Five Months Later

The castle’s chapel was full again.

But this time, the marriage was not for my sister or even for an arranged union. This time, it was for me. And I was finally being united with my one true love in holy matrimony.

The good king Brentley had pardoned Vienne from her spousal mourning period of a year since her first husband had turned out to be a traitor to the throne. So, we decided to have the ceremony as soon as we had the kingdom put to rights again.

Which had taken too fucking long, if you wanted my opinion.

Honestly.

Far Shore hadn’t readily agreed to believe that Soren had been the sole culprit behind their raised clear rock tariffs. They were still bent out of shape over the fact that Donnelly had chosen High Cliff for an alliance, not them. And they were particularly enraged when their only prince, Murdock, ended up dead. They wanted to make us hurt. Badly.

So, after receiving word that they’d sent out another round of troops to fight us for annihilating their first wave of men—three times the amount they’d sent the first time—we were forced to prepare for yet another war.

I’m not gonna lie; we experienced massive amounts of panic when we learned another army was headed our way, no matter how archaic and outdated their weaponry and war gear was. I quite frankly shat my pants.

Metaphorically, of course.

Their first attack had taken out twenty percent of our men, and the remaining eighty were exhausted and wounded. We didn’t have the time to recuperate before this fresh, new army arrived within days. We’d sent word to my father for backup, sure—that’s why Donnelly had aligned themselves with High Cliff, after all—but it would’ve taken High Cliff soldiers a good three weeks to arrive.

We basically had little chance of survival in this until Vienne’s grandfather came up with the idea to use Elliott.

Despite the fact that the dragon had been hidden inside a sand cave for nearly sixty years to avoid this very fate, Mandalay insisted he enter the battle.

“He’s at the end of his life,” the old man explained. “He will enjoy getting out from under the mountain for some fresh air. And besides, no one will think to bring anything to fight off a dragon attack, since they believe they’re all extinct. This will win us the war in minutes and intimidate every other kingdom out there into thinking first before they decide to strike at us. By the time any of them grow the audacity to attack, we’ll have built up our army enough to handle them without Elliott, as he’ll probably be gone by then, anyway. So whatever weapons they create to hurt him will be pointless. And we’ll have moved on to creating brick and our subpar dragonless glass to support our commerce with other realms. So, honestly, there’s no reason not to use him.”

The old man argued a good point.

Thus, it was decided.

We let Elliott fly free in the sky. In a matter of minutes, he charred everyone in the approaching Far Shore army who’d been on the road to attack us, and we didn’t use a single soldier against them.

Elliott died peacefully, above ground, three weeks later. I think Vienne mourned him the most, and not just because she never got to live out her dragon sex dream; she simply missed her old friend.

Since then, Brentley had been working with the ruler of Far Shore to come to a peace agreement. The two kingdoms were back to trading with each other—they adored our new brick commodity about as much as they had our clear rock—but things were anything but friendly between us. I feared we hadn’t seen the last of Far Shore’s anger.

In other news, King Brentley had also dropped the magic ban in Donnelly, which proved useful since the magic ward Nanny Wynter had placed around the village and castle had stopped working since she’d gone missing. People of magic were once again allowed within the borders, and a High Cliff priestess was actually present in the chapel this very moment to bless my union with Vienne. Both Brentley and Allera had visited her the moment she’d arrived in Donnelly and were currently sporting the new tattoos she’d given them to prove it.

The glances those two goofballs kept sending each other was so sickly sweet I had to roll my eyes and turn away, only to spot Nicolette standing in a doorway not far away, holding a babbling, bouncing Anniston on her hip as she solemnly watched the guests gather.

Seeing her made me sigh. Nicolette had been out of her mind with worry when we’d sent Elliott out to take care of Far Shore. She was sure her one true love would be among them and perish. But when her mark stayed in place after the battle, she’d been much more reassured. I could tell, however, that a restlessness had grown in her.

I couldn’t blame her. If I could sense my one true love out there and knew which way to go to find him, as Nicolette did, I’d have left long ago. I knew she wanted to go. And even though she kept promising me she wouldn’t leave on her own or without a goodbye, I feared one day she’d simply vanish, having decided to race after him.

