No!The protective part of my mind objects. I can’t think that way. That’s how you end up hurt. That’s how you end up in love. That’s how your world gets taken over by another.
But that voice is weaker by the moment. Maybe I can go into this with both eyes open. Maybe, if I accept that if this is nothing more than a casual infatuation, I’ll keep my head and my heart. I won’t get hurt.
It sounds like lies in my mind, but his hand is so soft. His smile is so infectious. The way he looks at me, as though I am the only woman alive, is a thrill greater than any I have ever known, and together we rush toward the large square in front of the main hall of Dreamsong.
Merchants have moved their usual stalls from the markets to line the square. All manner of food and drink has been spread upon them. Some still have wares laid out, but I see no money changing hands.
In the center of the square there’s a platform where a band plays. Dancers covered in billowing silks move like the wind, carried along by the thrumming of the drum. Fae mingle, laughing, singing, and dancing. Some dance overhead, twirling in gravity-defying waltzes, the shimmering magic of their wings cascading down toward the earth like the tails of dying fireworks.
“This way.” Davien leads me through the mass of people.
“Davien, why don’t they part for you?” I take a step closer to him to whisper.
“Part for me?”
“I thought people would show more deference to a king.”
Comprehension flashes across his face. “Yes, usually…but I’ve been gone for so long, only a handful of Vena’s most loyal assistants know who I am. My identity has largely been kept a secret to help keep us safe—especially since I am still more vulnerable without my magics.”
Us, not “me.” My chest tightens. The doubts that plagued me grow weaker and weaker in the face of this wild fantasy I’m starting to indulge with him in this magic place.
“Does it bother you?” I ask.
“Should it?”
“That’s not an answer,” I point out.
“You’re growing accustomed to the fae phrasings faster than I would’ve liked.” He chuckles.
“Such hardship for you.” I smirk. “You struck me as wanting to be king. So I would think that them not showing you proper respect would upset you.”
A thoughtful expression relaxes his brow. His lips part for a soft sigh and fall into an easy smile. He runs a hand through his hair. I watch as every silken strand cascades back into place, the braids he’s woven through it snagging slightly on his fingers.
“I think there will be years for me to enjoy the trappings of kingship. For now, I want to see this world as an ordinary man—as much as I can be ordinary—to understand the struggles of my people. To feel their needs as I live among them. And even when I am king, I should hope that my subjects see me as a man as much as their king. As someone with his own hopes and dreams and desires.” He pauses, brow furrowing slightly. “What is it?”
I hadn’t even realized we’d stopped walking. The square has faded away. The squeals of laughter? Gone. All that remains is him and the music in a triumphant symphony.
“I think you’ll be a great king.” I really do. So why does my chest ache? Why am I already feeling the edges of a hurt I was trying to avoid?
Davien’s hand lifts and hovers by my temple. He hesitates. I don’t know if I want him to touch me or not. The ground under my feet has changed in more ways than my simply coming to Midscape. Even if I can return to the human world, everything will be different. My world changed irrevocably when I fell into that fire.
He brushes a stray hair behind my ear lightly and whispers, “Why do you look so sad about that?”
“Because…” When you’re king, that means I won’t see you again. It means you won’t be right here…within arm’s reach.
“Because?” He shifts slightly closer to me. I am his sole focus. He’s joined me in this bubble I’ve made where everything else has fallen away. For once, I know he’s looking at me and not the magic within me. If I held my breath, would time stop? Could I use the magic within me to build walls around us to keep everything else out?
I have my answer in the form of Giles and Shaye crashing in on our moment, bringing with them a noisy reality.
“What’re you two doing?” Giles asks. Shaye lifts her eyebrows, glancing between us skeptically. I’m distracted by the crown made of glass on Giles’s brow.
“I was about to get crowns for Katria and myself,” Davien says, lowering his hand and crossing to the stall we’d been headed toward. Shaye hums, narrowing her eyes slightly. Her usually threatening aura is diminished some by the ring of pink roses across her forehead.
Davien returns promptly, handing me a similar crown. But instead of roses, the flower is one I don’t recognize.
“What’re these?” The flowers are pink and purple, with dozens of thin, long petals.
“Aster,” Davien answers as he holds the crown over my head. “May I?”
