Queen Glaciana Frostborne Alpineglow's Arc

Chapter 24 of 33

The months after the oath passed easier than any Glaciana could remember. The snow outside stayed soft and seasonal now, not the killing cold of three winters. Her belly had grown round beneath her gown. She stood at the window of their bedroom chambers, one hand resting on the swell of it, and watched the courtyard below. Two children from the outer villages chased each other across the melting stone. The dragon lay stretched in the thin sun, tail curled, letting them climb its foreleg. It had grown used to this place. When a child slid down its scaled shoulder, the dragon huffed warm air and nudged the boy upright with its snout. No one screamed. No guard reached for a blade. The beast that had frozen beneath the mountain now made a game of keeping small ones from falling. Glaciana smiled and did not turn when the door opened behind her. She knew his step. Victor crossed the room and came to stand at her back. His arms slid around her. His hands found her belly and pressed flat against it, warm through the cloth. He kissed the side of her neck, then rested his chin on her shoulder. "They trust it now," he said. He nodded toward the dragon and the children. Then, quieter, "So do I." "As do I, my love," she said. She closed her eyes, enjoying the kisses from her husband. His hand moved slowly over the curve of her belly. "I lost my father before I could ask him anything." He paused. "I won't do that to you. Or to this one." Glaciana turned inside his arms to face him. His grey eyes did not drop from hers the way they once had. The guarded king who had hidden behind letters and ledgers was still there. But he had opened a door and left it open. "Then keep talking," she said. "I want the child to know your voice." Victor bent and kissed her. Below, the dragon rumbled as a child tumbled into the snow and laughed. He drew back and looked past her to the window. "When the child comes," he said, "it won't grow up guessing what its father feels. I decided that." Glaciana felt the weight of it settle beside the weight in her belly. The cold was gone. The dragon was theirs. And the man she loves so deeply chosen at a ball, who once wasted no words on anyone, now spent them on her. She teared up in joy and tried to stand on her toes to kiss his lips…