"What was the alternative?"
"That I had never gotten over you." Darren slammed his fist against the wall. "That I was still madly in love with a girl who hated me by sight. That Shina loathed my brother and cared for a young man in her home country. That we were both trapped in arranged marriages, wanting nothing more than to find a way out. That every time I fought with you I was really fighting myself, wanting nothing more than to grab you and kiss you and tell you that it was all a mistake. That I missed my best friend and the taste of your lips and every night that I dreamed it was only ever of your face."
My heart was slamming across my ribs and I couldn't seem to breathe.
His eyes found mine. "Ryiah…"
I forced myself to speak. "You and Shina planned this?"
"We grew up together. I knew she hated my brother, she always had. When she arrived for her engagement and told me she couldn't stand the thought of marrying Blayne, I told her about you. The two of us were miserable. At first we would just talk about how angry we were that we had to marry for duty, but then it occurred to me that maybe the gods had intervened on our behalf. The emperor wanted a new treaty with Jerar – he knows war is coming, but who was to say the treaty had to be from an arranged marriage? All my father ever cared about was a dowry. It took us a while to convince the princess's father, we had to be careful in our correspondence, but when I finally returned home after the battle in Ferren's Keep, Shina pulled me aside to tell me he had finally agreed. We still had to get my father's advisors to agree to his letter, but it wasn't that hard when any fool could see it would only bring Jerar more wealth than before."
Darren paused. "I knew we would have to wait for the ascension. We needed to have the Council present and until a few days ago they had been busy along the northern border, meeting with local commanders and their regiment to make sure our defenses were sound after the incident at Ferren's Keep."
"After you started talking to Shina," I said quietly, "why didn't you say anything?"
Darren looked away. "I wanted to tell you, Ryiah, but after everything I'd put you through, I couldn't bring myself to say it…. Because what if it didn't work?" He swallowed. "And then that day at the Academy, you told me you hated me. You wouldn't even look at me."
"I couldn't." The words were barely a whisper.
"I believed you." Darren's voice cracked. "I started to think you were better off if I left you alone. But then that day at Ferren's Keep - you saw what I was trying to do and you stopped me. You hated me, you had no reason to let me live, and you still wouldn't let me die - even if it would save you. I kept thinking about that when I left for Devon. I thought maybe I'd been wrong. That you didn't hate me."
I held my breath as Darren stepped right in front of me. "That maybe you still might love me." His hand found mine. It was shaking. We both were.
"Because I still love you," he whispered desperately.
"I…" I swallowed. "I never stopped. I wanted to." I was rambling now. "I hated myself that I couldn't… That I wasn't strong enough – that I-"
Darren pulled me to him and the rest of my words fell to the floor.
He kissed me.
…And as he did I smelled pine. Cloves.
I tasted cinnamon.
There was only one word to describe it. One word that came rushing back after all of this time.
Home.
How could I have forgotten?
Darren was home.
****
When we finally broke for air the non-heir was grinning.
"Who would have thought," he teased, "that the girl who tried to get me kicked out of the Academy-"
"That was Ella!" I shoved Darren and he caught my hands in his.
"It was both of you." His smile was wicked. "As I was saying, this girl who tried to get me kicked out of the Academy, this girl who tried to light me on fire, this lowborn girl I absolutely couldn't stand-"
I scoffed. "Please! You insulted me, mocked me, tricked me, lied to me-"
Darren's hand lightly clamped over my mouth so that the rest of my speech was muffled.
His eyes found mine. "Let me finish, love."
My heart skipped a beat.
"That somehow, this insufferable girl would become the one person I am forever, hopelessly, madly drawn to against my will and possibly even my better judgment."
I smiled faintly. "I don't think either of us had a choice in the matter."
"The higher powers are probably having a good laugh at our expense." Darren touched the side of my face, eyes gleaming. "Though perhaps they are right about this one."