Page 109 of Promise of Darkness
Thiago’s eyes narrow, and his fingers tap, just once, against the table. “Don’t forget, you belong to me, Princess.”
I lean forward, nursing the wine. It’s made me feel bold. “I belong to myself, Your Highness. And you’d do well to remember it.”
He captures my hand, toying with my fingers. “You’ve always been your own woman. It’s what attracted me in the first place. But don’t play games. Not with other men. Not now. Don’t make me kill my friend.”
My breath catches.
Is he jealous?
“I’m not playing games and I have no interest in your friend Kyrian,” I tell him. “Nor do I have any interest in anyone else. One husband is enough, thank you.”
“That’s the first time you’ve called me that,” he says softly.
All this time he’s been charming and seductive, but I’ve never gotten a glimpse of the real man. I didn’t realize how much it bothers him that I’m holding him at arm’s bay.
I’ve seen the armor.
I’ve seen every wink and smile he can offer.
But I’ve rarely seen a hint of vulnerability.
I fold a piece of thin, flat bread and sprinkle a handful of chopped tomatoes and soft cheese into it. “I’m trying.”
“I know,” he murmurs.
“You seem out of sorts.”
“I’m usually in your bed by now.” Thiago looks away, out across the star-strewn skies. “And that’s not a complaint. I understand your request for two rooms. My insistence was purely for security reasons, though at least they’re beside each other. But every year it takes a little longer for you to trust me. Every year, I count the days until you look at me with any sort of fondness. And every year, that day ticks closer to the time I must return you. How many years will it take, I wonder, before my wife no longer looks at me with love in her eyes?”
Silence falls between us.
“My mother does her job well. She fills my ears with poison and puts a knife in my hand and whispers of the threat you pose.” Not to me. Never to me. “She paints pictures of war and how I could save my people from such harsh reality.”
Because she knows I will always take the threat to my people harder than any harm against myself.
“I come to you thinking you’re a monster.” Only to find the man himself, with his seductive smiles and his curious charm. It makes me wonder: Have I even seen the real man yet? Or is he still stifling his true nature, trying to woo me, as it were. Trying to be soft and gentle and not to frighten me. “I need to know you,” I whisper. “In all your facets. The good. The bad. The frightening. I know you can be kind, but that’s not all of you. The other kingdoms wouldn’t fear you so badly, if that was all of you.”
His eyes dance back to mine. “I am not kind. I am a prince, and I must make hard decisions. But I will never hurtyou, Vi. The other kingdoms fear what they don’t understand, and I will always be an abomination in their eyes.”
What does that mean?
“Why?” I demand. “Because my mother calls you Unseelie? Because of your Darkness. Your tattoos?”
If there is anything to fear of him, it is that.
“What are they?” I remember the snarling whisper of their voices. Five distinct voices, if I recall correctly.
Thiago’s face shuts down. “They are the cost I paid to find myself in the position I now hold. And that is all, Vi. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I won’t tell my mother.”
“I know.” He forces a smile. “But tonight is for us. I want to enjoy it. Not speak of monstrous things and a bloody past. Please.”
It’s a small step.
This time he asks for me to set it aside.
“One day,” I warn.
