Luckily, there was a blow dryer (as hers didn’t have the right plug) and fortunately, when she was ready, she didn’t look a fright as one wouldn’t want to look when one was possibly meeting their new subjects as their new queen.
She decided not to wait for Callum (he hadn’t ordered her to stay in the room) and she started wandering on her own.
The bedroom was the best of all but it was also the best room Sonia had ever seen in her life. But the rest was still really, really good.
It was all decorated in warm, rich, manly shades. The furniture was handsome and comfortable looking. There were lots of pillows and snug throws and hides tossed everywhere, all of it inviting as well as beautiful. There were tons of circular fireplaces in other rooms, not to mention wavy walls and diamond-paned windows.
It was magical.
Sonia wanted to hate that too but she couldn’t.
In her new life she’d have Regan and probably Maraleena and of course Ryon and Caleb and maybe Calder, though he hadn’t been around as much and sometimes he could be surly so she didn’t know what to make of him yet.
And she’d have the castle.
That just wasn’t enough.
But, she decided, it was all there was going to be.
For, she decided, she’d tell Callum she’d do her duties as his queen but she wouldn’t be his mate.
Last night was the last night they’d have.
Forever.
She was standing in what she guessed was a living room though all of them kind of looked like that. Or at least as far as she got except she found a library and what appeared to be a knitting room as there were huge skeins of wool in big, wide-woven baskets by the comfy chairs. She was staring out the window at the landscape (mostly tall, rolling, snow covered woods, as far as she could see) when Callum found her.
She tensed, expecting him to be angry that she’d started the tour on her own but he just strode right up to her, shifting to stand at her back. His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her to his front and dipped his head to kiss her neck.
She told herself she shivered because she was cold (though that wasn’t the reason).
And she decided now was as good a time as any.
Sonia opened her mouth to speak but Callum beat her to it.
“Have you liked what you’ve seen, little one?”
“Yes, you have a lovely home,” she told him and then went on, “Callum –”
He interrupted by correcting her, “We have a lovely home.”
“Yes. Right. Cal –”
He cut her off yet again, informing her, “We’re planning a victory celebration first. I owe it to my men. All the warriors who fought will be arriving over the next few weeks and my guard returning home.” He gave her a squeeze and his voice dipped low. “Then, two weeks later, we’ll have The Royal Mating.” He rested his chin on her shoulder and asked, “Are you okay with that?”
As she didn’t know what A Mating was, even though she heard a lot of talk about it, she couldn’t exactly say.
As she didn’t feel like there was anything to celebrate, though, the answer was “no”.
“Callum –” she began again.
“There you are.” She heard a man say and both she and Callum (though Callum didn’t let her go) turned to the door to see Drogan entering while smiling.
He started to drop to a knee but Sonia blurted out, “No!” and his head jerked up as Callum’s body went solid.
Oh good goodness.
She’d done something wrong.