Queen Glaciana Frostborne Alpineglow's Arc

Chapter 25 of 33

Glaciana rose on her toes and kissed him. The tears spilled over before she could stop them. Victor caught her weight without a word. He saw the joy in her wet eyes and smiled, then bent and lifted her into his arms. "Put me down," she said, laughing. "I'm heavier now." "No," he said. He carried her to their bed. He laid her against the pillows and settled beside her. His arm went under her shoulders. His other hand found her belly again, the way it always did now. She wiped her cheeks and looked up at him. "I don't know why I'm crying," she said. "Everything is good. That's the strange part." "Three winters," he said. "You held them alone. Now you don't." She pressed her face into his chest. The heavy cloth of his coat smelled of woodsmoke and cold air. Below the window, the dragon rumbled and a child shrieked with delight. Glaciana felt his heartbeat under her ear, steady and slow. "Say it again," she said. "The thing you said at the window." "I love you," he said. "I won't let anything happen to you. Nor our child." She closed her eyes. Now a hand rested on her belly, and it did not shake. "You mean it," she said. Not a question. "I don't say things I don't mean." He kissed the top of her head. "You know that." She did. That was why she had chosen him at the ball, when he crossed the whole hall and wasted no words. She turned in his arms so she could see his grey eyes. "Then hear me," she said. "When this child comes, we won't rule two kingdoms from letters. We'll build one. Yours and mine, joined. One court. One home." Victor smiled and kissed her again deeply. "Then we'll do the large things." He pulled her closer. "Together." Glaciana let herself rest. The grief of the frozen years had loosened its grip. What replaced it was not calm. It was a new task, larger than any she had faced. Two crowns. Two peoples. One line to unite them, growing inside her. She had wanted a partner to build a kingdom with. She had him. Now they had to actually build it, before the child arrived and the elders of both courts asked how. She looked up into his eyes and smiled softly. "We start tomorrow," she said. "Tomorrow," Victor agreed. He held her, and neither of them moved until the light in the courtyard went gold.