“Your Highness.” He gave a quick nod of his head.
“Vott,” Kull said. “I am pleased to see you made it to our gathering.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You know I believe in keeping our traditions. All of them.” He cast a sidelong glance at me.
Kull took my hand. “Vott, I’d like you to meet my future bride. This is Olive.”
The man grunted in my direction, and then he crossed his arms. “I was not pleased when you made the announcement, but I’m sure you know that already. You’re upsetting the balance in our kingdom with this.”
“It was already upset,” Kull said.
“I won’t disagree with you on that.”
“Then at least we agree on something,” Kull said.
“Don’t push it,” Vott said. “You know my feelings on this subject. You’re paying your father a great disrespect by bringing elven blood into the noble line.”
“Yet, Father helped to arrange my marriage with the elven princess, and no one cared one whit about bloodlines then.”
“That was different. You would’ve been unifying two nations. But this?” Vott raised his eyebrow at me. “Your father never would have approved.”
I cleared my throat. “Actually…” I said. “You’re wrong. He did approve of me right before his passing.”
Vott scrutinized me. “How could you possibly know such a thing?”
“Because I was there, and you weren’t. You would be wise not to bring up the subject of the late king’s passing again in the presence of his son.”
Vott’s mouth gaped, and he huffed before turning away from us. Kull eyed me, a slight smile on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t believe you spoke to him like that.”
“He had it coming. He shouldn’t be intimidating you.”
“I agree.” He wrapped his arm around my waist. “You’re going to make an excellent queen.”
I wasn’t sure I agreed.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s escape before any of the other nobles decide to chat with us.” He steered me down a hallway and toward a set of broad double doors.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I thought we’d get some fresh air. Plus, I’ve got something to show you.”
I eyed him. “What is it this time?”
He smiled. “You’ll see.”
We opened the doors and walked outside. Springtime transformed the Wult mountains. Lavender and yellow wildflowers grew along the trail, and white blossoms fluttered in the trees as the river water churned musically in the distance. Slanted rays of amber light painted our path. I recognized this area; he’d taken me this way before.
“Are we going to the old abbey?”
“Yes. Although it’s no longer an abbey. Look for yourself.” We rounded a bend. Up ahead, the trees around the structure had been cleared out. A copper-domed building soared toward the sky, glinting in the evening light. Half the structure was still under construction, with wooden beams and half the walls built of a light-colored stone.
“I’ve been working on this place rather religiously since you left,” Kull said. “It keeps me occupied. Keeps me from thinking about other things.” He squeezed my hand. Looking up at him, I saw the pain in his eyes. He said he didn’t do well while I was gone, and I believed him.
“Come,” Kull said. “I’ll show you the best part.”
After walking toward the building, we entered through a half-built arching structure and stepped onto a wooden platform. Our footsteps echoed over the planks as we climbed a staircase, then stepped inside the domed building.
When we entered through the open doorway, I stopped in shock as I stared overhead.
The skeleton of a T-Rex, a prehistoric dragon, stood over us. I’d forgotten how impressive this thing was.
“You put Kitten on display already?”
“Yes. I couldn’t wait any longer. It seemed wrong to leave her stuffed in boxes in the dungeon, so I made sure we completed this chamber first so I could put her on display immediately.”
I walked toward the ancient dragon, my footsteps echoing through the huge chamber. The T-Rex stood atop a raised platform. Wires connected the bones together. I felt magic in the bones, old and ancient, an almost incomprehensible power. As I rounded the skeleton, I saw something hanging from one of the toes.
I walked closer, finding it was a necklace made of a leather cord, a small bone dangling from the bottom. Stopping, I glanced back at Kull. “What’s this?”
“It’s yours. Take it.”
I approached the necklace and removed it from the giant claw. Red and brown leather had been braided together to form an oval-shaped loop. At the bottom, there was a sliver of bone about the size of a shark’s tooth.
Kull stood behind me as I held the necklace. “There’s a bit of a story behind that. When we were moving the skeleton in here, we dropped one of the bones. That piece broke loose. I’d thought to put it back on the skeleton somehow, but couldn’t find a way to do it. So I decided it would make a nice piece of jewelry.”
Smiling, I rounded to face him. Maybe some women would be turned off by the idea of getting a dinosaur-bone necklace from their Viking warlord fiancé, but it didn’t bother me a bit. In fact, it was what I loved about him.
“What do you think?” he asked.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I think it’s perfect.”
He took my hands, and his warmth on my skin made my heart skip a beat. Gently, he took the necklace from me and fastened it around my neck. He took a step back and inspected me.
“It suits you. You look like a true Wult.”
I touched my pointed ears. “Even with these?”
“It’s the heart that makes the Wult. Not the ears. You’ve always had the heart of
