I was going to elbow him until I remembered the thousands of people beneath us who probably wouldn’t take kindly to it.
Xander’s face turned serious. “I already have a wife, and I do not want a different one.”
I had to put my hand over my heart, as if that could stop the way he made me feel.
The song ended and someone started chanting, “Prince Alexandros!” The crowd quickly took up the cheer, and they called his name over and over.
Then it transformed into “King Alexandros!”
“All this adoration is going to swell your head,” I said.
He was pensive for a moment. “I belong to everyone and no one. Having this kind of adoration but still ... by myself.”
“What about your phratry?”
“I love my brothers. But I will be their king. There will always be a disconnect there. A way in which I have to be separate and apart. The only person I could ever really be close to is ...” His voice trailed off.
A wife.
He could only be close to a wife, to a woman who was his true partner. Someone he could confide in, somewhere that he could lay his weary head at the end of his day. The way my parents did for each other. How Doria and Haemon had been for one another.
I longed for it, too. Even now there were parts of myself that I kept private and secret from my adelphia. From Quynh, too. I wanted a companion who would know and love all of me. Who would appreciate thegood things about me and wouldn’t turn away from the bad. Someone I could tell everything to, who would accept me completely.
The prophecy had increased my sense of loneliness. Just like Xander had to be separate and apart from those he loved, so did I. My fate was not their fate.
He looked down at the people, who were still calling for him to be their king. He put his hands on the railing and rested his weight there. “Surrounded by people who love me and yet ...”
“And yet?” I prompted.
“I think this is the most alone I’ve ever felt.”
It was like he’d gutted me.Goddess help me.I put my hand on top of his. “You’re not alone.”
He turned his gaze toward me. “Neither are you.”
Not able to help myself, I leaned over and kissed him softly, oblivious to the wild cheers of the crowd.
A loud explosion rent the air and we jerked apart.
Two seconds later there was another explosion.
The people in the courtyard started screaming and running.
“That came from the docks.” Xander turned and darted inside and I followed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Xander barked out instructions to the soldiers, who were milling about, unsure of what to do. I followed him to our bedroom, where he started putting on armor and gathering weapons.
I went to change out of my own clothes and get ready.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Going with you.”
“No. You can’t come,” he said as he slipped two daggers into his belt.
“I can help you,” I said. “That metallic smell in the air—it’s the same as when that house exploded in Lycia. Which means the Carians are behind this.”
