Cullen's laugh may be creaky, but it lightens Alistair's heart as if it were a full-throated guffaw. He grins, warm, and brushes his thumb over Cullen's cheek.

"Exactly," he says. "It'd be cruel of me to hoard all the crowns. Especially since I don't have much place to put them -- soon the whole room would be stuffed with flowers."