Rule of the Aurora King

Lor and Nadir enter a crowded party room. When a large High Fae named Virgil nearly knocks her over, Nadir forces him to apologize to Lor despite the man’s obvious disdain for her as a human. A beautiful Fae named Vivianna approaches, ignoring Lor while pressing against Nadir and leaving lipstick on his cheek. Nadir calls Vivianna delicious—unlike the faint praise he gave Lor—and promises to see her another time. Furious at his flirting, Lor yanks her hand free and storms away.

Nadir catches her and pulls her onto a divan just as the Aurora King approaches. The king is Nadir’s spitting image, with the same cruel eyes that follow her into her nightmares. He ignores Lor, addressing only his son before demanding to speak with him. Nadir leaves Lor alone, nearly calling her “Inmate” before catching himself.

Trembling with fear and rage that the king did not recognize her, Lor accepts a drink from a silver-haired High Fae named Tharos, who sits beside her and shares court gossip. Across the room, Amya gives a subtle nod confirming that her siblings are safe. As Lor relaxes and laughs at Tharos’s stories, Nadir returns, furious. He grabs Tharos’s wrist and breaks it, threatening to tear out his throat if he sees him near Lor again.

When Lor tries to leave, Nadir quietly asks her to stay. Surprised, she agrees. He pulls her onto his lap, his hand sliding up her thigh. When another Fae jokes about the pet name “Inmate,” Nadir plays along with an invented story about role-playing to maintain their cover. She tries to convince herself that the desire she’s feeling is not real, that she’s just using Nadir, but she knows it isn’t true. Overwhelmed by the physical intensity, Lor suddenly bolts from the party.

Lor finds her way back to Nadir’s wing and changes into comfortable clothes before drinking heavily. The alcohol fails to dull her tremors from seeing the king or her physical reaction to Nadir. She reflects on unprocessed trauma from Nostraza, sitting on the sofa as the ice hounds, Morana and Khione, relax by the fire.

Nadir enters but says nothing, simply sitting beside her. He reveals that the king asked about escaped prisoner 3452, but Nadir told him he found her body washed up on a shore. The king believes she is dead. Nadir notes she was shaking when the king approached them. Lor says it’s because he killed her family, but Nadir suspects there’s more she isn’t telling. She refuses to elaborate.

Lor drunkenly asks if Nadir has slept with Vivianna, and he deflects by asking why she cares. After a comfortable silence, Lor suddenly feels very sick. Nadir takes away her glass, but she bolts for the bathroom and vomits as Nadir holds her hair out of the way and rubs her back.

When she collapses on the cool tile, Nadir gets her water before scooping her into his arms. She registers his scent of cold winter and snow, which feels like a forgotten memory. He carries her to bed, covering her with a blanket and gently brushing hair from her face. As she drifts off, she hears him vow to help her get the Crown and make his father pay for everything.

In a flashback to 286 years ago, Serce greets the Aurora King, Rion, his bonded partner, Meora, and their infant son, Nadir, at the Woodlands Fort. Serce is uncomfortable around the baby, but Wolf is enthralled, holding him lovingly. Watching Wolf with the child is beguiling to Serce, and she briefly considers motherhood. Rion is cold and distant from both Wolf and Meora.

Rion taunts Serce about her falling out with her mother over refusing to bond with Atlas. Serce reveals that her mother, Daedra, plans to keep the Heart Crown from her and not descend from the throne. She proposes an alliance: If Rion helps her obtain the Crown from her mother, she and Wolf will pledge the armies of both The Woodlands and Heart to help Rion take control of Ouranos. The only condition is that Heart and The Woodlands must remain independent. Serce implies that Rion knows how to force a ruler to descend, alluding to rumors about his own father. Intrigued, Rion says he will consider the offer.

Later that evening, Serce and Wolf discuss the proposal. Though they haven’t told Rion, they are mates—a rare, hallowed bond. Serce reveals that it’s possible to join the Heart Crown and the Woodlands Staff, which would have a tenfold effect on their combined magic. As they become intimate, Serce declares that their power will allow them to crush Rion and conquer the continent. Wolf vows to stand beside her as his queen and mate.

Lor wakes extremely hungover in Nadir’s bed with the ice hounds curled against her. Nadir reminds her that she made a spectacle of herself, gives her pills for the hangover, and confirms that he slept in the bed with her, noting the smell of vomit. He dismisses her, saying he wasn’t remotely interested. Seeing his cold demeanor, Lor wonders if her memory of his tenderness was just a dream.

After breakfast, Nadir says they will search the east wing near his father’s apartments. He offers to use his magic to help access hers, and the sensation of their magic entwining causes intense physical arousal. He tries unsuccessfully to pry at the block in her chest. As he pulls his magic away, she feels a strange sense of peace and homecoming. Overwhelmed, Lor breaks the connection.

