Page 197 of Fearless

“Your bravery is inspiring,” I croon.

His hand drops from that beautiful face beneath to display dark lashes aimed at the floor. “And selfish.” Dimples frame his curved lips. “I want something in return.”

I cross my arms. “And what would that be?”

“A ‘yes’ at the end of that aisle today.”

The words are quick, a rush of uncertainty I’m so unused to hearing in Kai’s voice. My heart aches at the veiled worry he wears. After finallyletting himself feel for someone, he fears I’ll walk away. A king stands before me, stripped bare, and back to the boy who was forced to believe love was a weakness.

Gently, I slip the warm bowl from his fingers and set it on the floor beside me. Then his face is in my hands, his brow creasing at the feel of my touch. “At the end of a blade, I would love you. Until it pierced my throat, I would say ‘yes’ to you.”

The tear that slips down his cheek coaxes one from my own eye. Kai’s voice is rough with emotion as he murmurs, “You’re quite the poet, darling.”

I laugh, my vision blurring with the scrunching of my brimming gaze. “Some fool inspired me.”

We spend the next several moments basking in this limbo between our present and the future awaiting us at the base of a willow tree. We laugh. We pretend not to cry. We say our goodbyes—one due to the temporary distance Ellie insists between us, and the other in memory of our final moments before forever.

Long after Kai strides from my chamber, and Ellie has fussed with my appearance for the final time, a second knock sounds at my door. Lenny asks if I am ready. I don’t hesitate before taking his arm.

“All this time I’ve been calling you ‘Princess’…” Red hair ripples with the slow shake of his head. “Who the hell would have guessed you were one.”

I throw him a playful glare. “Yes, how very shocking.”

It felt good to share the truth with him and those closest to me. But I keep the secret of my royal blood tucked close to my heart, hidden from the kingdom who has already begun to accept me. I say nothing of the forgotten princess I am, so as not to draw Kai’s legitimacy into question.

My whole life, I have been Ordinary. And I no longer feel the need to change that.

“Look,” Lenny continues, undeterred, “I’m more interested in the fact that I might actually be Psychic. I mean, how did I know to call you that?”

I snort. “What next, are you going to discover I’m truly a cockroach?”

“Very funny, Majesty.” He shakes his head at me, even while wearing a smile. We step out into the blooming garden and begin our stroll through the winding paths. Passing the fountain I now look at fondly, Lenny asks, “This is the wedding you want, P? Right?”

I glance over at my friend. He returns the smile lighting my face and flushing my cheeks. My admission is bold and freeing and daring Death to make me regret it. “Desperately.”

CHAPTER 75Kai

She walks toward me, looking like a dream I wish to never wake from.

Her fingers clutch a collection of twining stems. Above, poppies’ red petals bleed into pink roses while the deep blue of dainty forget-me-nots weaves between.

I stand beside the willow’s mighty trunk, beside my brother and sister. I’m swallowed in the swaying branches, lost in a tangle of slender leaves.

It is only me, and the ghost of those I love, awaiting Paedyn beneath the willow. She, too, steps into our future alone, but not entirely.

Her slippers pad slowly across the stretch of soft grass. Adena hugs her tightly atop the plain dress she wears; the memory of a father encircles the thumb wrapped around her bouquet.

Time slows long enough to let me bask in a moment I’ve only ever dreamt of.

She is my dream.

She is my piece of paradise.

She is my inevitable.

My composure begins to crumble with every step she takes toward me. Tears well in my eyes, but I smile for her. Always for her.

Thunder rumbles beyond the willow’s embrace, but Paedyn’s gaze never leaves mine. Happily, I drown in it.

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