Nyle and Daisy finally left the bedroom early the next morning, both famished from not eating much the day before. He pushed the door open to the dining room. Daisy made a comment about how nice it was, but Nyle was distracted by memories of his father and the last conversations they had in that very room. Forcing the thoughts away, he moved with her over to the table. He mentally noted his mother’s absence and figured she would be in a bed for a few days. The maids would make sure she had food brought up to her, but Nyle figured he would try to bring her food later in the day as well.

A grand spread was laid out on the table. Fruits from all over the world, crêpes, danishes, toast, oatmeal, pastries and much more. Nyle sat at his usual spot a few seats down from the head of the table. Instantly, there was a server at his side, filling his plate with any item he requested. Some aspects of the lavish lifestyle didn’t make sense to him, particularly the part where someone else piled food onto his plate when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

The server then made Daisy’s plate before disappearing. His sleepy beauty cuddled into his side as she began eating a piece of toast with sliced avocado on it. Nyle found himself smiling, loving that she was a creature of habit; she had requested that for breakfast countless times during their time together.

The solitude was wonderful—and short-lived. Before they made a dent in their plates, a small crowd of people moved into the dining room. Nyle grimaced and drew his cigarette case out of his pocket and prepared himself for the questions and chaos that was about to ensue.

The group filled the table around him. A man named Demian sat across from him with a large binder. Nyle raised a brow at the sight of the monstrosity, wondering what kind of fun waited beyond its cover.

“Good morning, Your Highness. I hope you slept well,” Demian spoke.

Nyle’s face scrunched up. He wasn’t in the mood to play nice. “My father just died. How do you think I slept?”

Demian blinked rapidly and cleared his throat. “Well, uh, yes that was the wrong question. I hate to bother you, but we really must begin planning the wedding and crowning ceremony. The kingdom can’t go very long without a king in place. Your mother is technically in charge right now, but in her state, we really need to move your ascension to the throne forward.”

Nyle’s jaw nearly dropped. They already wanted to plan his wedding? His immediate reaction was to protest. His father hadn’t married right away, so why should he have to? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he realized why. The kingdom would have a hard enough time accepting Daisy as his mate, and not being married would make people speculate that it wasn’t legitimate. Usually, people in their culture married as soon as they met their soulmates, so he was sure people were already questioning his relationship. It was annoying to be forced into marrying so quickly, but at least it was to his true mate.

Still, if they were going to get married, he wanted to do it his way.

“I need you to help me with something else first. Give me your cell phone number, and I’ll message you the details of what I need.”

Demian’s face pulled into a confused expression but nodded. “Yes sir, here is my card.”

Nyle took the card from his hand and tucked it into his pocket. He glanced over at them. “You’re all welcome to stay for breakfast. Have as much at you like.”

“Oh, well, thank you, sir,” Demian nodded, shocked by the invitation to dine with them.

They all looked at one another before timidly filling the plates that sat in front of them. It was against tradition to allow staff to eat in the family dining room, but tradition wasn’t Nyle’s strong suit.

Nyle and Daisy spent the entire day away from the palace. It wasn’t the wisest way to spend his time, considering how much needed to be done for the transition of power, but he was going to propose to Daisy on his terms. She deserved the romance and thought put into a proposal and to also have a say in the matter. Never in his life would Nyle force her into planning a wedding if it wasn’t what she wanted.

While they were out, spending the day at the park and bookstores, Demian and the others were putting together Nyle’s surprise for Daisy. He could tell that Daisy wasn’t comfortable with the attention she received from the palace staff—especially since his father had just died. However, Daisy was his future, and his father would have wanted him to be happy.

As they drove back toward the palace, Nyle was getting excited and even a little anxious about his proposal. It wasn’t like Nyle thought Daisy would turn him down, but she could say she wasn’t comfortable getting married or even engaged so soon.

“Nyle?” Daisy began.

Nyle’s heart was seized by panic, as though she had been reading his thoughts and the next words out of her mouth would be ‘I don’t want to get married.’

“Yes?” he replied in an even tone, keeping his nervousness masked.

“What are we going to do with our house in Virginia?” she asked, her head cocking to the side as she pondered the outcome herself.