They search numerous rooms without success. Hearing the king’s voice around a corner, Nadir shoves Lor into a narrow, dark closet. Their bodies press tightly together in the confined space as the king converses right outside. The proximity is intensely arousing.

After the voices retreat, neither moves. Nadir whispers her name, runs his nose along her throat, nuzzles behind her ear, and travels back down her neck. She arches into him, feeling his arousal. Their eyes meet, showing conflict and desire, before he abruptly pulls away and says they need to leave.

Two days after the closet incident, Lor has been researching her grandmother in Nadir’s library. The tension from that encounter hangs between them as they sleep on opposite sides of the bed. Their continued search has yielded nothing.

Lor asks about Serce’s history and how she inadvertently cut off the Heart Realm’s access to magic. Nadir explains rumors that Serce and Wolf were working with a High Priestess of the goddess Zerra, noting that the Woodlands Staff—one of the two Artefacts of the Woodlands realm—was found in wreckage. He describes the difference between regular High Fae magic—based on inborn talent and training—and Imperial magic, which is sourced from the realm itself and strongest in royal families. He speculates that the weak magic of her siblings, Tristan and Willow, might be a side effect of the same curse blocking Lor’s.

Lor reveals that the Sun Mirror, an Artefact, told her, “this [was] forbidden,” but did not specify what “this” meant. Nadir finds it peculiar that she, as the unascended ruler of her realm, can speak with Artefacts.

When Nadir again asks what his father did to her, Lor deflects by confronting him about the closet incident. He follows her to the window, trapping her by planting his hands on the glass beside her head. The sexual tension escalates as he asks her to spend one night with him.

Lor reveals she had a dream about him, and he says he had the same dream. She asks how she can trust him after Atlas’s betrayal. Nadir clarifies that this is purely about sex, nothing more. Though torn, Lor finds herself considering his proposition. He whispers he’ll be ready whenever she says yes, and she bolts for the bathroom.

Nadir visits his catatonic mother, Meora, as his sister, Amya, watches. They have a tense exchange about Amya’s inability to connect with the mother she never knew. In Amya’s colorful rooms, she tells Nadir that Atlas is sending secret search parties for Lor throughout every realm. She mentions that Atlas is refusing to set a bonding ceremony date with the Trials winner.

Nadir admits that the search for the Woodlands Crown has been unsuccessful and worries Lor’s block prevents her from sensing it. He reveals his backup plan: taking her to the ruins of Heart, where the Crown was last seen. When Amya worries he won’t be able to control Lor if she gets the Crown, Nadir asserts that he is stronger.

Nadir shares his observation of Lor’s extreme fear of their father, and they conclude that he must have done something more to her as a child beyond murdering her family. Amya questions their ignorance about suffering in their own kingdom.

Nadir’s captain, Mael, arrives and reports that Lor’s siblings are safe with his contact, Hylene. He reveals that the king’s men have been rounding up women in settlements and testing them for magic, with resistance fighters helping to hide them. They conclude that the king is also searching for the Heart Primary. Mael reports that the council has voted in favor of new mining labor laws allowing Low Fae children to conscripted into enslaved labor. Nadir confirms that he is working against the bill despite his father ordering him to support it.

When Lor enters wearing a black and violet gown, Nadir is struck breathless. He inwardly vows to earn her trust and wait for her to ask for intimacy, realizing his earlier proposition ignored her trauma.

At another Frostfire party under a clear dome showcasing the aurora lights, Lor asks Amya about her siblings, and Amya confirms that they are safe and helping with research on the Crown. Lor internally questions Nadir’s motives and reminds herself to stay focused. They see the king flirting with a red-haired Fae, and Nadir’s hand tightens around hers. When they sit with the king’s group, he ignores Lor.

Nadir apologizes for frightening her previously. On the dance floor, Lor asks why he wants her, worried he’s using her as Atlas did. He insists that his desire has nothing to do with her power and that his promise to help her is separate from their physical attraction. He clarifies that this is just about sex. Driven by need, Lor asks what he would do if she wanted him to touch her. He does so, but Lor pushes away and leaves, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the memory of Atlas’s betrayal. Nadir follows her to a stone balcony, promising they don’t have to do anything she doesn’t want. He reiterates that he won’t touch her unless she asks. Lor asks him to kiss her. He kisses her fiercely, awakening her magic.

She asks him to finish what he started. He performs oral sex on her, then kisses her intensely. When she asks about his arousal, he says he’s trying to earn her trust. They return to the party, where a bartender flirts with Lor, prompting Nadir’s possessive jealousy. Lor thinks he’s going to ruin her, and Nadir replies they’ll go down together.