Vienne thought she’d go when she was ready and that when she did, we should let her. I supposed she had a point—it was Nicolette’s journey to take, not ours—but I still worried about the princess. She’d become a sister to me. I didn’t want to see her hurt.

Wandering toward her, I nodded when her gaze met mine.

“I believe you’re going to have more guests today than Brentley and Allera did for their wedding,” she said.

I shrugged. “Possibly. Vienne is quite adored by her people.”

Nicolette rolled her eyes. “As is the leader of their army,” she said, nudging my arm with a knowing grin.

Anniston looked up when I laughed, and when she spotted me, she offered a gum-filled grin—showing off her top two teeth that were just coming in—before she lifted her arms for me to hold her. Flattered every time she preferred me over another, I slipped her from Nicolette’s arms as the princess went back to studying the room.

“Both you and Vienne are much loved by the kingdom. I don’t blame them for wanting to honor you this day.”

Her words were nothing but kind and respectful, but they filled me with a sadness I couldn’t contain because of the mature way she spoke. She’d grown up since that fateful night Caulder had died and she’d had a hand in taking Yasmin’s life. Her youthful vigor and verve had calmed and tempered into a gentle, thoughtful nature. I almost missed the brash, sprightly girl she’d been, even though the grown-up version of her was quite regal and serene. I just wished she could’ve forgone the tragedy that had so swiftly brought her to this point.

Vienne still dreamed about that night, just as I did. I’m sure it haunted Nicolette as well, except she didn’t have a partner around to talk to when she woke up, drenched in sweat and troubling memories. She had to handle it alone.

I touched her elbow. “You been doing okay?”

Her eyes flashed with surprise before she sent me a quick, forced smile and nodded. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I swallowed the retort I wanted to give because I realized I wasn’t the person who could help her. She wouldn’t open up to me.

Shifting her gaze guiltily away, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m going to go meet the High Cliff priestess. See if she knew the one that came for Allera and Brentley’s wedding.”

I watched her go, sure she felt responsible for the other priestess’s death. She was definitely holding in all kinds of nasty shit that could eat her from within if she didn’t shake it loose sooner or later.

But then my attention was diverted when my mark sparked with awareness right before two slim, lovely arms slid around my waist from behind. When a pair of lips kissed the center of my back through my tunic, I smiled and covered her hands.

“I can sense your worry all the way from across the room, you know,” Vienne’s voice murmured into my ear.

With a chuckle, I turned to her. “I warned you how irritating the mark could be.”

Tapping my finger lightly against the fresh tattoo at the corner of her eye that she’d gotten at the same time Allera and Brentley had gotten theirs, which made it spark, I grinned into her eyes.

She eased out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “I believe your words were more along the lines of ‘most amazing sensation ever.’ In fact, I don’t recall ‘irritating’ being mentioned once.”

“Oh.” I shrugged. “Well, it was implied.”

Laughing, she leaned up onto her toes to kiss my lips, only for her daughter to grow jealous that she wasn’t getting enough attention. So we transferred our kisses to Anniston’s cheeks, making her laugh between us.

Slipping the child from my arms so she could hold her, Vienne continued to study me before saying, “Nicolette will be okay. She’s a strong, capable young woman. She’ll make it through.”

I sighed and glanced after her. “I know, I just…”

“You’re just too softhearted and protective,” Vienne finished for me as she touched my arm. “Which I love most about you.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Oh, that’s what you love most, huh? Last night, you couldn’t seem to stop waxing poetic about my tongue while I was licking your—”

“There are many things I love most about you,” she cut in quickly, narrowing her eyes in reprimand, only for a smile to tip up her lips before she shook her head and sighed over my behavior.

“There are many things I love most about you too,” I murmured, my eyes twinkling with heat and mischief. “Like that blush I can always draw from your lovely flesh when I speak of inappropriate things.”

I slid my finger across her cheek as her skin continued to color from my indecent words.

“You’re such a tease,” she accused, but the twinkle in her eyes said she loved that too.

“For you? Always.”

Glancing around at the gathering crowd, she shook her head slowly. “I’m thrilled by how many people want to share this day with us, but I must confess, I’ll be happy to get away from them all so I can have you to myself for a while.”

