“Nope,” he said. “That was a good try but it doesn’t fly. You promised you would talk to me about what upset you. I’m holding you to it.”
Another silence, a tense one this time. Then she pushed upright to look into his eyes gravely. “I did promise, didn’t I?” she said. “I’m sorry, Tiago. I talked with Carling, who pointed out some unpleasant facts about you and me and this new life we’re trying to build with the Dark Fae.”
“That crazy-assed bitch,” he growled. “I swear to God I’m going to—”
She clapped a hand over his mouth before he could go further. She demanded, “Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?”
He took a deep breath, made himself calm down and kissed the palm of her hand. “My turn to apologize,” he said. “I’m sorry, go on.”
“There’s not much more to tell,” she said. “She just pointed out we can only hope for a certain amount of acceptance but no more. No one will believe that you don’t intend to share the throne if we were to marry. And nobody, not the Dark Fae and certainly not any of the other demesnes, will accept half-Wyr children as potential heirs to the Dark Fae throne.”
He grew grim as she talked. “What was the part that hurt you the most?”
Her gaze fell.
Everything clenched inside him. Maybe you can’t make this better, she had said. Sometimes things just hurt. A ball of burning lava lodged in his chest. “It was the thought of never having children, wasn’t it?”
She shook her head. “It started there, but you know, mostly I think I’m having a problem with the concepts of ‘forever’ and ‘never.’ I don’t want to think in absolutes. I’m not dying to have children, but I also don’t want to say I’ll never have them, especially just to placate other people. And I am not thrilled with the thought of committing to the Dark Fae throne for the rest of my life, especially today of all days.” She looked up, met his gaze, and the shock of the connection between them was deeper and more profound than ever. She whispered, “There’s only one thing and one person right now I am wholly committed to, and that’s you.”
He made his lungs expand and discovered he could breathe again. He cupped her face in both hands and kissed her, savoring the texture of her soft open lips.
“Only one person,” he whispered. Only one thing.
She put her cheek against his and nuzzled him. “Would you like children some day?”
“I don’t know,” he said. He ran his hands down her shapely back. “Maybe. I like children. I would like your children. I must confess, this is not a subject to which I have given much thought.”
“Me neither,” she sighed. She switched to telepathy. You know, we might decide some day that I should abdicate. I would like to see how we feel about things after we’ve opened the Dark Fae borders and brought the rest of my family’s murderers to justice. I don’t think we need to stress too much over the long term when meeting our short-term goals is enough of a challenge.
That is a good point, he said. One step at a time. Now, about marriage.
She kissed him. What about it?
Do you require this ritual for happiness? We can always marry in secret, if you like. He brushed a lock of her hair out of her beautiful eyes.
She stuck out her lower lip and grumbled, I would like to point out I am actually much more Wyr than anybody has given me credit for thus far. I mean, hello, I moved in with you all when I was seventeen, remember. I know to a lot of you geriatrics that’s not such a long time ago, but it’s quite a significant length of time to me. Tiago, are we mated or not?
We are indeed, he said.
She went nose-to-nose with him. And will you have me and no other?
I will. He touched her delicate skin. And will you have me and no other?
For the rest of my life. She smiled. “So I reckon that’s that.”
“I reckon it is.” He smiled back.
“Here, drink your coffee before it gets any colder.” She leaned sideways to pick up the cup on the floor by his chair and paused. She cocked her head. “What is this package?”
He leaned over and looked at it too. “It’s the next thing on my to-do list after I talk with you.”
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. It’s a message from a dead woman.” Niniane looked at him quickly, and he explained how he had acquired it.
“How could you not open it right away?” she exclaimed. She snatched the packet up and thrust it into his hands.
“It has quite a high priority rating,” he said. “But making sure you were okay was the most important thing to me.”