Page 117 of Keeper

“I don’t agree with all of Hawke’s methods, but it’s important for me to keep this treaty between our tribe and his. He’ll be the Calcite’s chieftain soon.”

“What happens next?” When Cenric doesn’t respond right away, I press further. “What happens to us, Cenric?”

He reaches into his cloak, and my heart skips a beat. Is this it? The moment he tells me we can’t be together. Instead of a rejection, he pulls out a small leather bag.

Coins clink together as he holds it out to me. “This is for your family.”

Confusion washes over me as I stare at the bag, then back at him. “I cannot take coin from you.”

“You can,” he insists, pressing the bag into my hands. “Then, you can return to Astarobane with my army and give it to your family.”

I take the bag from him. It’s more than coin. It’s a lifeline. A way to help my family, to ease their burden.

Tears prick at my eyes as I clutch it to my chest. “Thank you,” I say, my voice cracking with emotion. “What happens to us, Cenric?”

His gaze holds mine. “I want to marry you, Everly.”

I shake my head, certain I must have misheard him.

“I want you to be my wife,” he says, his tone steady, resolute.

Tears claw at my throat, my chest, my lungs. “Why would you say something so cruel? You know we cannot get married. I’m an outsider, Cenric. It’s forbidden.”

He brushes his knuckles against my jaw with a tenderness that makes my heart ache. “I’m not trying to be cruel, Evie. I want you to marry me.”

“But the law...your uncle...he’ll never allow it.”

“I don’t care about the law or what my uncle thinks.” His thumb traces the curve of my jaw. “I love you, Everly. I want to spend my life with you.”

He loves me?

This brave, strong man loves me?

It’s almost too wonderful to believe. Especially, when I have longed for it for so long.

My heart swells, but the logical part of my brain screams in protest. “We’ll be exiled. Or worse. Is that really what you want?”

“I want you,” he says simply, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I’ll give up everything to be with you.”

I search his face, looking for any hint of doubt or hesitation, but I find none. Only love and determination shine back at me.

“Are you certain?” I whisper, hardly daring to believe this is real. “You’d really give up your title, your family, everything...for me?”

He cups my face in his hands. “In a heartbeat.”

“I could never ask you to do that.” I pull away from him and sniff.

Cenric grabs my shoulders, gently but firmly turning me back to face him. “We will marry and not tell anyone.”

The thought of marrying Cenric, of being his wife, fills me with joy, but the fear of discovery looms like the darkest shadow.

I search his eyes for any hint of doubt or hesitation, but there is none.

His hands slide from my shoulders to cup my face again. “I want to spend my life with you. I don’t care about the risks. I only care about you.”

I know I should say no, but as I gaze into Cenric’s eyes, I realize that a life without him is no life at all.

“Yes,” I say. “I will marry you, Cenric.”

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