“But they’ll all see and question if I’m controlling you. You have your daughter and Eki, and a marriage contract with Helia.”
His royal mask cracked. Desperation shone in his eyes.
He grabbed my bare hand, and I let him. When he looked like this, I would let him do anything.
“I have a child and heir; the contract has been renegotiated into a trade agreement for now. You created rumors from the first night and we are still here. Let’s give them something more to talk about.Please,dance with me.”
The last words were no louder than a whisper but cut deeper than any shout would have. This man, born to be king, had never begged for anything before, and I knew he would let me go. No matter how it hurt him, he would respect my decision.
“I’m not asking for show, duty, or anyone else. Not as a king, but for me and because I want nothing else,” he continued. “I should have trusted you when you revealed who you were and showed me your heart. Should have trusted you when you told me about Ealhswip. Past hurts and fear blinded me. Still, I beg you to trust me when I say, I’ll spend a lifetime making up for it if you let me.”
I brushed my fingers over his cheek, and he closed his eyes, leaning against my hand.
When I pulled away, he caught my wrist, and there was a new resolution in his eyes and the distinctive obsidian walls I felt before he entered melted away.
Power flowed from where skin met skin. It was always there now, ready for me to use and abuse. This time it was easy to reject until he nodded his permission.
The grief was not gone but mellowed, and a surety had replaced his fears, but more than anything there was an impossible want and fierce determination laced with that fragile note I knew as hope.
“I can’t be a queen—I don’t even know how to be a princess.”
“I only ask for a chance for us to get to know each other. Vanya, married or not, together or separate, I’m yours, and willing to fight for us unless you tell me to walk away. Every day since the Day of the Dead, I’ve worked to set Tal up so that if something happened to me it would continue to prosper, and we could have a chance. Tell me you feel nothing and that there’s no hope.”
My body screamed at my brain to stop fighting this. That this man had showed me responsibility and love. That he had seen me at my worst and still came back. Still…
“You don’t know me. I’ll never live in the shadows again.”
His fingers played with mine, calluses rubbing together. “I should have known when I saw your hands. These are the hands of someone who works for what they need. A fighter. An equal. One day, when we’re both ready, I will ask and place the repaired glass crown on your head—it’ll only ever fit you.”
And with that, he broke me. The arguments were still there, but he had met me halfway, and I loved him. This was worth fighting and hopingfor.
I pulled my hand back, instantly missing his warm touch, and stood.
A look of resignation flashed across his chiseled face before I closed the distance between us and buried my fingers in his silky hair.
It was the claiming kiss I’d burned to give him from the moment he stepped onto my balcony. Kissing him as myself, the daughter of a courtesan, former thief of Lowtown. As a free woman. In public.
For a moment, he sat frozen, emotions of surprise and longing playing from his skin to mine. Then he kissed me back.
Lips and tongues fought. I nipped him and was rewarded with a groan.
His hands roamed my body, slipping under the fashionably short coat.
About to melt into his lap, a distant gasp pulled me back, and I realized though the play had ended and music stopped, no one had left. They all stared as Dimitri rose and offered me his hand with a courtly bow and a dangerous smile.
The orchestra struck up the wild and joyful tune they had played on the Sinking Spoon.
“They’re all watching,” I said, hesitating. “You sure you want to do this?”
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. Now, will you come, or do I have to chase you down again?”
I did not waste another moment.
Arm in arm, we strode down before the nobles and merchants of Tal, the king and the foreign princess of Oberwalden, finally without any masks or deception.
I could not promise our future held only joy and a happy ever after but knew we would approach it with kindness and work tomake each tomorrow better. And one day, hopefully far from now, my Spirit would pass through the green mist to join my mother and Lumi, and I would tell them all about it.
I imagined they would approve.
As Dimitri twirled me on the stage I had dreamed of since my first dance teacher described it in awe, I was no longer falling.
I was flying.
