Stella studied him with rapt fascination. He’d always been so contained. Was it pity that made him share something so personal?
“They took me to Novum, to a first kill’s tournament. I was so nervous. Everyone was watching. My parents, my grandmother, Isla and Maren. Everyone I looked up to. Everyone I knew was strong. And, of course, all of the competitors were hoping to get a crack at me. Prince of Argaria and grandson of the queen of Novum.”
Stella couldn’t imagine having someone she loved and respected witnessing her first kill like that.
“He was eighteen. His name was Alvin Arlume. He’d just completed the final forging from Callemoore. I was terrified to face off against someone who had finished the Novumi warrior training program, but my grandmother thought it was important that I fight the best.”
“How did you win?” Stella asked.
Teddy paused his work and was silent for a long moment. “I am used to shutting down the feeling part of my brain. I just shoved it all away. It was him or me and I was willing. I didn’t know for sure until the moment my blade slid between his ribs. I remember what that felt like. It changes you, and I’m sorry that you have to know that.”
His gentleness frightened her. All she could do was watch as he scraped the dried blood from beneath her nails, wiped her hands down with a bit of water and whiskey from his flask.
He met her gaze, his eyes soft in the dim lamplight, and she knew all at once that this wasn’t a secret shared out of pity.
It was in the way he was looking at her, in the tender way he squeezed her hands. He’d shared this story with her because he wanted her to feel less alone.
“You almost died,” she rasped.
“But I didn’t. You saved me.”
“What if we die in this tournament—or from the assassins sent by the Sons of Endros? What if I die before—” She caught herself just in time. Right before she admitted the mortifying truth.
She was terrified she’d die before she had experienced her fairy tale love.
“My father isn’t going to let the Sons on his council and neither will King Marcos. There’s no way that they will respond to this kind of manipulation by giving those tyrants what they want. As soon as you start negotiating that way, you can never stop. That way lies madness and chaos.” He ran his thumbs over the tops of her hands in a soothing rhythm. “Now, what were you about to say?”
“I don’t want to die before I have a chance at the same kind of lovemy parents have. I know I—” She blew out a breath, feeling properly mortified by the honesty. “I know you think it’s stupid and frivolous, but they are a literal fairy tale. It takes time to build that. I want the chance to know someone like that and to be known.”
Teddy brushed a tear from her cheek.
Stella shuddered, blowing out a breath to avoid sobbing. “I want the chance to actuallylive. I have to. I cannot give up now.Especiallynow. This is what stories are made of. They’re nothing without conflict.” Her chest was so tight that she could barely breathe, but the words would not stop tumbling out of her. “But what if I’ve picked a conflict I can’t survive—or, worse, what if I’ve picked a conflict that turns me into someone unlovable?”
“You haven’t. You were so brave tonight. Any man who isn’t impressed by your courage in the face of danger isn’t worth your time, anyway.” He hummed low. “Watching you wield those blades. Gods, Stella. I was mesmerized.”
“Don’t patronize me. I’m not going to break. I’m just going to fissure a little. I’ll be fine in the morning,” she whispered. But even as she said it, she wasn’t sure. She felt so different, like the old version of her had left her body, like some part of her was gone.
“We should get you out of those wet clothes so you can warm up.”
“You know there are easier ways to get me naked than almost getting yourself killed,” she said.
His face lit up with a wicked smile, and warmth surged through the bond. “There you are,Minyha. You had me worried for a few minutes there.” He nodded at her shirt. “Seriously, though. You should take it off. I can give you another shirt.”
She could have waited for him to turn away, but Stella stood and undid the buckles on her vest, letting it fall to the floor. Gripping the bottom edge of his shirt, she pulled it off and tossed it aside. She stared at him where he still knelt on the floor—daring him to look away.
Teddy’s gaze raked over her slowly.
“Does that please, Your Grace?”
Teddy’s throat bobbed. “It does. Would please me more if you let me touch you.”
Stella hesitated. Just a few days ago, this scenario was unimaginable, but now it felt inevitable. She didn’t just want him to touch her. She wanted to feel him everywhere. She wanted him to blot out what she’d done and untangle the knotted mix of emotions inside her with pleasure. After what they’d done in the cabin, she felt confident he could.
“On one condition.”
Teddy looked up at her from his knees. “Name it.”
She liked seeing him like that—supplicant and waiting for her permission. She felt a strange satisfaction seeing a prince humbled only for her.
