Page 51 of The Broken Elf King
Raife looked at the woman as if sizing up her threat to poison him.
“Pleeeease,” I begged, hanging on his arm.
Naia grinned. “Your Highness, you’d better give your wife what she wants. Life is easier that way.”
Cahal laughed, swinging an arm around his woman. “It’s true, my lord.”
Raife looked over at me and I popped my bottom lip out, giving him a frown.
“Fine,” he chuckled, and I squealed happily.
After talking to the singer and her band, which we learned were calledMona and the Brigade, we booked them for the Royal Winter Ball in two months’ time. Mona seemed stunned and honored to be asked.
After that, we were ushered into a special cordoned-off area of the beach that was private with an open cabana of sorts. There were some chairs and towels on the sand for lounging.
“Let’s sun. I need a tan before winter hits,” Baylie announced and began to shed her dress. She wore an adorable bright yellow one-piece suit with ruffles over the butt. Naia then took off her dress and revealed a pale pink suit that looked modest from the front but was missing the entire back.
I started to take off my sundress, pulling it up over my head, and then locked eyes with Raife. When I finally revealed my black two-piece suit, I wasn’t sure if Raife was mad or in love. His eyes were hooded, jaw clenched.
“Oh, Kailani your suit is so chic! I’ve never seen this type of design before,” Naia cooed.
“It’s missing the middle piece,” Raife said dryly, causing Naia to roll her eyes at him. I loved that his friends didn’t treat him like a king with delicate feelings.
“I’m going to go home and cut mine in half,” Naia announced to everyone.
“Look at you, a trendsetting queen already,” Baylie said with a smile.
I grinned, feeling uplifted at their compliments, but I couldn’t get that gray-blue gaze off of me. Raife stared at my bathing suit as if willing it to grow back into one piece. I smiled, walking past him, ignoring his icy glare, and settled myself onto the towel next to Baylie and Naia. The men pulled up chairs beside us and I dug my feet into the warm sand as we looked out onto the water, propped up on our elbows. Raife sat next to me and I could almost physically feel his gaze running over my legs as I sat up talking with the girls about the different boats.
There must have been over a hundred of them, all lining up for the race. Some were small sailboats; there was a giant barge that looked like it could hold a hundred men; and a few bigger rowing boats.
“I’d like to own a boat one day,” I announced. “Go exploring around the entire realm and stop at Grim Hollow in Embergate. I hear they have wonderful artisan crafts.”
Baylie laughed. “Queen Kailani, youdoown all of these boats now that you’ve married the king.”
I bristled and looked up at Raife. He wasstillstaring at my legs. “All of these boats are yours?”
He nodded. “Ours. Most of them.”
Ours. I liked that.
“But there must be a hundred! What do you use them for?” I asked.
“Most are for war, some I rent out to fishermen to feed the realm, and a few merchant trading vessels are owned by private citizens,” he said.
A tall elf holding a golden horn stepped over to the edge of the tent and glanced at Raife. The king nodded, waving and looking out at the people who stood along the beach with a smile.
“Let the race begin!” the elf screamed, and put the horn to his lips. He blew a long, deep note, and the perfect line of boats broke apart as each one sped out into the water.
I noticed a medium-sized sailboat had broken away from the formation and was headed towards us.
“Someone can’t steer.” Naia laughed.
I smiled, looking at the poor flustered sailboat captain as he floundered about with the steering wheel. He wore a wool knitted cap pulled down over his ears—which was odd considering the sunny warm weather.
“Ahh, your war boat is beating mine!” Cahal said to the king.
Raife grinned, standing now to get a closer look. The ladies stood as well, throwing their sundresses over their suits, and I did the same. We all walked ten paces closer to the water in order to get a better view. I’d never seen a boat race before, and truth be told I was kind of excited. But the stupid sailboat who couldn’t steer had finally figured out how to turn to the side and rejoin the race, which meant he was now blocking our view.
