Page 22 of Dynasty of the Wicked

Maybe that was what spurred her confidence. His words, his actions, and the way he appeared so … perfect. “Why did you save me like you did? Back in the dungeon.”

She could still remember the way he had protected her. His anger at the men who’d hurt her. The way he had flown into a rage when they touched her.

“You are a princess of this empire,” he said after a moment. “I could never let them do anything to you.”

It was something she should have known—that it wasn’t so much because of her, but her status as a princess—but it still felt like a slap to the face.

She stared down at her hands, hating the way her chest tightened painfully. It was fine, she told herself. They barely even knew each other. She shouldn’t have been so caught up with what a stranger thought of her. Of course he wouldn’t care enough.

“I … understand,” she said with a tightlipped smile. “We worked well together, didn’t we?”

He paused. “We did.”

It was better this way. She tried to organize her thoughts without emotion, trying to get everything in order for what she was going to ask him.

“I … I want to know if your offer still stands.” She breathed out deeply, trying to appear and sound as diplomatic and unemotional as possible. This wasn’t a decision made out of love, or passion, or because she felt a stirring of emotion whenever she looked at him—though hewaseasy on the eyes. This was a calculated move. A long-term strategy. “I would like to marry you and use your magic so that we can—” She glanced around herself, her voice dropping in case anyone was outside their tent listening in on them. “—you know.”

Feng Mian nodded slowly. “My offer remains. But I thought you said you would rather wait for your father’s men to save you than to bind yourself to such a foul beast such as I.”

A foul,beautifulbeast, but a beast nonetheless.

“I don’t know how long my father and his men will take,” Zhi Ruo said after a moment. She didn’t want to face the possibility that father wasn’t going to save her, that she had been abandoned, because there wasno waythat could happen. “They likely don’t even know where I am. I … I am sure of it.”

An ugly, niggling thought in the back of her mind told her she waswrong, but she suppressed it.

“So you would rather free yourself than wait for them?”

“It might be too late if I wait for them.” Her throat tightened as she thought about Wyer’s threat. “Anyway, I think it best if we try to find a way ourselves. We worked well together.”

Feng Mian’s smirk was equal parts annoying—as if he was gloatingI told you so—and alluring. To the point that she wanted to lean forward and touch his bruised face to see if he was real, because how could a human look so devastatingly beautiful?

Zhi Ruo reined in her messy emotions. “I understand it’s forbidden for a woman to wield magic, so all I ask is that you not tell anyone once we’ve …” She waved her hand, and thendropped it on her lap when she remembered he couldn’t see the small action. “Well, you know.”

“Yes. Escaped.”

Her eyes widened. “Not so loud! Anyone could be listening.”

She quickly turned to the entrance of their tent, half expecting a horde of Kadian soldiers to rush in enthusiastically and punish them, but nothing happened. The only thing she could hear was the howling of the bitter winds and the faint chatter of soldiers speaking.

“Most Kadians don’t know our language,” he said with a shrug. “But I understand your worry. I will try to be more careful, Princess. I’ll also keep your secret.”

“Good.” She didn’t want more rumors of her wickedness to spread. What would people think if they realized she knew magic? She would be further ostracized.

“Are there any more conditions you’d like to make?”

She cleared her throat, hating the way heat rose up to her cheeks. “What will happen after we’ve …you know? Will we still be married?”

A slow smile spread over his face. “After what? After we consummate? I’d imagine we’d be even closer as husband and wife then.”

She gasped, her blush deepening. “I didn’t meanthat. I meant more like … We will have no reason to remain—Wait, do we have to consummate in order to share our magic?”

“No, but it will be stronger if we do.”

“It—it is probably best we don’t.”

“Why?” His grin sharpened, and there was something mischievous about the way his eyes twinkled. “You don’t think you’ll like it?”

She was too stunned to speak. Too embarrassed by the possibility and too … overwhelmed. She could almost imagine it, his muscular arms around her, his face close to hers, their bodiestangled together. Something stirred in the pit of her stomach—a desire she had never felt before—and she quickly quashed it, her mortification rising.

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