I nod at him, refusing to curtsy. He’s not the rightful King, and I am a princess.
Adar smiles at me, clearly approving. “I have returned, brother, as you can imagine, to take my throne back. Thank you for keeping it warm all this time. The crown you are wearing belongs to me.”
“How dare you”, Gadal splutters. “I am the King of the Opal Court. I reign here.”
“Usurpers aren’t Kings,” Adar informs him coolly. “The land and the water must be suffering from your flimsy, superficial magic. The land and the water chose me and accepted me as their King. While I am alive, there can be no other.”
“You can’t—”
“Oh, I can. Isn’t that right, wise women of the Council?”
Behind his brother have appeared a group of older Fae women, their white hair coiled around their heads, black scepters in their gnarled hands.
“The land spoke when you ascended the throne, King Adaren,” one of them says in a sonorous voice, “and named you King. Your brother has reigned unlawfully, passing the curse to you and making shady agreements with the Empress. Now you are back and the crown is yours.”
“And the Empress?” I whisper.
“The Empress cannot touch the kingdom and its King since the curse was properly broken,” she says and sends me a gentle look. “Welcome, savior of King Adaren, Savior of the Opal Court.”
“Wait, you can’t endorse this!” Gadal protests. “You can’t just take the crown—”
Adar lifts a hand and the crown lifts off his brother’s head. “Funny. It looks like I can.”
The crown floats over to Adar. He plucks it out of the air, examines it.
Then he turns and places it on my head.
The crowd gasps. The crown is heavy. I don’t know what he’s doing.
“Adar…” I breathe.
“A provisory crown,” he says, smiling. “Because, listen, my loyal subjects, this is my queen. My queen to be. The queen of my heart.” And then he goes down on one knee. “Will you marry me, Selina?”
I never knew I could cry from happiness. I’ve never been so happy before. “Yes,” I whisper, and then louder, “yes. I will.”
This feels right. Absolutely right. I’ve never wanted anything more.
He gets up and wipes the tears from my cheeks. “Mine,” he whispers.
“Yours,” I whisper back. He tilts my head back to kiss me and we both laugh when the crown on my head starts sliding.
Two guards move forward to lead his brother away. He’s protesting but he can be dealt with later. Right now, we have a lot to do.
Like visit the royal bed-chamber and find out if Adar told me the truth about the bed…
EPILOGUE
SELINA
He was right. The bed in the royal suite is good, soft but not too soft. Perfect for him to tumble me on, the precious crown rolling on the mattress. He rips his shirt off impatiently and then he’s gloriously naked, bent over me. I run my hands over the planes of his chiseled chest and his shoulders, pulling him down for a kiss.
Finally, we can be together, without the curse and without anyone after us. Just the two of us in a room, on a bed, with all the time we need to explore one another.
“Selina,” he breathes, trailing his mouth over the pulse in my throat, over hypersensitized skin, kissing a path down to my collarbone and lower. Grabbing my bodice, he rips it apart, revealing my corset and my breasts, only covered in the thin cotton of the chemise.
Gasping, I gaze up at him. “You like ripping my clothes.”
He huffs. “How many layers do I have to peel off you?”