Page 118 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
I shot her a scowl. “You just call Sepher by his name.”
“Yes, but that’s because he’s basically my brother.” She shrugged as we entered the beautifully crumbling palace.
I bit my lip as we wound through corridors I now knew almost as well as I knew Sepher’s stripes.
When we reached her rooms, she cocked her head and frowned, holding my shoulders so I couldn’t sit. “What’s wrong? You’re not having second thoughts, are you? I was only teasing.”
“No. I…” I swallowed down the thickness in my throat that had built on our walk. “I think that, given a little time, you could be something like a sister to me.”
Slowly, like the sun rising, her eyes widened and brimmed with tears. “A sister? I know yours was taken from you, so I’m truly honoured the thought has even crossed your mind.”
“You’re honest with me like she was. You know I’m not sweet. You’ve tasted my sharpness, but you’re still here.”
“Of course I am.” With a tremulous smile, she threw her arms around me. “That’s what family does. Whether we’re bound by blood or by choice, we remain.”
* * *
The crowd roared,louder than any audience I’d performed for. It hit me even harder, larger, more overpowering than any brick. Sepher was a prince. Second in line to Dawn’s throne. And I was going to become his bride.
Insanity.
As was the fact I rode a stag through the streets of Luminis, a future princess, not just a performer. I drank up the way they looked at me, the admiring glances.
But amongst the cheers, there were frowns and curious stares, and folk spoke behind their hands to one another.
At my side, astride a huge stag, looking resplendent in hunter green and his gold crown, Sepher smiled and waved like he hadn’t noticed.
I knew he had.
“Should I strangle one of them with my tail?” he gritted out between his smile. “Give them something to really stare at?”
I laughed like he’d told me a charming joke and not a ghoulish one. “I think the Prince of Monsters riding with his human bride-to-be is quite enough of a spectacle for one day.”
“It is.” He turned his attention from the crowd and his smile softened to something sincere. “And I don’t think even a little casual murdering would be enough to overshadow you.”
Warmed by his molten gold gaze, I steered closer as we turned onto a wide thoroughfare lined by shimmering iridescent buildings. Despite their beauty, the thought that he might be hurt by these strangers slithered in me. “Are you…? I’m sure their stares are only curious.”
He shrugged and touched my thigh. “I don’t give a solitary fuck what they think of me. I’m a shapechanger. That is the magic the gods gifted me with. They may look down on me, and my father might prefer I stay away from his court, rather than tainting it with the embarrassment of my existence. But screw them. I accept myself, thanks to you.”
I sucked in a soft breath. “But I forced you like this. I made you—”
“You made me live like this for ten years. You made me accept my magic. And when you returned to my life, you accepted and loved and wanted me, whatever my form.” He lifted his chin and smiled. “If that’s not a gift, I don’t know what is.”
My chest tightened, but I still managed to say, “You are beautiful in every form, Sepher.”
If anything, he only sat taller, and I knew that if he’d been in his feline form, he’d have wanted me to scratch under his chin at this moment.
It probably wouldn’t have projected quite the right appearance for a prince of Elfhame returning to the capital.
He grazed the silk of my gown, not quite snagging it. “These claws are as much a part of me as my heart, as cold as that may sometimes be.”
“You? Cold-hearted?” I snorted.
“Not for you. Never for you.” He squeezed, and his claws pierced my dress.
“Sepher!” I scowled, but he just chuckled and spread his hands as though helpless.
“I was only going to tear it off you later, anyway.”
