As we wandered down the dark, damp corridor hand in hand, I asked, “Did the Brid have a drachmsmith employed? We probably should have asked Jora first. Or at least got her to show us where it is.”
“I don’t know,” Lonan said, tugging me to the side to open a door. It was the wine cellar, stretching far back with dozens of barrels stacked up on shelves.
We continued down the hallway, opening another door to find the cold storage. Even though he’d just eaten an entire meal, Lonan snagged some dried meat to chew on as we walked.
“Are you comfortable here?” I asked hesitantly. I worried constantly that he hated it—that it was too warm or too busy or just… wrong for him. He wasn’t seelie.
“Yes.” He raised our joined hands to kiss my knuckles.
I licked my lips. “What will we do when you become king? How will we…”
I trailed off, and there was silence for a few moments, broken only by our footsteps echoing on the stone floor.
“I don’t know,” Lonan eventually said in a low voice, gripping my hand tighter. “We’ll work it out.”
I exhaled and forced a smile onto my face as I looked over at him.
“Yeah. We will. I mean, we’ll be able to do whatever we want.” I winced with a chuckle. “I don’t mean to sound like an arrogant prick, but… we will.”
He gave me a tiny smile. “We will.”
We rounded a corner and saw an imposing metal door at the end of the corridor. The walls were even damper here, and I could see thick green mould growing on their wet surfaces. I grimaced and pulled Lonan towards the only other door in the hallway.
“Maybe we can just brick up the door to the dungeon.”
He made a sound in his throat. “You may need it.”
I stared at him in horror. “I don’t want to put anyone in a dungeon.”
“No, but you may need to.”
I shook my head, reaching for the door handle instead of answering. The room inside was dark and cold, so Lonan stepped back into the hallway and removed one of the torches from the wall. He carried it in, illuminating the small space.
It was cramped, with an entire wall made up of recessed shelves that were cluttered with jars and bottles. A big hearth sat in the centre, with three cauldrons in different sizes hanging from a metal frame over the ashes.
A bookcase stretched across the far wall, and my gut tightened with excitement when I approached it and saw dozens of books on potioncraft.
“It looks like this room hasn’t been used in a very long time,” Lonan commented as he walked over with the torch to cast its light over the books. He kissed my shoulder. “And now it’s yours.”
“Yeah. We’ll have to go and get my books from Nua and Gillie’s when it’s safe. And all my other stuff.”
I grinned and turned to survey the room again. There was a big round table that was littered with bowls, jars and an open wooden box filled with shards of crystal that winked green and pink in the torchlight. Various animal skins and pelts hung from a thin rope tied from one corner of the room to another. When I crouched down to open a narrow cupboard, I saw it was filled with thick cloth, muslin and stacks of clean bowls and jars.
As I straightened back up with a grin, Lonan shoved the torch into an empty wall sconce and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“I’ll help you clean it up,” he said, kissing my neck. “Will you make me marmalade in here?”
I burst out laughing. “I’m sure the kitchen will make you some.”
“I want yours.”
I laughed again and turned in the cradle of his arms. “I don’t think that’s what this room is for, but sure. I’ll make you some.”
“Thank you.” He kissed me then stared at me intently, the torchlight flickering over his black eyes. “Are you happy, Ash? Is this what you want? All of this?”
I was still terrified of being a king—I was only twenty-one, for fuck’s sake—but I nodded. Mostly I was just happy to be with him. To know that he was safe here—we both were. Nua and Gillie were too. And all the seelie Folk no longer had to be petrified of being randomly slaughtered for no reason by the Brid.
I was happy that she was gone. And I was happy that soon, the Carlin would be gone too, and Lonan would be truly safe from her and his brothers.
“I’m scared,” I admitted, “but yeah. I’m happy.”
Lonan smiled—a rare, big smile—before he stepped closer and buried his face in my neck.
“That’s all I want.”