Page 72 of A War of Three Kings

“We won’t.” A sickness rolls through me, turning my stomach and sending bile up my throat.

“I demand to be at this meeting.” Aldrin’s simmering eyes are trained on me.

My father doesn’t miss a beat. “Absolutely not.”

Caitlin places a hand on Aldrin’s arm. “They have mustered armies over rumors of fae men in our protectorate. We cannot shove the proof under their noses and expect them to negotiate with us.”

“What if this king snatches Keira during the negotiations and races her back to his main army?” Aldrin brims with restrained aggression. “Ineedto be there to make sure that doesn’t happen. None of your other soldiers will fight for her like I will.”

My father’s temper flares. “I will be there to protect her.”

“I am right here,” I snap. “And I can speak for myself.” My father glares murder at me, but I don’t balk. “Aldrin comes to this meeting and shows the king that we have loyal fae backing. We hold this fortress as a show of force to the king—why nottruly intimidate him? The truth will be revealed soon enough, anyway.”

There is a pause, then my father takes a step closer to Aldrin, their faces inches apart as he asks in a deadly low tone, “And who exactly do we say you are to Keira?”

The unspoken undercurrent is clear to all of us.Who do you think you are to her? What promises have been made between you?

Aldrin gives a self-satisfied smirk and opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “We will tell Finan that Aldrin is my bodyguard. He doesn’t need to know the truth,” I blurt out, because I cannot handle the hostile tension between them.

“Which is what, exactly?” my father spits. I glance over his shoulder at Aldrin, who raises an eyebrow at me.

“Which is something we haven’t worked out yet, because you won’t allow me to speak with him for more than a few moments.” I poke a finger in his chest.

Literal fire burns within my father’s eyes as they narrow on me. “You can’t be seen together. It will?—”

“Ruin the war effort. Yeah. I get it.” I want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him.

Caitlin grabs our father’s arm and drags him away. “We need to call a war meeting and discuss strategy with the other lords and the countess.” She slaps Aldrin on the arm and gives him a grin as she tugs our father past.

“And I suppose you are planning on coming to these bloody dangerous negotiations while pregnant?” My father pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I am the commander of your army,” she hisses back. “Of course I am coming.”

His voice reaches us as he disappears down the stairs. “You girls are going to put me into an early grave. All these years I thought Diarmuid was the troublemaker.”

Aldrin leans against the railing, watching me. His dark hair is pulled back into a knot and the breeze brushes strands of it across his face. “So…what exactly are we?” A smug grin splits his lips.

I glance over my shoulder to see that Gwyneth has disappeared. “Lovers?” I tease.

His face turns serious, and he moves toward me with lightning speed, tipping my chin up and forcing me to look into his amber eyes as he towers over me. His humor is gone.“We are more than lovers.”

“Why don’t you tell me what we are, then, if you know everything?” I breathe.

His stare doesn’t break away from mine. “I know what I want us to be. I have told you already.” He trails his thumb over my lips. “I want to hear it from you.”

A shiver runs down my spine. “I want everything from you, Aldrin. Your heart, your soul, your life. I want to be there for every happy moment and hold you through each struggle. I never want to be parted from you again. But I can’t make you promises when the future is so uncertain, when we cannot even be seen together. When I don’t know ifhewill win his war and take me again.”

Aldrin grips my shoulders tightly as his eyes darken. “I won’t allow him to win, Keira. Not even if I have to put a realm into desolation and murder a king.”

I sigh. “I know you will.”

“I badly want to kiss you right now, but…”

“But you would probably end up with multiple arrow shafts protruding from your body for the third time since entering this realm,” I finish for him.

“Yeah. That.” Aldrin doesn’t take his eyes off me. “I would marry you right here, right now, if you pointed me to an officiant.”

I put my hand on his chest. “Aldrin…”

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