A smile crept onto Nyle’s face, and he reached to place a hand on her knee. “Well, we can keep it and sneak away anytime we want.”

She nodded, conveying that she liked that option and continued to look out the window at the trees as they made their way up the impossibly long driveway.

“My mom is going to be happy that we are local again.”

Daisy laughed quietly to herself, making one of Nyle’s eyebrows twitch in confusion. “What is it?”

“Nothing, nothing…” Daisy chuckled, shaking her head. “I just never pictured my life going in a direction where I’d live in a real palace. Everything is so surreal.”

His smile grew, glad to see that she wasn’t panicking, or at least she wasn’t panicking yet. Daisy always found a way to look at the bright side of things, even if it was microscopic. It was certainly an admirable trait and kept Nyle grounded, seeing as though he usually tended to be a pessimist when things were awry. Sometimes he did forget that his entire life would read like a work of fiction to someone who was raised in the human world.

Daisy’s life was twisted with fantasy long before Nyle came along, even though she just recently discovered her heritage. Her father, whom she didn’t remember, was an Elemental dragon. Nyle was merely a catalyst to her uncovering her true heritage.

When the car came to a stop outside of the palace, Nyle’s phone buzzed. It was Demian, informing Nyle that his surprise was ready. His paced instantly quickened from the excitement. Getting out of the car, he rounded it quickly and opened Daisy’s door before she had the opportunity. Taking her hand in his, he led her directly into the grass.

“Where are we going?” Daisy asked.

“No questions,” Nyle stated simply, looking at her and giving her a wink. When they rounded to the other side of the house, his eye caught the backpack he had asked Demian to get ready for him, sitting on the ground. He began stripping his clothes away and tucked them away into the backpack. Daisy was watching him with extreme confusion. Nyle picked up the pack and put it on her back. Pacing away from her, Nyle closed his eyes began to shift into his dragon form.

The bones that were hidden inside his human skeleton slid into place. His face elongated, and his broad wings poked out from his back. As he grew in size, Nyle’s skin started to transform into scales, his markings still visible. Once he was completely shifted, Nyle towered over Daisy. Nyle huffed at her, moving his head to gesture for her to get onto his back. A small smile spread across her face, and she leaned forward, petting Nyle’s snout before moving to get onto his back. She held on tightly, lying down on him and hugging his neck.

As soon as he knew she was secure, Nyle launched himself into the air and spread his wings to catch the wind. During their time in Virginia, Nyle had taken her flying many times. He was glad it no longer frightened her, though it had taken several flights to get her to that point. They soared over his family’s property, the expansive palace getting smaller and smaller as he flew higher. They hovered over the dense forest, Nyle’s eyes scanning the tree tops in search of a familiar clearing from his youth.

His eyes noticed a light coming through the trees, practically acting as a beacon. He dove toward it, being mindful of Daisy on his back. They descended gradually, passing through the treetops before carefully landing amongst the trees, away from the lights. Once his feet touched the soil, Daisy climbed off his back. Nyle immediately transformed back into his human self, his wings cracking back underneath his skeleton and his skin smoothing out.

“What are we doing out here?” Daisy asked him, looking around at the tall pines.

Nyle moved over to her, poking the tip of her nose playfully. “Didn’t I say no questions?” he asked with a smirk on his face.

He then rounded to her other side and grabbed his clothes back out of the pack, as well as a small box and slipped it into his pocket before she could see. Once he was clothed, Nyle took her hand in his and gently guided her through the trees.

“I used to come here all the time as a kid,” he told her. “There’s access to the river just up ahead. I used to build forts and swim. When I got a little older, I practiced my fire-bending up here and burned the hell out of the trees. Then, when I was a teenager, I would simply come here to be alone. I made it a point to never bring anyone up here because I wanted one place in the world where I could escape and just be by myself no matter what. I broke that rule today,” Nyle admitted, “but for a good cause.”

