Page 28 of The Crownless Prince

“Other…servants?” she repeated.

Marcus’s posture drooped as he angled away from her. “What is a prince without a crown, without a family, without a home, without even a copper piece to his name? I headed to Glenborough because I needed to know that you, at least, were alive and well. After I heard you were about to be wed to a wealthy lord who can provide for you and whose coffers will help stabilize Aedyllan… There wasn’t any reason to stay. Edwin and I had run out of anything valuable to trade for food and lodging, and there were few jobs available. So when we received an offer of employment from a nobleman who doesn’t live near Faine Castle, we accepted. Even though this nobleman makes his servants sign contracts agreeing to serve for five years or pay a large severance debt.” His shoulders hunched. “We saw it as a guarantee of food and shelter for five years. I didn’t expect him to come here.”

Sorrow for the loneliness, grief, and uncertainty Marcus must haveexperienced after emerging from his tower momentarily distracted Adriana from what he’d implied. Then it hit her, like a branch of snow dumped on her head.

“You’re servingLord Thorne?”

“Yes. I’m…” He slumped further. “A lowly servant to your betrothed.”

Adriana didn’t know what to say. He looked so ashamed when he had no right to be. He’d tried to start a new life despite how wrong everything had gone, and things had only become worse. Although it hurt to know he hadn’t originally intended to come for her, she couldn’t really blame him. He had no title, no home, no fortune, and he’d learned she was about to be married to someone who did have those things, with no way of knowing she still wantedhim, not some rich nobleman she’d never met. And his comment about Aedyllan’s stability…even when he was heartbroken, he still was thinking of peace, and it both made her love him more and cracked her heart in two.

Before she could organize her thoughts, Marcus straightened, some of his princely bearing returning as he faced her again.

“Selfishly, I’m glad, though, because it means I can see you.” He brushed his fingertips over her jawline. “Tell me honestly—did you agree to marry him?”

His fingers left her skin, but she caught his hand and pressed his palm to her cheek. “No. But my father won’t relent.”

Anger flashed through his eyes. “I didn’t think your father would do that to you.”

There was a time she also had believed Father would accept her refusal. “The war hardened him. He’s determined to see this marriage happen, no matter what I say or even what Jairus says.”

“I see,” Marcus whispered. “Will you be all right?”

“All right?” She tightened her grip on his hand against her cheek. “Do you think it wouldn’t torture me to see the man I love every day while married to another?”

“Love?” Marcus choked out. He raised his other palm to her cheek and leaned closer, cradling her face in a way that made her breath catch. “Still? Even though I’m penniless and trapped in servitude?”

Adriana released his hand to stroke his lengthy dark hair. It wasn’t nearly as silky-soft as she remembered it being, but she didn’t care. “Don’t you still love me?”

“I could never stop loving you.” Passion flooded those simple words as he rested his forehead against hers.

“Then why do you doubt me?” she said softly.

Tentatively, she shifted and tilted her face, bringing her lips to his, but she didn’t kiss him, waiting for him to make the next move.

“Adriana…” Marcus breathed against her mouth.

Then his lips pressed into hers, gently at first, but with increasing desperation. She returned the kiss, pouring in every moment of missing him and dreaming of their reunion for the last four years. Everything else faded away, and in that moment, it was only them, their breath intermingling and their arms around each other, holding each other close as if they had no intention of ever being separated.

But through the euphoria, a distant part of Adriana’s mind calleda warning. This couldn’t be—not yet.

Marcus must have had a similar thought, because they both broke away and subtly eased back at the same time.

“I’m sorry,” he panted. “That wasn’t—I shouldn’t have…”

She couldn’t help a small chuckle. “It takes two to kiss.” She placed a quick peck on his cheek. “I’ve missed kissing you, beloved.”

Marcus groaned. “Adriana… I have nothing to offer you. I can only break the contract I signed if I pay Lord Thorne one hundred gold, and—”

“One hundred gold?” Surely she’d misheard him.

He nodded grimly. “And one hundred more for Edwin, who I obviously won’t leave behind. We’ll have to hide from Thorne, because if we’re ever caught, he could drag us back. Or possibly throw us in prison. Maybe worse, I don’t know. And I can’t even guarantee you shelter from the snow. I can’t ask you to accept that.”

Her mind whirled. There was no chance she could get her hands on two hundred gold. Father would have to withdraw that much from the treasury himself, and when he was already worried the royal coffers were too low, he would never agree. Especially not to help a man he’d tried to kill.

“Why did you accept such horrible terms?” The moment the question spilled out, she wished she could take it back.

“It seemed better than being homeless,” Marcus whispered with a shrug.

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