“Thank you,” I said, but I didn’t feel lovely. I felt wicked, but it was the sickness of the manananggal inside me that was waiting to come out. I had only three nights left before it would be permanent.
“What did you want to meet me for?” Qian asked. “The steward just said something about you wanting to see me, but he didn’t specify what about.”
“I have a proposition,” I said.
Qian’s eyebrows shot up, intrigued.
“I know you are not engaged, and you have yet to start courting anyone, but I think it would be a fine match if we were to marry. Soon.”
Qian stared at me for a brief moment; then an amused smile slid across his face. “Well, now, I wasn’t expecting that, I have to be honest.”
My stomach hung high with nerves, and Qian must have seen the tension on my face, because he laughed. “Is this how engagements are always done in Biringan?” he asked. I noticed the playfulness in his eyes. “Royals here certainly know what they want, and they go for it.”
“I would hope that you can see why we would be good together,” I said.
“Oh, I do indeed.”
“Is that a yes?” I hated how eager I sounded. Desperate.
“I would have at least liked to have dinner with you before we leapt to such a conclusion,” Qian said.
“I can arrange that,” I said. “I am hoping to bring cooperation to our engagement.”
Qian stepped toward me. I kept my shoulders back and my head high. In that moment, I could picture myself standing with him, hand in hand, greeting our kingdoms together in a united front.
“Will you marry me?” I asked.
Qian’s eyes flashed with excitement, and then his gaze drifted over my shoulder. I turned around, and my stomach dropped. Lucas.
He’d stopped in his tracks, unknowingly walking in at the worst possible time. My entire body went cold as he stared at us, his eyebrows raised, his mouth slightly open. Based on the hurt on his face, he’d heard everything. It was like I’d shattered his heart into a million pieces, and all he could do was watch in disbelief at what was unfolding. He had to understand. I had to be strong.
An eternity passed before anyone moved, and Lucas gathered himself, drawing his face into a neutral expression that I knew required great effort because I was doing the same.
“Pardon,” Lucas said stiffly, then backed away. I watched him go, noticed the tightness in his shoulders, the drop of his head, but Qian’s hand slipped into mine, and his touch made me turn back to him.
He smiled at me and kissed my knuckles like he had earlier, brushing his lips so gently across them that it sent a shiver down my spine. His eyes ensnared me, head still lowered, and he smiled.
Seeing Lucas had shaken me, but I wanted to focus on what was happening now, and Qian’s hand in mine was warm and strong. I could make this work.
“Tradition in my kingdom requires me to put in a little effort to court a beautiful queen. I would like to accept over a toast.”
Qian called for servants to bring out a table, chairs, food, and drink, and together we sat overlooking the jungle. The waterfall rushed nearby, sending up a mist around us, which made the strawberries and mangos that had been brought out sparkle as ifthey were covered in dewdrops. A bottle of champagne sat open in front of us, which Qian poured into crystalline glasses.
Qian and I sat on rattan chairs across from each other. My stomach was in knots while I watched Qian pour our drinks. I could hardly believe that I was sitting across from my fiancé. It was difficult to wrap my head around it; everything had happened so quickly.
“I had no idea, based on our first meeting, that we would end up engaged,” Qian said.
“It’s not every day that your future fiancée punches you in the nose.”
Qian’s smile was warm. “When most people want to marry me, it’s not the first thing they do.”
“You’ve had suitors before?”
“Twice. Both times were not good matches. It seemed they loved the title of empress more than they loved me.”
“Doesn’t that come with the territory of marrying a prince?”
“I don’t have any aspirations of being emperor,” he said. “I find it’s too limiting. As an emperor, I can’t fight for my people the way I want to. There are rules and parameters I must abide by. It’s not the life I want to live. I won’t take my father’s throne. The title will pass on to my younger sister Mazu. I can do more good as a prince, I think.”
