Allegiance Read Free Page A

and I could not fathom the satisfaction he had to be feeling at having won his coveted prize. We did not dally, but followed the heralds, accompanied by the guards, through the doors into the Grand Entry Hall, then up the Grand Staircase, leaving my parents and sister behind. From there, we entered the Royal Ballroom, crossing its expanse to step onto the balcony, where the trumpets were again sounded to draw to us the attentionof the thousands of people gathered outside the courtyard walls.
    â€œAll hail King Steldor and his Queen, the Lady Alera,” Lanek again shouted, and the cry was echoed by the Palace Guards at the gates. Soon thunderous applause and repetitive shouts of “Hail to the King” reached our ears, and Steldor began to wave to the citizenry, quite in his element.
    I could not have said how long we stood on the balcony, but given the length of the coronation ceremony, my high level of anxiety and the time that had passed since my last meal, I was exhausted. Steldor, on the other hand, was exhilarated and seemed ready to bask in the acclamation of the people for the rest of time. As the dizzying reality that I was now married to the King of Hytanica settled upon me, I swayed against him, clutching at his shoulder. He looked at me, startled, and then scooped me into his arms, cradling me so that my head fell against his chest.
    â€œIt would appear you have had enough excitement,” he remarked, then carried me back through the ballroom and on to our quarters, waving away his father and the guards. Bearing me into my room, he lowered me onto the bed and removed my crown and cape, then undid the laces of my gown, sliding it down my arms and assisting me to take it off. I slumped sideways onto the pillows in my undergarments, feeling too tired to resist him, and he lifted my legs onto the bed, removing my shoes and folding a blanket over me. To my surprise, he kissed me on the forehead.
    â€œRelax and sleep. I will bring food later to help you regain your strength.” He touched my cheek, then turned and departed, and my eyelids fell like heavy drapes.
    Memories of Narian, as always, haunted my dreams. We were standing in the clearing in the woods on his father’s estate, the sun hot upon my back, birds chirping in the trees.
    â€œHere, see? I have them,” I said, holding up a pair of breeches for Narian’s inspection. “Now you have no basis upon which to object to teaching me self-defense.”
    â€œI can object as long as you’re not wearing them.” His voice was steady, with a faint but pleasing accent, and his golden hair ruffled in the breeze.
    Then the image shifted, and I was wearing the breeches and a white shirt, standing at the side of a dark bay gelding.
    â€œSurely women in Cokyri don’t ride horses,” I said.
    â€œThe woman who raised me is one of the best riders in the empire,” Narian responded from where he stood by the horse’s head, and any will to resist left me as I gazed into his compelling blue eyes.
    He came to my side and bent his knee toward me, offering his leg as a step so that I could mount the animal by myself. I gracelessly complied, and he smiled up at me, his cheeks flushed with happiness, his expression unguarded. Then he swung up behind me on the horse’s back.
    Now we were riding through the darkened city, the horse’s hooves sometimes clacking against cobblestone, other times muffled on a dirt street, the moon and stars reflecting off the dusting of snow upon the ground. I leaned back against him, warmed by his body, at one with him and at peace with the world. We gradually circled around to return to the Royal Stables, where he dismounted, then looked up at me. I slid off the horse into his arms, and I could see the love in his eyes; then his lips met mine and I melted against him, a thrill sweeping through me.
    The scene changed once more…
    We were in my parlor, sitting in front of the glowing