“Have nothing to be sorry for, my star.” His finger slid beneath her chin, and he tilted her face up toward his. “You did what you thought was best for your people; I cannot blame you for that.You alsocame backto me. You let me in, and for that, I will be forever grateful.”
My star.
Suddenly, his nickname for her held more weight than it previously had. They’d unknowingly followed in their ancestor’s footsteps. Step by step, history had begun to repeat itself; she just hoped their ending wouldn’t be the same.
“Daemon—”
“I love you, Auraelia. Even if the stars fall from the sky. Even if the world is cinders around us, I will always love you.”
A sob caught in her throat. How he could still love her after everything she’d put him through, Auraelia would never understand. But it was also something she would never take for granted again. “I love you, too.”
Daemon’s lips pressed against hers, soft yet demanding as his hands twisted in the strands of hair at the base of her skull. When he broke away, his words were barely a whisper against her lips. “Marry me.”
Daemon
It wasn’t a question or a demand.
It was more of a plea.
Nothing in this world would have made him happier at that moment than to hear her sayyes, but instead, she pulled back,confusion swirling in her slate-gray eyes as they flicked between his own.
“What?”
“Marry me, Auraelia.”
A small laugh slipped from her lips, but there was a light in her eyes that would rival the sun on the brightest day. “How much did you have to drink tonight?”
“Enough to give me the courage to beg you to be my wife, but not so much that I don’t mean every word that I’m saying. Marry me, my star. Please.”
“Daemon—” she chided gently, her thumb idly running across his cheek. “There is a war coming. It’s right outside our doors, and you’re asking me tomarry you?”
“Yes, I am. Nothing would make me happier in this world than to have you by my side. To know that nothing, not even death, could tear us apart. Please,” he rested his forehead against hers. “Say you’ll be mine.”
Auraelia released a breath and leaned into him. “My love, I have always been yours. From the moment we met, you have had a hold on me. But—”
“But what, Auraelia?” he asked, pulling away once more as a heavy stone settled in his stomach.
“But now is not the time. If we make it through this war—”
“When,” he amended, and the smile she gave him had his heart skittering in his chest.
“Ask mewhenwe make it to the other side of this. When the fate of our people isn’t hanging in the balance. Ask me when nothing else is on my mind but you.”
Daemon gave a slight shake of his head, then briefly pressed his lips to hers. “It’s not the answer I was hoping for, but it is the one I will accept…for now.”
“Thank you.” She smiled as her lips met his, and when she pulled away, she said, “Come on, we should get back.”
“If you insist,” he groaned as she climbed off his lap and stood, reaching out her hand to help him up as well.
They hadn’t been gone more than an hour by the time they returned to the castle, and it seemed as if no one had noticed their absence at all. Though the crowd had thinned some, people were still milling about in groups, and a few remaining couples were wrapped in each other as they swayed to the music.
The ale had run out fairly early in the festivities, so as the night pressed on, it had become more of a gathering of friends instead of the party usually held in the grand room.
As they walked through the doors, Piper ran up to them, her face flushed with a broad smile across her lips. “Well?” she asked as she clasped Auraelia’s hands.
Daemon snickered as Auraelia’s wide eyes swung in his direction.
“He didn’t tell me anything, I saw it, but the vision faded before I could see your answer.”
