---AVALON POV---
My stomach fluttered with anxiety. I squeezed Ares' hand tight, my eyes fixed on the lights illuminating the tree-lined road we were driving down. The king's house was about an hour outside of the Kingdom.
Ares put his arm around me and pulled me as close to his side as my cloth would allow. "Why are you so nervous, little flower?" His nose skimmed the side of my face, and he placed the whisper of a kiss against my cheek.
"It's been a long time since I was out in public like this… at a party. Except the ritual night and the meeting of course but not a party. Are you sure I belong here?"
Ares pulled back enough for me to see his disapproving expression. "You belong by my side, wherever I am, and I'll kill anyone who says otherwise."
"I'm not sure murder would help the situation much."
Ares just grunted as if murder solved everything. I elbowed him in the ribs, exasperated.
