I feel heat strike me at the sight of wine drops on her lips, and more, to her tasting of them one by one.
Her pink tongue then does a sweep over her lips, just in case.
“Noted,” I say with a choked voice.
Liana seems pleased. She practically purrs close to my ear as we walk, “My lord,” she whispers. “You are stalking me like a wolf and everyone is watching you.”
“Let them,” I say with an unreasonable need to howl at the moon.
Liana smiles at me but to my frustration, gets pulled away by her women who flock to her side. I can hear them giggling and asking about the arrows, and if they’d hurt when they’d struck.
My new wife winks at me but answers them, “Not at all. In fact, it was very fun to watch the men try to hit me but not hurt me. They will learn soon enough; we lions are not made of such thin skin.”
With the winter cold, Liana and her people, their noses and cheeks are rosy. With the color high in the lions’ tan faces, I’ve caught no less than a few wolves staring.
Right now, the female pride is guffawing over Liana’s ring. It had been my mother’s.
“She’s fitting in well enough,” my mother says, coming to stand next to me.
“Thank you,” I say to her now as we watch Liana hold up her ring, “for trusting her with such an heirloom. I think it will prove to the pack that this is not a sham.”
“I can see that. Anyone with eyes can see that. The way you two go about, if you haven’t bed her yet, it’s a miracle.”
“Mother!”
“It’s true. I used to be fun once upon a time, Noble.” My mother smiles.
But it’s strained. This is not what she’d wanted for me. I watch her eyes stray to Emilie. If it were her choice, I’d be filling the halls with pure wolves from a girl who’d saved her own village, and a wolf who was destined for greatness. You only have to meet the girl to know, she is fit to be a wolf queen.
Looking between her and Liana, the difference is as night from day.
My mother gave me the ring without question, though. She wants me to be happy and she’d realized that somehow the lion who attacked her son is suddenly his passion.
I’d felt joy and trepidation staring at the plain silver circle of a wolf eating its tail, but with the opposite of plain ruby the size of a robin’s egg in the middle. It could feed a village for a decade such a rare gem that it is. But it hadn’t been Emilie or even Katarina, it had been Liana who’d placed it upon her slender finger.
Thinking of that night in the cold when I was but a child, losing Kat, I swallow and feel my mood change swiftly.
Liana’s head swivels and she meets my gaze. With grace, she brushes off her ladies, and is immediately at my side. Where she belongs.
When I say nothing, she frowns. “I want you to share with me whatever it is that bothers you so,” Liana says.
I pat her hand. “In time,” I reply. “Today, let’s celebrate.”
The music begins as if on cue, and we move to the hall to find our seats at the front of the table decorated with rose petals from Spring.
I spin around and eagerly search the room until I see her. Winnie has arrived, late, but she’s here, and she practically bounces like the bunny she is through the room to grab me tightly into her arms. I lift my childhood friend while she lets out a squeal of excitement.
“How I have missed you!” I say.
“It seems like ages, Noble,” she replies wistfully.
I set her down, squeezing her shoulders to steady her. “I thought this day would never come,” I murmur for her ears alone, and she nods, her smile an elated show of teeth. Winnie’s eyes glistening with unshed tears such is her joy.
I turn, and my gaze meets two very golden, very unhappy eyes watching me from over the head of Winnie.
My mouth drops open, and I stutter over an explanation. “This is…Winnie…” I say, as if that is enough.
My mother, wiser than us all, merely snatches Winnie’s hand and tows her away, asking questions about the best treatment of the new royal garden.
Liana crosses her arms, eyebrow raised, but then we both hungrily take in our place settings. Food is in abundance, spilling across the royal blue table cloth.
I ask her, “Are you hungry?”
“Famished!” Liana says, pulling a leg off a nearby turkey. My wife is distracted by food. Such a godsend.
We are not going to pick at small snacks, my lady and I eat our fill because, “You’ll need your strength,” she says, pushing a plate of ham towards my side, making me grin from ear to ear.
My men are wary of the union, but I catch them eyeing the bright golden ladies of the lion pride. They do draw the eye, there is no denying it. The pale skin of the wolves and dark hair does have its exquisiteness, but these hardy and bright creatures are something new to our realm, and a few wives have had to elbow their husbands.
My lady is the prettiest of them all. That is no contest. As the gifts come in, piling up above our heads, Liana is as gracious as she is regal.
Obviously raised in court, she spends ample time thanking each giver individually, asking their name, their position, and mentioning something that shows interest before welcoming them again with heartfelt meaning. I see her taking note of each who bring us well wishes, and equally, my lady takes note of those who do not.
I interrupt her and the gifts to ask, “Shall we dance, wife?’
Her eyes widen and her lips purse, “Of course, husband.”
She takes my hand. As we approach the dancing area, and the music changes to a moving piece the wolves will recognize, my heart fills to its limit with a flood of new happiness.
A saying the wolves have now makes all the more sense to me. Its ancient wording translates into: My soul is well.
“What?” Liana asks me, and I smile.
“Nothing. My soul is well.”
She grins and lets me lead her into our first dance as a married couple. The music, it is a song that all first wives and husbands will dance to in our realm. The significance is equal to the first run with the pack. Another big moment.
The melody brings a nostalgia my younger self would not feel. Because now, it means something. Liana is in my arms, learning our ways, our history, even in just a song. Taking in stride, what would be too absurd to another.
I pull her close, and feel the world shrink away. I’m free momentarily from responsibilities and everything else but this one thing as I tether myself to Liana.
We lean into one another, her hair tickling my chin, and I close my eyes soaking in the feeling of two people propping each other up against a realm that is ready to tear them apart.
“Noble,” Liana says softly.
“Hmmm-mm?”
“The music has stopped.”
I open my eyes and halt our spin. Liana stares up at me with knowing eyes, and the attendees begin to clap. We bow, and the rest join us in the next dance.
Liana tugs my hand, leading us back toward our seats.
“Tired?” I ask.