Wild Magic Four: The Light Beyond Constellations- a M/M fantasy romance

7- The Coast

RIVER—

Aqer was just as I'd remembered it. Nearly a thousand fisherman lived in the squat, waterlogged homes, with the small manor overlooking them, home to the town's mayor. Though the bustling coastal town was technically in Teren's borders, it was closer to my home kingdom of Ke'tiya's capital, and so Prince Lhiam and my father had come to the agreement to share the town's profits, and her rule. My father and Prince Lhiam had been friends since Prince Lhiam had first taken the throne in Teren when he'd been young. Maybe because he knew, even though I was only a child at the time, that I was like Prince Lhiam in my attractions to other men, my father had always been supportive of the other prince and his laws about same-sex pairings. My father had even followed his example, passing the same or similar laws, paving the way for me to live freely and without fear of discrimation as I grew older and discovered myself and what, and whom, I liked.

Though the town's profits were high, it remained a simple fishing village. The men and women who lived there were stout, sturdy, and friendly, if not a bit hard from their lives as manual laborers and the seasonal pirate attacks. They knew their importance to the two kingdoms that ruled over them, knew they brought in much wealth with their wares, and used that to their advantage. But not for possessions or power. The people of Aqer wanted one thing, and they were granted it by both my father and Prince Lhiam.

They wanted to be left alone.

They wanted no outside influence, no nobles ruling over them too closely, and no overlord cracking a whip over their backs. They were left alone, with only their mayor, whom they chose themselves, to keep the peace, and they exported their goods. Thus, they were a private, simple, quiet people, and I'd had a certain affection for them ever since the first time I'd passed through Aqer on my way to the Emperor's palace in Swyer.

It took us nearly a day to reach Aqer from the cabin. We'd left at dawn on the day after I woke from Griffin fucking me into the mattress, knotting me into oblivion, then ripping out my heart again when he chose to completely ignore everything I'd begged, pleaded, and screamed at him as he held me. I'd ridden atop Griffin's back, taking far more frequent breaks to rest my legs and stretch so I didn't hurt myself again. The trip from Swyer to Ke'tiya Keep was nearly four days on horseback, but it looked as though we would be able to cut that time in half with the way Griffin moved in his bear form. Aqer marked the halfway point, and though our headlong rush from Swyer had been more than a day's travel, it had been the wrong way.

We didn't speak the entire day, Griffin barely looked at me, and my heart remained a stone at the bottom of my stomach. But I'd kept silent. Griffin knew how I felt. He knew he could have me, any time, and in any place. I would go anywhere with him, despite everything, but I wouldn't continue to beg like a pathetic, lovesick wastrel. I would let him go, if that was what he wanted. And if his actions told me anything, it was that: he wanted me to let him go.

When we were just inside the treeline that led to the town, Griffin stopped and dropped to his belly. This usually signified a break, and so I leapt from his back and to my feet, wincing as my legs twisted and ached. I walked around in place a bit, stretching my arms and legs, cracking my neck and rolling my back. I felt like an old man, my body cracking and popping with each move I made, as it acclimated to standing straight again rather than being hunched over, clinging to the back of a one-ton animal.

Hearing the crackling and rustling that signified that Griffin was shifting, for the first time since he'd shifted that morning and simply dropped down so I could mount him, I turned back to him and raised a brow. He reached into the pack I'd dropped and began to dress in the too-small clothes he'd stolen from some poor traveler while I'd been asleep. His silence made me want to reach out and wring his neck, but I kept my hands fisted at my sides instead and watched as he covered up every bit of burnt sienna, lickable skin, making me more and more irritable with every inch I lost sight of.