Solar Reign

X I I

"I am right here, my Queen. Puck has sent me to discuss court with you." The low timber of Nohx's voice sent shivers up Andorra's spine. She spun, schooling her features into boredom, but the sight of him alive made her heart careen.

He stood there by the makeshift ladder, hands in his pockets, his head tilted low. Almost as if he were bowing to her.

"Very well, then." She turned back to Fraseri and gave him a dismissed nod. Then, she turned back to Nohx. "We will make a gate out of here. I have no desire to take the ladder down."

Nohx let her grasp his arm. Let her pull him into the in-between. But as soon as the gate closed, he was pulling away from her, grief in his stark expression. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Noah-"

"I would have won. You knew I wasn't in danger of dying." His tone was exacerbated. Hoarse. "I'm stronger than that."

"I couldn't stomach seeing you tied up like that!" Andorra threw back at him. "And, I needed to end the Reaping. And the only way I knew how was to bargain my win for the ceasing of this barbaric event."

Nohx stared at her, chest heaving. He ran a tongue over his teeth in compilation. Frost seemed to crawl up his neck. "You're so fucking reckless. So fucking reckless."

Anger slithered up her spine. "Reckless is what makes a great Queen. I'm not apologizing for that."

Nohx rubbed at his temple. There was a silent debate in his mind, and Andorra watched it happen. Watched his guarded expression, watched the way the frost began to harden into ice. "You shouldn't apologize for it. But fuck, Andorra. You're not replaceable. You're important, and many fae want to see your head on a platter for who your parents were."

Andorra stuck her chin out. "Those fae hanging were also important. And as their Queen, it's my duty to save them. Which I did. And I saved you too, so you're welcome."

Nohx rolled his eyes. And then, as if they hadn't just been fighting, he reached for her, his hands finding her cheeks. Andorra leaned into them, finding the first slice of relief since stepping into the Woodland Forest. The panic in her chest eased.

"You're fucking brilliant. Always. Saving your people, saving me. And of course you would have thought to bargain for the ending of the Reaping." Nohx scoffed to himself. "But next time, I don't know. Maybe tell someone what is going on in that brilliant mind of yours."

Andorra's answering grin was much softer than it had been for Fraseri. "You think I'm brilliant?"

"Yeah, a brilliant pain in my ass. Let's go find the Rumplewren before someone else snatches you up. Your hero complex knows no bounds." He pressed his lips to her forehead, a feather of a kiss, but it made warmth bloom in her chest.

He was alive, and safe, and despite her antics, he still wanted to be by her side. Something in her little human heart fluttered to life at that realization alone.

* * *

"My, my. It's been a long, long time since I've seen the both of you together." The Rumplewren croaked. He turned to Nohx. "You could have visited more, boy. Come, come. What needs do you have?"

Andorra was terrified. Maybe if she hadn't been stunned silent, she would have asked the Rumplewren what he meant by that. Maybe she would have caught the anxious look Nohx cut her way.

He looked a little like the dryads, with their bark skin. But that was where the similarities ended. The Rumplewren emitted power that had even Andorra bucking. She could feel the way it pressed up against her, almost in a caressing way. There was something dark in his eyes, something that resembled Moribund. She could almost taste death in the air.