Page 126 of The Oracle of Dusk

They were the only words she had, and yet they felt wholly inadequate. Aurora could only imagine what pain she’d suffered.

Epicasta seized her hands, a desperate light in her solemn grey eyes.

“If you have pity for me, then help me. If there’s some way to circumvent this marriage, if you’ve had any visions that might show a different future, please tell me.”

She hadn’t had any more visions, just more of the same strange feelings of déjà vu whenever her emotions overwhelmed her, which was most of the time. But if a different future was what the princess needed, there were other ways. For the first time in weeks, hope sparked anew in her chest that maybe this time, the future she’d seen could be averted. After all, Aurora knew the palace like the back of her hand.

“I haven’t had any visions, but I can tell you at least ten ways to sneak out of the palace unseen.”

Chapter 21

Theronsatinthecourtyard of the temple of Justice with his eyes closed and his face raised towards the sun. At midday, the temple was at rest for meal time, but every cleric was seated in the dining hall, conforming mindlessly lest their convictions be questioned. Theron couldn’t stomach the thought of food. In just a few days, he would be married. Not in Aureum, amongst his court with the streets lined by well-wishers. Not to a woman he liked or could even tolerate. Not because it would benefit Aureum or him politically.

Theron cursed his choices.

Trading his safety for purification had been the coward’s choice. He should have had the resolve to be patient, no matter the consequences. But no, he’d let his panicked courtiers lead him by the nose. He knew he should have just trusted Batea to handle it, knew he should have told his people to get Aurora out of Boreas immediately. Theron had panicked—erred, and now he reaped the consequences.

What did it matter if he returned home in a timely fashion if his wife managed to murder him before he could set his court to rights, or found a way to steal the Dragon’s Flank for her foul mother? What did it matter if he managed to keep Aurora close at hand if her stubborn refusal to yield to their passion kept her heart out of his reach and thus his control?

Flora might have agreed to his reasonable terms of restitution, Orithyia might have purified him, but he’d still fallen into another trap. The queen was already making noises about sending an entire legion of Viridian soldiers along with her daughter ‘for safety.’ Orithyia had insinuated that she would also be making plans to visit Aureum in the near future—now that he’d allied himself to Viridis through marriage. Theron had managed to keep Viridis at bay his whole life, and now the most pernicious women in this cursed queendom would finally get their claws into his kingdom.

He’d failed Aureum. Chosen to act selfishly out of fear, and now his kingdom would pay. Unless he could find a way to convince Epicasta to deny the need for soldiers and rebuff Orithyia’s intrusion without her telling Flora the exact wording of his sacred vow, he was going to lose ground. Already, he was on unstable footing, and Viridis was pushing him into a corner.

When he sighed and opened his eyes, he caught sight of Aurora. She was across the courtyard. Her eyes widened a fraction. He’d caught her staring. Theron smiled and stood. She turned to dart away. His heart raced.

Not again. Not today. He was sick of her running from him, from the connection between them. Theron gave chase, his longer legs closing the distance in moments. Aurora squeaked when he grabbed her around the waist and tackled her to the floor with him, landing on his shoulder to spare her any pain.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she accused him.

She writhed in his arms. He chuckled, turning to flip and pin her to the temple floor, her arms above her head. The moment he flipped her, Aurora stopped struggling, her gaze flitting between his eyes and lips. Did she know the way she was looking at him, full of lust and longing? Did she know that even as she rebuked him with words, she shifted, rising to meet him as he closed the space between them?

“I could ask the same. Have you become a shameless voyeur in our time apart?”

“I—”

“I could punish you if you like,” he purred, rubbing his nose along her slender neck, taking pleasure in her hitched breath. “I would use my teeth to make you confess,” he whispered, nibbling on her long, pointed ear as she gasped. “I would use my lips to make you repent,” he said, kissing a trail down her neck. “I would use my tongue to teach you a lesson,” he said, pressing his tongue and teasing her nipple as it pebbled against the fabric of her gown. Aurora groaned, arching her back for more. “And only when I use my fingers would you know that you were forgiven,” he whispered, trailing his hand up the side of her gown. “Tell me you want to be punished.”

Did she realise that he’d stopped pinning her wrists, that she held them above her head exactly where he’d first grabbed them? Colour rose up her neck, her breath coming hard and fast, her gaze full of desire. She was beautiful like this, his fairy. He could see she wanted to surrender as much as he wanted to conquer.

Slowly, she raised her hands to his face, as if a sudden move might make him bolt. Didn’t she know he’d captured her, and not the other way around? Her soft hands memorized the planes of his face, her fingers threading into his hair as she urged his lips to hers. Theron let her lead the kiss, let her tell him how she wished to be savoured in that moment.

Her lips were soft as she caressed his in a series of light kisses. She kissed his upper lip, the bottom, the side of his mouth, unexpectedly tender. When her tongue bid him to open his mouth for hers, he obliged, drinking her in slowly, reverently. Her leisurely exploration made the world around them fade away, until all he could taste was her, until his every breath was filled with her, until he imagined himself falling into her and never emerging.

Aurora pulled away, her gaze as tender as her kisses had been.

“I want you to be mine. Only mine,” Aurora whispered.

“You already have me, Aurora,” he said.

She shook her head.

“I want everything. All of you.”

He sighed, his thumb caressing her lip. Theron finally had her wrapped around his finger, and now he would have to convince her to stay. Her possessiveness pleased him, but now that same trait posed a problem.

“I would give you everything if I could.”

“Don’t marry her, please. She doesn’t even want it.”

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