do then?”
“Rejoin our friends?” Ilain suggested.
Ethenn smiled. “I’d be happy with that.”
Still, Ilain was unsettled.
Ethenn tugged on her hand gently. “Tell me.”
“It’s nothing. I just—” Ilain stared at their hands.
She wore only two rings now: the white and black moonstone, shining in its elegant gold and silver fitting, and her wedding gift from Ethenn—an intricate golden band designed to look like two gilda lilies holding a ruby between them.
She’d already begun to slowly infuse power into both rings, storing it up for a time she might need it most.
“For the past thirty years of my life,” she whispered, almost to the rings themselves, “this is who I was meant to become. I was supposed to be Highlady Chancellor. Now . . .”
She met Ethenn’s patient gaze again. “What will I be when this is over?”
Tenderly, Ethenn lifted her chin, his thumb grazing her jawline. “Who you’ve always been,” he said. “Highlady Ilain Loxley, the most powerful Fire Mage in two centuries, a bloody goddess, and . . .” He leaned closer as he whispered, “My wife.”
A bashful smirk came to Ilain’s lips. “I still think we should have taken my last name.”
“I’m not that progressive,” he said, closing the gap.
Just before their lips met, she murmured, “Bloody prude.”