It is Salo who speaks up this time. “Yes, your Majesty. However, we brought the remains to be burned in the forges during the night. We kept Dyrn’s body separate, and I scattered his ashes in the Parting Cave.”
Svanna speaks up. “The hot flames there worked well for our purposes. The rest of the monsters were tossed into the lava.”
I take a deep breath and try to process the information. Dyrn, one of our own, had been turned into a monster. And the venom was in both Vann and myself's blood. I turn to Estela. "When you tended to my wound this morning, did you find any lingering magic?"
She looks at me with a soft gaze, and her mind opens to me, showing me a brief glimpse of how she felt. "No. You are healed." She turns to Vann. “I do not sense any darkness in you either.”
Vann looks relieved, and he bows his head.
“All of the men who fought should be checked for this… taint,” I say.
Liana nods in agreement. "I have the necessary ingredients in my quarters. I will retrieve them while Lady Estela will help me." Then she pauses. “I am not in these counsel meetings often, but I am what we might consider the old matriarch of this court. We just eliminated a serious threat to our defenses, and our people are afraid. The mists are gone, the caves are warmer, but they need the festival. My suggestion would be to start planning today.”
I nod. “Yes, we can begin planning sometime—”
“Today. Svanna has already told me that Eryx the stone cutter can help you pick the crystals. Which is your job as sovereign.”
I narrow my eyes, irritated at her interruption, but willing to get the crystals we will use to help focus the Ardorflame’s song. It is not easy to find four identical gems to work with, but it will be a welcome distraction.
“Very well. Lady Svanna, Lord Salo? Anything else you’d like to report?” I ask.
Lord Salo nods his head but Svanna says, “No.”
I clear my throat. “I wanted to finish dealing with these cave monsters, but I am happy to report that Lothar, Turalyon, and the Elven King Arion will be coming for our wedding and the Festival of Endu.”
Estela’s eyes go wide. “But it’s only in a few days.”
Liana steps in. “Do not worry, my king, since I already knew, we have begun planning. The rooms are prepared for the royal arrival.”
“Very good. Let us go make preparations to receive our cousins.” I smile at my mate, and adjourn the meeting after saying, “By the grace of the Ardorflame, we will have an excellent festival. The humans will never wish to leave the under mountain."
Liana smiles, and the others filter out. When my mate follows behind Liana, I feel the trepidation that started this morning.
Just before she leaves the room, she pauses and looks back at me.
Are you well?she asks.
I smile sadly.Weary, but I believe that everything will be all right.
She nods.Thank you for earlier. That… It was not easy.
My blood rushes through my veins as I think of her face during release. Of the sweet parting of her lips and the sounds she made.
I cast the thoughts to her and she freezes. Embarrassment sours the mood before I have a chance to speak. “We should do that again,” she says hurriedly and rushes out of the room.
Dragging my hand over my face, I scent the ghost of her heady arousal as I leave the throne room.
Out of the doors, I find Eryx. He is shorter than me, but also uses spectacles. He has an attachment resting around his head that houses a retractable set of magnifying glasses. Good for inspecting crystals.
“King Teo,” he says with a bow. “Lady Svanna and Mother Liana have directed me to take you to the mines to select the complementary focusing crystals.”
I nod and we cross the space between here and the mines in a relatively short time.
Enduvida does indeed feel warmer, and I savor that sensation as we move near the forges. I think about the monsters and Dyrn. It is a sorrowful thing that he had to suffer the way he did.
While we pass through the forges, I see the beginning of the ceremony preparations already begun. There are long bars of metal, which will be used to support the gems, and I see a few adjustments made to sitting chairs to place all around the temple.
As I watched them labor, their bodies coated with sweat and stone dust, I could not help but feel a deep sense of gratitude and pride.