Blue eyes full of hope and fear. They closed when I leaned in to kiss him, my heart fluttering like a bird’s wings beating air to rise.
“Yes,” I breathed against his cheek. Lorcan’s hand closed over mine. I felt his slight tremble. Hard metal and sharp stone dug into my palm.
“Thank the gods,” he exhaled against my temple.
“You don’t have to give me anything. You already gave me a betrothal gift. Several of them, in fact.” Dresses. A knife. His life.
“Those were just gifts, Princess. Ordinary things. This is...more.”
I opened my palm. An emerald and an amethyst in a gold band winked in the brightening sunlight. I gasped. It’s too much. Betrothal gifts are often jewelry, but I can tell this ring cost a fortune, which is not part of our usual traditions. “Where did you get this?”
“I found the raw stones when I was out adventuring. I had them cut and set in a modern style, which I thought you’d like. It matches your crown.” He’s nervous. Lorcan is never nervous. By contrast, my hands were steady when I slipped the ring onto the fourth finger of my left hand. I admired it for a moment, then pulled him in for an embrace. His arms tightened around my back. He smelled of sulfur and sea.
“I love you.”
“I love you, Knight.” I brushed back his hair, smiling. “I suppose I’ll have to get used to your new title in a couple of months.”
He blushed. It’s barely visible beneath the grime and his tanned skin, but I’m close enough to see the pink tinge creep over his cheeks. The white line of his scar stood out. I ran my thumb along the mark and kissed him again.
“We should get back.” Already, there’s a list of things I need to do running through my head.
“One more.”
Lorcan kissed me senseless. There were many more than one. When we finally parted, I retrieved my phone and typed out one more message as we walked.
“What are you doing?” he asked, a bit apprehensively.
“Sending out one more announcement.” I smirked.
My phone immediately started pinging with incoming messages. Lorcan’s went off, too.
Raina: Fuck you! How dare you! I lost a thousand dael, Zosh!
Me: Your gambling problem is not my concern, Raina.
Raina: [middle finger emoji] There’ll be no living with Tovian after this. He was sure you’d relent.
Raina: Are you happy?
Me: Yes.
I snapped a picture of the ring and sent it to her.
Raina: Not very Auralian, coming from the man who’s the Goddess’ biggest believer.
Raina: Pretty, though.
Lorcan reached over and took my hand. Together, we made our way back up the beach.
* * *
Humayun took back his boat. He called to yell at me a few more times—especially after Hallie and Laila’s mother went public with her reasons for leaving—and made good on his promise to cut off Laila financially, which made no difference whatsoever because there’s nothing to shop for here. It will matter if and when she wants to return to the outside world. Until then, she and her sister are permanent guests of the Auralian crown.
Keryn, Lorcan and Tovian blew up the next couple of supply ships; dilapidated, barely-seaworthy things. The sea turned red for a few minutes as sharks feasted. I found myself oddly dispassionate about it. They came here to kill us. The sharks were only behaving according to their nature. I didn’t mourn the loss of such men, though I pitied them.
The last of the pirates packed up camp and departed the way they’d come: slinking away in the middle of the night on tiny boats with loud motors, the only reason we knew when they left.
The standoff was over.
