Jasce sits beside me, patiently waiting as I find my voice again.
“We’ve scarcely been apart since we were children.” I wrap my arms around myself, as if I can physically hold the pain at bay through sheer force of will.
Jasce reaches for me and pulls me against his broad chest. “I know you miss your sisters, and I will do everything in my power to change things for our houses, so that you can see them again.”
“I know you will.” I relax against him and allow his words to wrap around me and bring me hope.
Soon, my sisters will be able to move between our houses freely. The bitter feud that has divided our families for generations will finally end, and peace will unite our land.
The day is coming when Asha and I will be together again like we were as children. We’ll walk hand in hand along the white sand beaches, collecting seashells while the waves crash and swirl around our feet. I can almost hear her delighted laughter on the sea breeze. Almost feel the warmth of her palm against mine.
I refuse to believe anything else is possible. One way or another, we will have peace, and my sisters and I will be reunited.
ChapterThirty-One
JASCE
I stepinto the parlor the next day after breakfast to find Jude and Aleksander already seated inside. They glance up at my approach, their eyes following me as I sit across from them.
“What?” I ask after a moment.
Aleksander takes a long drink from his goblet and doesn’t reply.
Jude leans closer to me, drawing out the words as he speaks. “How is your wife?”
“Fine.”
“Oh, come now,” Jude presses. “We’ve all seen the way you look at her. Like she’s the only oasis for miles.”
“Maybe she is,” I say, not caring to disguise my feelings for Annora.
“She’s from House of Silver, and you brought her here.” Bitterness seeps into Aleksander’s tone, thickening every word he speaks. “You know that relationships between a silver and crimson is forbidden.”
“She’s here under my protection.”
Aleksander scoffs. “Protection or possession?”
I grit my teeth and don’t respond.
“Do you really think you can control her?” Alexander asks, his voice dripping with contempt. “She’ll never be anything but silver.”
I have no need or desire to control Annora. Not when I want her next to me, not behind me.
“I don’t need to dominate her. But know this…” I pin them both with a blistering stare, “…she’s not here for either of your amusements.”
“No,” Aleksander says. “She’s here for yours.”
Frustration surges within me as I stand and grit my teeth. “Watch yourself.”
Black strands fall across Aleksander’s forehead as he shakes his head at me. “Annora has bewitched you. I see it in the way you look at her, like some lovesick fool.”
Heat flares inside me, but I force myself to take a slow breath. “I won’t warn you again, Aleksander. Speak of Annora with respect.”
“Respect?” His upper lip curls into a sneer. “For a silver with more scars than beauty?” He gives me a mocking look. “Tell me, do you even see past those scars when she’s under you? Or do you just pretend she’s one of the crimson girls you used to fuck back when you had some sense?”
White-hot anger floods through me as I lean over and slam my fist into Aleksander’s jaw, whipping his face sideways from the force of the blow. He throws up his hands quickly, barely managing to block my next swing.
Jude rushes to his feet. “Enough!”
