Free Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon by Linda Thackeray

could look into her eyes. ‘Any child that comes from you will fill me with joy, no matter if it is a girl or boy.’
    ‘ I know,’ she smiled and leaned forward so that she could kiss him.
    There was no terrible darkness waiting on the edge of her consciousness when her lips touched his. As always, they were two creatures perfectly attuned to each other's needs as he rolled over and covered her body with his, taking charge of their intimate exchange. Their intimacy as husband and wife always felt deeper than flesh. Arianne did not care what tomorrow would bring. All she knew was that she loved him and that this was possibly their last night together if she failed in what she intended to do.
    Shrouded in each other’s heat, their need for one another became an agonizing game of pleasure an d pain, of touching and tasting, of animal lust, wrapped within the complexity of deep abiding love.
    And when they were both complete, when he lay against her breast, the air soaked with the scent of their lovemaking, she watched him sleep. There was no trace of Alasdare Icara. the King of Carleon but just that scruffy young man who appeared at her mother’s court and stole her heart away.
    *****
    Celene's farewell to Ronen was nowhere as passionate as Arianne's, but she did not mind it terribly.
    Unlike the Queen, Celene did not believe their quest would fail , and so she considered her parting with her husband a temporary thing, for she fully intended to see him again. He had won her heart because he understood that even if she was warrior born, there was still a woman beneath the armour who wanted all the same things as her mother before her. However, wanting a home and children of her own did not make her any less of soldier, and his understanding of that simple truth was what made her love him so.
    Of course that love was sometimes tested particularly when he was in the company of his friends .
    She watched him snoring in their bed, dead to the world, certain to suffer spectacularly for the excesses of the evening. Even if she could rouse him from his drunken slumber she doubted she would get any sense from him at all. Accustomed to brothers who loved their ale, Celene could not fault him for enjoying himself in the company of Tully, Aeron and Kyou. It was not often that he could forget his station and be himself amongst people he could truly call friends.
    Celene stayed at his side all night, if only to make sure he did not drown in his own vomit should his body revolt against all the ale he imbibed. Fortunately, Celene was spared that indignity, and only when dawn’s first light finally peeked over the horizon, she left his bed to embark on the journey ahead. The previous night’s revels ensured he did not notice her departure with Arianne and Keira.
    Even though she was now the Lady of Gislaine, she was still at heart a daughter of Angarad and her travel garments reflected that past. She wore a dark red leather jerkin with a belt at the waist to hold her scabbard. Her breeches were of similar colour that were a variation of the combat uniform of an Angarad soldier. With the same boots she had worn when she followed Dare’s Circle across Avalyne, Celene strapped on her vambraces and took up her sword, a blade of the falchion design favoured by the Angarad, and she was ready to go.
    She returned to the bed where Ronen continued to snore in deep slumber, and she found a little smile stealing crossing her lips as she took in the sight of him. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly on the lips and then frowned because his black sleep made him oblivious to it. With a sigh she drew away and hoped he would not be too upset at her when he awoke to learn what she had done.
    Whatever his reaction, she knew it mattered little. Arianne needed her and Celene would not fail her Queen.
    *****
    If Tully knew what she was about to do, he would have thought her mad.
    To him, she wasn't an elf princess like Arianne nor was she a soldier like