Page 81 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

“A teacup?” She stared at the delicate thing. Had Tal lost his mind? Months of captivity at the hands of the Rakuuna after being tossed to the wolves in Calera by one’s own father would be enough to break anyone.

“Remember? We were discussing your upcoming marriage, and you were worried about managing a man you’d never met.”

She nodded, watching his face closely.

He held up the cup, his eyes fixed on hers. “I told you. Every man has a favorite teacup. Once you know what that is, you have the leverage you need to break him if you want to.”

She stared at the cup for a long moment while the tender thing inside her became almost painful to the touch and then finally said, “You’ve never even seen this thing before today.”

“I drink from it all the time.”

“You stole it from the basement of Rames’s bakery.”

“I would never.”

“Liar.” Her voice was nothing but a breath.

He knelt in front of her, holding the cup out to her as if he was offering her a crown. “You’re my teacup, Charis. All you need to do to break me is to tell me to leave you. Please, please don’t tell me to leave.”

He was right. She did know all the important things about him. She knew the depth of his loyalty, and how, even as the world crumbled around them, his only thought was to sacrifice himself in return for the Rakuuna’s promise to let the Calerans live. She knew that he’d lied about his name, but not about his heart. And she knew that his weakness was that he’d wanted more time with her before his truth drove them apart forever.

He’d wounded her, but doing so had wounded him, too.

And she didn’t want to face her fate without him by her side.

With trembling hands, she reached out and wrapped her hands around the teacup, her fingers resting against his. Quietly she said, “I don’t want you to leave.”

His voice trembled as he asked, “Does that mean that you can forgive me?”

Once upon a time, she’d sworn that forgiveness was impossible. That the wound he’d dealt had been a killing blow. But now she found the pain had become a dull bruise, fading a little more every time Tal proved who he truly was in his heart. She pulled him to his feet.

“I forgive you.” She placed the teacup on the vanity with care and turned to find him standing there, longing on his face as he watched her.

“You need to know that I’m still in love with you. I don’t expect you to love me back. I just wanted—I can’t stand keeping secrets from you.”

She couldn’t look away from him.

“I want to kiss you,” he said. “Would that be all—”

She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his, and for a few glorious moments, nothing existed but the heat of his skin, the way her body fit against his, and the brilliant light burning in her heart.

Twenty-Nine

THE NEXT MORNING, Charis waited until Lanni had served breakfast before beckoning Holland, Tal, and Reuben into her room.

Tal stationed himself beside the door, leaving it open a crack so he could see if anyone entered their suite. Charis had considered simply locking the suite door, but if the Everlys came to discuss her meeting with Lady Ollen and Lord Thorsby, they couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

Besides, the Rakuuna patrol would come back through in less than twenty minutes, and a locked door earned the occupants a very unpleasant search of both their belongings and their bodies.

“What are we doing in here?” Holland asked.

“We’re having a discussion where we won’t be overheard, and where we’ll have a bit of warning if someone walks in.” Charis stood with her hands folded at her waist, calm and certain of what she needed to do. Fury had hardened into the icy rage she’d used to survive Mother’s expectations. Charis was the immovable cliff her enemies would crash against, not realizing the danger until they were already in pieces at her feet.

She met Tal’s gaze and found the same immovable certainty in him. “You’ll keep him contained?”

“I will.” Tal glanced at Holland and then moved his feet into the first rathma position. Reuben took one look at Tal and hefted his curtain rod, though he wasn’t yet sure what was going on.

“Keep who contained?” Holland demanded, looking from Charis to Tal.

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