Page 123 of Promise of Darkness
“What do you mean, if I don’t remember you?”
“The rules are clear. I must return you to your mother. Three days later the entire alliance meets at the Queensmoot, where you must make your choice.” Thiago captures my gaze, his eyes alight with feral need. “Your mother, or myself. You leave with one of us.”
“You agreed to this bargain?”
It’s a terrible bargain.
“I didn’t know what she intended to do to you at the time. I couldn’t fathom a world in which you would walk away from me.”
I sink onto the bench seat of the boat, my knees trembling. “But if I don’t remember you, then I’ll never….”I’ll never choose you.
“Youwillremember.”
I wish I had his certainty.
“Why did you not tell me?”
“Because I wanted to enjoy my time with you,” he snaps. “I wanted to spend these days in your arms, not worrying about the future.”
“We could have been working toward a solution!”
“We’ve tried,” Thiago replies. “Do you think I haven’t done everything in my power to break the spell over the years?” A bitter smile touches his mouth. “It’s not true love’s kiss, let me assure you.”
“What if there isn’t a means to break it?” My chest feels tight. I cannot have his death on my conscience. “What if she….”
I can’t say it.
Thiago kneels in front of me and takes my hands. “I have faith, Vi. You never want to see me hurt, no matter how much you think me the enemy. Even if you don’t recognize me, I think some part of you will always know me. Maybe this is what the spell needs to break? Maybe if my life is at risk, then the curse will shatter?”
“Maybe?” Does he not see how wrong that sounds? To pin all our hopes on maybe? “What if I don’t feel a thing? What if it’s too late?”
“I have faith,” he repeats.
“Well, I don’t!”
“For once, the princess and I are in agreement,” Eris mutters.
I’d forgotten about them, forgotten about them all. I stare at her hopelessly. This is why she hates me. This is why she can’t even look at me. She knows I’m the millstone around the prince’s neck, threatening to drag him to his death.
Thiago leans closer to me. “Later,” he repeats, in a deathly quiet voice.
Behind him, I can just make out the foreshore of Mistmere. He’s right. This isn’t the time, or the place.
“Later.”
The words are a promise made.
He tilts his head to me, one adversary to another. “There’s the woman I married. There’s my queen. Don’t lose sight of her, Vi. Because I need her at my side. As much as your mother’s curse must be dealt with, this takes priority. I won’t allow another war.” The boat glides to a smooth halt, and he leaps down into the shallows with barely a splash. “Now, come.”
Darkness blurs his features as I accept his hand. I can sense the magic shivering beneath his skin like a quiet storm.
The others dismount, and we wade ashore toward the Hallow. Edain and Andraste are already there, waiting for us.
“Is this some sort of joke?” Edain demands loudly.
The words cut through the night like a whip crack.
Thiago was shielding us, but there’s no aural shield surrounding Edain.
