The barriers of duty and expectation melted away in the heat of their shared gaze, leaving behind only the raw honesty and unspoken truths that bound them.
He fought it hard.
He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth.
He would not allow yet another Lisade to best him.
He leaned in close to her, his voice a rough rasp. ‘This conversation doesn’t absolve you, Saba, not in the least,’ he murmured, his eyes locking with hers. ‘The dance, too, is a mere obligation. So please don’t mistake my need to keep up appearances for weakness.’
Her eyes widened, and he saw a flash of hurt in their depths.
She raised her chin and met his narrowed smolder with a gentle defiance.
‘Then I will only aim for duty, with the hope our people will give me credit where I fail,’ she replied.
He was hit with yet another surge of unexpected respect for her.
At that moment, surrounded by the fading echoes of music and applause, they were equals bound by an obligation that transcended their need for love and frivolous emotion.
Chapter 8
SABA
The wedding celebration ended with a song of blessing from the luminary.
The ancient melody flowed over them and trailed away.
Saba took her groom’s hand, who led her out of the banquet tent and into the night.
Behind them, the guests raised their voices in ululation and well-wishes, showering them with bioluminescent confetti and ivory-white, freeze-dried flower petals from crystal cannons.
As they walked down the candlelit path back to his lodge, Saba once again cursed Shiloh.
And thefokkin’ predicament and life sentence she now had to live under.
She wasn’t entirely to blame.
Her oldest sister, Suri, had the honor of starting the ball rolling on this shit show.
She’d almost ruined their family with her choices so long ago.
Seven years ago, after years of vacillating, she ran away from her kin, duties, and engagement to theŠar-in-Waiting.
Which, in turn, relegated Shiloh to the role of the betrothed bride-to-be.
For seven more years, her twin existed in limbo, promised to Mak.
Saba had been free of those obligations until now.
While those two now walked unfettered, she was the one now trapped by promises made over fourteen years in the past.
Beside her was her husband, a man she was scarcely acquainted with.
He ignored her for the most part, yet his hand remained firm over her arm.
She kept one foot in front of the other, her view blurring into a swirl of light, her mind immersed in worry and dreaded anticipation.
All she wanted was some reassurance he’d be merciful to her, some hope to hold onto. Instead, a cold, unspoken silence hung between them and the unknown of their new life.