They stepped through the trees and came into the clearing. It was a small meadow area that stretched down to the river bed, with tall grass and flowers. The sun reflected off the water flashing vibrant gold hues, reminding Nyle of the gorgeous sunset they saw in Florida. In low-hanging branches of the trees, twinkle lights were strung all around. A stereo hidden somewhere in the trees was playing soft indie music, which Nyle knew Daisy loved. A hammock was strung up right next to the river, flowy white curtains surrounding it. A metal bucket sat right next to it, with a bottle of champagne chilling in a pile of ice and a basket of fresh berries directly beside it.

“What is all this?” Daisy breathed, looking all around with doe-like eyes.

Nyle pulled her into him, his hand resting on her lower back and taking one of her hands in his. He chose to ignore her question and instead asked, “May I have this dance?”

Daisy gave him a strange look, a quiet giggle sounding from her as she nodded. He swayed with her, moving to the beat of the song. Nyle twirled her around and spun her out before pulling her back in. Daisy was smiling ear-to-ear as he led the dance.

Daisy was such a wonderful part of his life. Actually, she was the best part. He believed it truly was fate that brought them together and at the right time, too. He only wished he could give her a normal life, one where he could spoil her, but instead he unwittingly pulled her into a life where she was constantly in danger and putting her life at risk to stay with him. Daisy was strong, though, stronger than anyone gave her credit for—even herself.

As the song came to an end, Nyle twirled her one last time before drawing her into him. Lifting her chin with his index finger, he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. His heart thumped loudly in his chest. He felt he didn’t deserve someone as awe-inspiring and kind as Daisy, asking her to marry him felt almost blasphemous. Nyle couldn’t be without her, though, and knew she felt the same about him.

He looked into the depths of her stormy eyes, noticing the shimmering silver being caught by the warm sunlight. How could anyone ever think a creature so remarkable was an abomination? Nyle was ridiculously biased, but still, he couldn’t comprehend why other dragons might look down on her. Daisy was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. He still couldn’t understand how a human male hadn’t married her before he came along. There wasn’t doubt in his mind that it was destiny at work.

Nyle’s thumb gingerly traced her bottom lip as he finally worked up the courage to speak aloud.

“Before I met you, I was nothing more than a spoiled prince, skating by in life with my family’s money and the unlimited freedom that being a dragon-shifter gave me. I was jaded, and selfish, a possibly even narcissistic. Then, even within just days of knowing you, I was no longer my own top priority. For the first time in my life, I cared about someone more than myself. All of the legends I had heard about soulmates and the emotions attached to it suddenly came to life and made perfect sense.”

Daisy smiled at his words.

Nyle continued. “You’ve changed me to be a better man, one I could have only ever dreamed of being before we met. You have been so remarkably accepting and understanding, even when logic told you to run away. What we have… I’m sure everyone with a soulmate feels this way, but it’s special. There’s a reason the universe chose you for me and me for you. Maybe we’ll never figure out exactly why, but I know that it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to know what a day feels like without you.”

Taking a deep breath, a light blush coloring his cheeks, Nyle kneeled. Daisy’s eyes widened, her hand covering her mouth as emotions flooded her.

“I know the staff made it seem like there was no choice in the matter, but there always is. I’d never make you do something you didn’t want to, especially something so life-changing.”

The words were flowing from Nyle, and he no longer felt nervous. He was just speaking his true feelings. “We’ll face trials, but I know each and every one will be worth it as long as it means I get to spend our days on this earth together. Daisy Ophelia Maddow… will you marry me?” he asked, his eyes locked onto hers as he opened the small velvet box.

A large, round yellow diamond sat on top of a golden band, with two thin lines of sapphires wrapped about the stone.

Tears beaded down Daisy’s apple cheeks. At a complete loss for words, all Daisy could do was nod her head. Nyle grinned, tears threatening to pour from his eyes as he slipped the ring onto her finger. He then stood, taking her in his arms and swinging her around out of pure joy. It felt almost ecstatic to know that she was choosing to be with him. When he set her back down on the ground, he gave her a big kiss on the lips.

“I love you so much, Daisy Doll,” he breathed to her.

“I love you too, Nyle Narwhal,” Daisy replied with a smile on her lips.

Nyle chuckled musically, having forgotten about that atrocious nickname. She truly was his forever.