Page 102 of The Nymph King

The tether differed entirely from the overwhelming, suffocating pull she linked to Kiran. It gently persisted beneath her consciousness—consistent, attuned, a feeling she sensed without becoming overwhelmed. However, the closeness had crossed a significant line.

Ellisar’s attention drifted to the puncture marks at her throat. He leaned in, pressing a soft, reverent kiss against the bloodied bite, acknowledging the permanence of what had just formed.

Imani resisted the urge to flinch. She hadn’t meant to complete the second part of the chosen-mate binding… but it was done now.

As the physical urgency ebbed, the room remained thick with a charged, unresolved tension. Imani lifted a trembling hand, her fingertips tracing the warm skin of her throat.

This had become a power in itself, capable of either strengthening or revealing them entirely. With Ellisar beside her now, the abstract question of an Heir Apparent no longer belonged only to councils and succession plans. The possibility had changed because she was considering it now, not because mating, desire, or what they had just done had made the decision for her. They were both Norn, which made children possible despite the rarity of conception, though without a heartmate bond, nothing was guaranteed. For the first time, the possibility felt personal, not political.

“I…” She searched for words, but none came.

Imani released her hand, her awareness now tense as she noticed two distinct bonds within her soul. Her connection with Ellisar had deepened from a strategic alliance into something dangerously intimate. Beneath it lay the other connection, the one to Kiran she still could not sever. One was stable and firm, while the other was wild… and irresistible.

Two bonds occupied her now, pulling her in opposite directions. The balance was no longer easy to maintain. It would require more attention and more ruthless focus than she had ever needed before.

CHAPTER 30

Morning entered slowly through the narrow windows, turning the stone walls pale and catching on the rumpled sheets, discarded clothing, and half-dead fire in the hearth. The room smelled faintly of smoke, linen, and the floral oil the servants had used in the bath the night before. Their clothes were scattered in an inelegant trail between the bed and the chair by the window, making the chamber feel less like a royal suite and more like a place two exhausted people had actually slept in.

Imani woke on her side with one arm tucked beneath the pillow and a curtain of silver hair tangled across her face. Her braid had long since fallen apart, leaving loose silver waves over her shoulders and down her back. The Crown of Life, immovable, had tangled in her hair, and she brushed a few strands away, wincing as they pulled through the branches. Her maid would be angry at her later for such a mess. Bare-faced, sleepy, and wrapped in a sheet that had twisted around one leg during the night, she looked nothing like the queen who had spent the previous day being watched by half the kingdom.

She blinked against the light and scrunched her nose, realizing that most of the blankets were gone.

So was most of the space on the bed.

Ellisar had somehow migrated toward the center during the night. One broad shoulder occupied territory that had definitely belonged to her when they fell asleep, and the blankets had gathered around his waist and legs in thick folds. His own silver hair, usually kept neat enough to make severity look effortless, was completely ruined. The longer strands on top stuck up in several directions while others had fallen over his forehead.

Imani studied his slack face in sleep. He looked… so mortal, which was almost offensive. She reached down and tugged at the blanket trapped beneath his hip. But it didn’t budge.

She pulled harder, and Ellisar made a low, irritated sound and rolled onto his back, taking even more of the blanket with him.

Imani frowned. “Unbelievable,” she muttered.

His eyes slid open halfway. “What?” he rasped, still half asleep.

“You are enormous.”

Ellisar tilted his head at her and blinked a few times.

“And taking up most of the bed,” Imani added.

He looked around with the slow confusion of someone who had not yet accepted consciousness. “I am on my side.”

“No, you have annexed mine.”

A sleepy smile threatened at the corner of his mouth. “I thought queens defended their territory.”

“I was unconscious.”

“Poor planning.”

She gave the blanket another hard pull. This time, Ellisar caught the edge before she could take it back. “You also steal covers,” she said.

“That is a serious accusation.”

“I have evidence.”

He looked down at the blanket wrapped around him, then back at her. “Circumstantial.”