I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as I pulled the cloche off the tray and started pouring Ash’s coffee into a cup.
“It’s just that the royal jeweller is eager to get started on your crown,” she blurted out in a rush. “And the staff are… They’d like to know if you’ll be moving into the royal chambers. And they need to begin preparations for your coronation.”
Ash blinked. “Oh.”
“I can tell them to wait,” she said quickly. “I know you’ve been… busy.”
Her face flamed red again as her eyes darted over to me. My lips twitched, so I bent my head as I poured out my tea. Ash had asked Jora to get the aniseed one we both liked, though he preferred coffee in the mornings.
He’d answered the door to her in various states of undress over the last three days, sometimes still flushed and panting as I went into the bathroom to avoid being seen naked and weak-kneed from whatever we’d just finished doing. Poor Jora had tried her hardest to act like she didn’t notice.
“No, it’s okay.” Ash glanced over at me. “We should probably get started with… everything.”
Jora looked relieved. “Shall I tell the royal jeweller to meet you in the throne room after your breakfast?”
“Throne room?”
Ash went pale, so I walked over to thread my fingers through his. I didn’t know if he was reacting to the memory of killing the Brid and her King of Boars in there, or if the enormity of what he now was had finally hit him.
“That seems like the best place to entertain visitors, doesn’t it?” I said quietly, squeezing his hand. “And you’ll be getting a lot of them soon, when you open the palace up to the Folk.”
“Yeah,” he said faintly.
Jora gave him a sympathetic smile. “I can tell them to wait.”
“No, it’s okay.” Determination flooded Ash’s voice. “I’ll see them today.”
“And… what about the royal chambers, my king?”
His nose wrinkled. He looked at me before answering. “I think we’re happy in here. They can stay empty. Take whatever you want from them for yourself. Tell all the staff they can, but make sure you get what you want first.”
She flushed with pleasure and nodded before walking away. After Ash closed the door, I hesitantly said, “You might want to go and look in them first, Ash. In case the Brid had anything you should keep.”
He waved his hand. “I don’t care about expensive shit or family mementos. I’ll tell Nua, though, in case there’s anything he wants.”
“I didn’t mean valuable things in that sense. I meant objects of power. She likely amassed some during her time as the queen.”
“Oh.” He paused, but his eyes landed longingly on the waiting breakfast. And the coffee.
I smiled. “We’ll eat first. The jeweller can wait if we’re late.”
We ate our breakfast quickly. It was scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toast, with little bowls of cut fruit. I was growing to like seelie food. It was far less sweet than what the unseelie favoured, and I’d never particularly had a sweet tooth. I knew Ash didn’t either.
He suited being here. He was flushed with health, and he seemed more comfortable and relaxed than he ever had in the cottage, which was understandable. There were no unknown plans or threats of death hanging over his head any longer.
I wondered what would happen when I became the unseelie king. Would we have to live apart? Could we travel often to see each other? The thought of being apart from him for even a single night was unbearable, so I quickly pushed the thoughts away. There was no point worrying about it yet. We had time, and I wanted Ash to relax and grow into his new role before we embarked on a dangerous quest to kill the Carlin.
Because it would be dangerous, even though we had her name.
I wasn’t particularly eager to become king. Now that Ash was safe, the pressing urgency to get it done had lessened. The Carlin couldn’t touch us here. Her spies could watch from the forest, but she couldn’t reach us. There were no other unseelie spiritsmiths she could try and use to sneak onto seelie land in animal form. Truthfully, I didn’t know of a single other spiritsmith currently alive. It was a rare gift.
After we finished eating, we made our way through the palace to the Brid’s private chambers. Ash let out a hard breath before opening the door and stepping inside, but I remained in the hall.
He looked back at me with a frown. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I can’t come in without an invitation from the ruler.” I gestured at the symbols delicately carved into the doorframe. “There are charms to stop Folk getting in.”
“Oh, really?” Ash stepped back to peer at them. “Should I have those?”