“My thoughts precisely.” Grasping her hand, I turned in the direction that I’d last seen the king. “Let’s convince Brentley to get this show on the road, shall we?”

“Good idea.”

But as we stepped forward, a white-headed woman in her later years shuffled into our path.

It took Vienne a moment to recognize her, but when she did, a smile lit up her face. “Nanny Wynter!” she cried, quickly handing Anniston back to me so she could pull the old woman into her arms for a hug. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for months.”

The Lowden woman of magic cackled in glee. “Oh, don’t mind me, dearie. I accidentally zapped myself into another dimension the day I tried to hide from the Donnelly guards who stormed my cottage. I wasn’t able to free myself until today.”

Vienne sent me a reprimanding glance for causing her old nanny the need to hide in the first place. Then she turned back and took Nanny Wynter’s wrinkled old hands into hers. “How ever did you escape?”

“I just had to wait for the door to open again, and then I got through with ease. Now, forget about that and tell me what I missed, child. I wasn’t expecting to hear you were about to wed again on the very day I returned. What happened to that first louse of a husband you had?”

Vienne flushed and cleared her throat discreetly as she glanced around the room to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. “Long story short, he was a traitor and died a traitor’s death. King Brentley pardoned me from my mourning period so I could marry Urban.” Grinning proudly up at me, she announced, “He’s my one true love.”

The old nanny nodded knowingly as her gaze shifted to me. “Well, good. I never approved of that other fellow for you, but this one…” She stared at me a moment before she held out a hand my way.

I blinked at it, glanced at Vienne questionably, and then hesitantly reached out when Vienne nodded for me to do so.

Weathered old fingers wrapped around mine. They were cold but warmed within moments until, fuck… I jumped back, pulling away when the nanny’s skin grew too uncomfortably hot to hold.

“Sorry about that,” Nanny Wynter apologized. “I didn’t mean to dig quite that far. I just…” She glanced toward Vienne and winked. “There were many pleasant things to see. You’re going to enjoy this one, my dear.”

Vienne’s face bloomed with a smile. “I had a suspicion I might.”

The woman of magic nodded. “And it’s a good thing you got your little girl already.” She tweaked Anniston’s nose playfully before she added, “As she’ll have only brothers to follow. Four of them, I saw.”

My eyes widened. “Four…?” I spun toward Vienne, my mouth falling open.

She looked similarly overwhelmed, but shook her head and laughed. “Did I ever mention that Nanny Wynter’s magic was soothsaying?”

“No,” I uttered, still overcome with joy and pride and…and even intimidation. Because… Four sons? With Vienne? Holy shit. Tears of elation filled my eyes. “No, you never mentioned that part.”

“If you would permit it,” the nanny went on, smiling between us, “I would be honored to bless your union.”

“Excuse me,” a new voice broke in, causing us to turn toward a man dressed in purple and white robes. “But I’m a magic man myself. From the kingdom of Tipton.” His gaze landed on me. “When your armies freed the Lowden people of Graykey’s dark reign, it sent a shudder of relief through all the magical kind, in every realm. So I’ve come all this way to bless your union as well, in gratitude for what you’ve done for us.”

“I’ve also come to bless your union,” a third voice broke in as the priestess who’d given Vienne her love mark the day before stepped up beside the magic man from Tipton.

I turned toward Vienne, my eyebrows raised.

“You know what they say,” Brentley announced, joining the conversation with Allera at his side. “A thrice-blessed union will ensure an unbreakable marriage.”

“Not that we were even worried about that,” Vienne said in a daze before she laughed out her pleasure and blinked away grateful tears. “Thank you,” she told the three people of magic. “Thank you so much for being here with us today. We’d be honored to receive all your blessings.”

I smiled at her, my heart bursting with pride and joy.

The day I’d come to this kingdom within the sand, I’d been lost. But as I gazed at my one true love, I knew I was found. I had a place and a reason, and this woman had helped me find it. Now, we had a future with four more sons, along with Anniston, plus, an unbreakable marriage to look forward to.

I wasn’t sure if I could ever feel as happy as I felt in this moment, until Vienne glanced up at me as if sensing the delight coursing through my veins. She smiled in understanding, topping the moment even more.