"Say my name again," he demands.
I do, and he groans before driving into me harder, sending me over the edge. I call his name, lost in the sensation coursing through me.
When he’s finished, he gathers me in his arms. We stare at each other. Lost. Wrecked, and remade.
“What have you done to me, my star?” he asks, stroking my face with his warm fingers.
I smile up at him.
“I’m going to take you back to our room so you can sleep,” he murmurs.
I look up at him, boneless while he drapes my clothes over me. “That sounds nice.”
Chapter39
Carnelian
TEO
I'm in the middle of laying Estela's sleeping form on my bed when I sense the wrongness in the air. The crystal on the side of my bed lights up, and every muscle in my body tenses. I kiss her forehead, pull fresh clothes, and leave our room. When I bound down the steps of the palace, I hear shouts.
My adrenaline starts pumping, and I sprint towards the source of the commotion. I swallow hard the second I see the giant's head peeking above our crowd. Hurrying across the bridge to their rooms are the small group of elves. I rush over to stop them.
"What is happening?" I demand of King Arion.
He looks up at me and smiles. "I didn't think it was right you only invited me to your wedding. I took it upon myself to also invite the Giant Court to such a joyous occasion. It seems they have arrived."
"You bastards," I hiss. "We invited you in good faith."
King Arion looks at me with a long, hard gaze. "Perhaps your memory is short because your people are all dead. We elves do not forget how you lied about the powers of your volcano. Keep your humans, we will be staying out of this war for the time being." The elven king tries to push past me when I grab his long silky robe.
He whips around and looks me dead in the eye. “I am not your enemy yet, Enduar. Be very careful about what you do next.”
I drop the king’s robe and snarl. “An eye for an eye,ardalínor.”
He laughs and continues walking with his archers. Fires are starting in the residential section, and I race over with dozens of Enduares now wielding hammers. There's no time to get everyone underground, we'll have to get everyone out now. "Vann!" I roar, searching for my leader.
Lothar comes sprinting up, panting. "There are ten. They've come to demand Estela," he pants.
I look at him. "Gather as many hunters and stone benders as you can. Then go back to my rooms in the palace and protect Estela," I order before dashing toward the Ardorflame, armor-less and without weapons.
"Troll!" booms a voice like thunder. "We have come because you stand accused of lying to our high king."
I freeze and spin around to face a warrior with more scars than Keksej. He stands with a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. "You have intruded on my people," I bark back, my voice steady despite the quivering anger that threatens to consume me. "We have done no such thing! Where is your proof?"
The lead giant sneers down at me, his lip curling in a cruel mockery of a smile. "Didn't you tell High King Rholker that the slave Estela was dead?"
I feel a cold sweat break out across my forehead. "High King Rholker? What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Answer the question," the giant bellows.
Before I can speak, the lead giant answers my question with a mocking laugh. "Your face betrays you, troll. Your lies have been exposed. You'll surrender the human slave woman to us, or we have orders to kill as many trolls as we can reach."
I stand tall, meeting his gaze with steely resolve. "Estela is my wife, and she is under my protection. I won't hand her over to you or anyone else. You giants have no right to make demands of us."
The giant's eyes narrow as he nods to one of his comrades. The hulking warrior steps forward, producing a blackened sack. With a sickening flourish, he upends it, and the severed hands of the missing Enduar fall onto the cobblestone courtyard like the petals of some grotesque flower. "We've also caught your people lurking along our borders. These aren't the actions of countries at peace. You have chosen blood!"
When a scream lights the air, something primal winks to life inside of me. A power I haven't dared to touch since the Great War. The lava pools beneath me respond to my call, the molten rock bubbling and boiling as I draw on its intensity. With a roar, I unleash a stream of liquid fire toward the giant before me, the intense heat sizzling through the air like an inferno. I back away to the bridge, standing over the eternal flames of the lava below. I raise my hands up on either side, summoning the strength of the mountain. I'm even stronger and faster since the mating ceremony, and it's reflected in my magic. I tug at the earth with invisible chains, and the ground beneath us shudders.