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And no freaking roof This lack had looked weird from the outside but was even weirder from within The structure felt like a dollhouse, as if they were being watched from above No wonder Vrekeners were so concerned with private behavior

Thronos led her along a hallway, past a study lined with books; she decided to coate at her leisure With limited space in his home, every tome he kept must be important

"Where’s the kitchen?"

"We eat in the bastion"

"So no servants?"

"Not in the Skye"

Ugh

Past a surprisinglybathroohtstand, a chest of drawers, and an enor-size, probably because of wingspan considerations

When her steps teetered, he grabbed her elbow

"Lanthe?"

"Sorry I’ from the bottom of the ocean"

"You should lie down" He led her to the bed

She sat at the edge "In the legendary Bed of Troth?" It’d been crafted of a dark wood and looked sturdy In a head-on collision with a truck, this bed would dominate The headboard and footboard were carved with s "So this is where we’ll do the deed?"

As if the words were pulled from him, he said, "I ait until you feel better I’ve waited this long"

Since he’d been a teenager Lifeti lust

"Thronos, I’ll be fine if you give et used to the altitude"

She could hear his pulse accelerate as he said, "So tonight, we’ll"

All in, Lanthe? Accoe nancy

Which was a lot for any sorceress to have to decide in one night Was she really going to take this step?

She’d told hi expression like the one that Volar had sported, she’d consider giving it up

She regarded his face and found herself saying, "I figure I’ll go ahead and clai froht back Make yourself at home--because it is your home" At the doorway, he turned back "I’ht I feel like I should be chasing you, or we should be saving each other fro for you" When he exited with a look of longing, she reclined to gaze at the stars I’m in Thronos’s bed

Weird

How ht of her? He’d told her he’d dreahts How et nervous Because he was a virgin (her first and only virgin), she felt even ettable

But how could the reality possibly measure up to five hundred years of fantasy?

FORTY-SIX

Thronos was terinding pain right now So he ran, withstanding a lesser agony in his leg

He was actually going to claiht! He’d been so close in Feveris--or in his hallucination--yet then he’d had that bliss wrenched away fro would befall them before he could return to her He resolved to avoid Aristo Though his brother ht be away, Thronos entered the Hall quietly

He passed the sorcery power vault and the sacred scribe’s room, where the extensive list of offends, he experienced a twinge of guilt for all the things he’d done with Melanthe before they’d been wed

Soht, a proper wedding

He headed toward his fah boxes of ancient mementos and books By the tiht, in the most out-of-the-way spot, he was covered in dust

Whoever had organized this closet clearly hadn’t thought Thronos would ever get h pain coursed up his leg, he found hiht He could feel his horns straightening, beco more sensitive--

He froze Had the distinct i the back of his neck, he turned and scanned the shadows Spied nothing

Surely any Vrekener or Sorceri ward drifting about would hail hied off his disquiet by the time he’d reached the house He sed nervously as he unlatched their front door When he passed the bathroo beside the shoith her skirt and hose folded atop a ha her things here gratified hiree

She’d showered Should he? Another delay He glanced down at himself, at the dust

With an iarainst the wall Though the te to dihtnesswould he last long enough even to get inside her? Would he hurt her?

She’d taught hi better of it, he took the next ones over as well

When he returned to the bedroom, he had a torapped around his hips and the case at the ready

His heart stuttered a beat She was kneeling at the end of the bed, running the pads of her fingers over the footboard She wore her long shining hair loose, and she’d donned one of his shirts, rolling the sleeves up to her wrists The sight of her clad in soed to him affected him in inexplicable ways, s, to rub his horns all over her tre hiaze leisurely take in his face, his chest, lowerShe parted her lips on a sigh, and her little tongue wetted thelittered with appreciation--for hihtn’t even be real Feveris hadn’t been, nor those tireeted by his custo He would clench his fists, renewing his deterrin, she waved at his blatant erection behind the towel "Are you doing your Nereus ih escaped him before he even realized it "You really are here" Her ot hiht I’d see you in this bed"