Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 103 (FINAL)

When her mother had left the suite, Cole glanced up at Tanwyn. Though he stood a few feet away, his gaze directed out the window at the sky beyond. He seemed comfortable enough in the silence, but Cole wasn't. She got to her feet and cleared her throat.

"What do you say we take a walk in the gardens?" she asked, hoping her voice didn't sound as timid as she felt. "I have a feeling the advisors are going to start looking for me, and the gardens are bigger than my room."

Tanwyn grinned and nodded, before offering her his arm.

The walked out the back way, taking servant's stairs to avoid any potential noble who might want to give advice or scoldings. Thankfully the palace was mostly quiet at this time of day, and they made it to the garden after only passing a few Eldritch who didn't even seem to recognize their new queen.

The fresh air felt like a balm and Cole breathed it in deeply. The gardens were open and large, spanning at least a few acres, and with different sections devoted to different types of plants. Only a few, like the rose bushes and topiary maze, were familiar to Cole, and the rest were as strange as the stars and moon. Blue flowers and trees with silver and rubies growing off them, water shaped like bushes and bright yellow thorns-- all of it seemed strange and fantastic and wonderous.

They walked for a moment in silence as Cole looked at all the Eldritch greenery around her, wondering just exactly how different Avallen was going to keep becoming from Soma. Her hand still rested in the crook of his arm, and she had to fight not to glance at him every few seconds. She knew what he looked like now, with his hair growing back out, but this time seemingly a bit more curly than it had once been. He was thinner and had an altogether more human look to him. Messy hair and plain clothes, with bruised and blemished skin and a hard glint in his eyes that spoke of things more concerning than a ruined party. The burn scars he'd attained from Gethwine were only just beginning to heal, and leaving behind a shiny pink scar. Many had offered to glamor it away from him, but he'd refused. Perhaps he didn't care so much for the pure and perfect Eldritch glamor as he once had.

The words Cole wanted to speak spun around inside of her, like a wave crashing up her throat but then retreating before she could speak them. She kept looking at everything and anything, wondering if she should just not say anything and let it go. Yet, she thought of all the times she almost lost him in her battle for survival, and how much he had sacrificed to save her. She couldn't stay silent if it meant that he might be taken before she let him know what she felt. She wouldn't let him think she was a queen abandoning him like so many before her. She had to let him know he was more than just a tool to the throne.

Licking her lips, she bolstered herself up as if she was about to start a fight. Which, she hoped, she wasn't. But her heart hammered and her hands shook as she looked over at him.

"I don't think the Eldritch nobles and advisors will let me marry anyone they don't approve of first," she said, voice a bit rough. She cleared it and waited for his response.

He looked grim, his eyebrows drawing down and his mouth flattening. She felt his arm tighten around her hand as his muscles tensed. "Well, if you're talking about a marriage with your Bound King, I'm sure an explanation of his power will overcome any misgivings they have about him being hum-"

Cole laughed. "I'm talking about you, you idiot!"

Tanwyn came to a dead stop as his eyes widened and his mouth popped open. She'd never seen him so off-guard, as if she'd pulled a rug out from under him and sent him toppling to the ground in the middle of a court meeting. His mouth moved without sound as he stared at her. She smiled back, pulling close to him and pressing a kiss against his slightly parted lips. 

As she pulled away, she left a smile on his face. He laughed, almost to himself, and looked up at the sky before looking back down at her. "What is this development, then?" he asked.

She shrugged, putting on a mock look of indifference. "Oh, you know. Just silly things like hearts and butterflies and kisses."

He pulled her in front of him and played with the hair around her face. He bunched it up around her cheeks, cocooning her in her own hair, before leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. She laughed as he leaned in again, kissing her lips quick and cheerful, before dropping his hands to hold her waist as he deepend it into something that she had never experienced before.

She gripped the back of his shirt and hair, holding on for dear life as she poured out all her fear and uncertainty and confusion into the kiss. His hands ran along her back and hips, holding her tight and making her head spin. She wanted it to last forever, but the sound of conversation nearby made them split with the speed of a lightning bolt.

Cole coughed, rubbing at her lips to hide any signs, and spun around to his side. He ran a hand through his hair to straighten it back out and looked up at the sky as if he saw the most interesting bird up above.

A group of Eldritch passed a few hundred feet away, chattering happily and not noticing the lone couple frozen by a rose bush. They disappeared near some hedges a moment later, and Cole finally let out her breath. She wanted to immediately jump back into Tanwyn's arms, but she knew it was too risky for right now. 

She slid her hand back around his arm, and he led her around the hedge maze. She felt a laugh bubble up from inside, but she attempted to keep it in. She bit her lips and covered her eyes, the elation and embarrassment of the moment turning into barely controlled mirth.

Tanwyn tried to keep serious, but she saw the smirk rolling up the edges of his lips until he rolled his eyes and pulled her in for a swift kiss.

She pulled back to his side, trying to look like a normal queen on the arm of one of her honored citizens. "I want you to be my king," she said, "but I have a feeling that decision is not up to me right now. Especially not with so much rebellion running in my family tree already."

Tanwyn nodded, looking a bit more serious. "I understand. Your position is already shaky, and I wouldn't want you to risk being overthrown just for my happiness."

"And my happiness," she corrected.

His shoulders heaved up and then down. "Well, it's out of our hands."

"You said yourself, though, that the Eldritch will be more receptive if I prove myself to be a worthy queen," she said. "So, I've made up my mind to be the best queen they've ever had. They'll be so blown away by my prowess that they won't dare deny me the man I want to marry." She smiled.

"Wouldn't you rather marry the prince you're blood bound to? Or an Eldritch leader who can offer more honor and alliances?"

She shook her head firmly. "No, I think I'd rather torture the boy who scared me half to death when he first met me."

He grimaced. "I truly am sorry about that--"

"It's behind us now," she replied. "I was willing to let the Eldritch and humans both die to Thijs while I ran off with my mother. You stopped me and convinced me to fight. The people in the palace are here because of you."

He didn't look convinced, but she pulled on his arm until she had him in her embrace. She looked up at him, grinning. "I'll do my best as queen, and you'll do your best in my guard. Once I've gained trust and respect, I'll present my case and let them know how important it is to me."

He smoothed her hair away from her face, looking into her eyes calmly. "Then I'll wait as long as you need me to," he said.

She kissed him again, this time not worrying about any Eldritch that might walk by or what the long road before her looked like. It was going to be a long wait, but she had much to do in that time. Trust was a hard thing to build, but she was going to try. She was going to try for her family, and Tanwyn, and for the people she now ruled over.

She was Queen Caspia and her reign had just begun.

THE END