"You want to know if you can take a lover. For informational purposes."
Hearing him say it like that makes me want to crawl under the table.
"There are no rules." His voice is flat. "You're free to do as you like."
"Oh. Good. That's good."
Silence.
I should stop talking. I should absolutely stop talking right now.
"And you?"
He raises an eyebrow.
"Kings have..." I wave my fork vaguely, realize I'm gesturing with silverware, and put it down. "Historically. You know. Mistresses."
"Would it bother you if I had one?”
"No." Too fast. I answered too fast. "It's a strategic marriage. You said so yourself. So it wouldn't bother me. At all. Strategically speaking."
We stare at each other across the candlelit table. My heart is beating too fast.
"I don't share."
The words come out low. Almost rough. Like they escaped without his permission.
I stare at him.
"I thought you said—"
"I know what I said."
He's still sitting perfectly straight, still controlled, but something has cracked. I can see it in his eyes. In the way his fingers have tightened around the stem of his wine glass.
"I don't share, Bailey." His voice drops even lower. "If you're mine, you're mine. I don't care if this is strategic or temporary. No one else touches you. No one else makes you laugh. No one else gets to see that dimple."
My hand flies to my cheek before I can stop it.
"What dimple?"
"The one you showed the guard this morning. The one with the curly hair." His eyes are fixed on my face. "You smiled at him. Really smiled. And I saw it appear, right there, on your right cheek."
He noticed.
He noticed my dimple. The secret one. He noticed, and he noticed who I showed it to, and he's been watching me closely enough to track which of his guards makes me smile.
I should be alarmed.
I am the opposite of alarmed.
"Fine," I hear myself say. "Then the same goes for you."
I know this is insane. I shouldn’t even be wasting time establishing rules for a marriage I’m not supposed to want. But—
"No mistresses. No 'companionship elsewhere.'"
I’ve come to realize that I must have left most of my brain cells back in my world—
