1
Harper
King Sevrinof the Hollowborns and I square off with each other on the top of the cliff, our gazes locked, his hand tightly clenching my wrist. Around us, his people continue to chant, “kill her, kill her,” while my hand twitches to reach for my dagger, and Ebron holds himself tensely at my back. But instead of growing angrier, the king seems to grow calmer as he eyes me.
“You’re not afraid of me.” It’s not a question. It’s a fact.
Keep your voice steady.“I’m not.”
“And you want peace to work between our people enough to agree to marry me? Yourenemy?” His accent makes the word enemy sound almost like a good thing.
I square my shoulders. “I do.”
A long, tense moment passes between us. A moment that feels significant. It’s like this entire peace treaty depends on what he decides just from staring at me, and I can feel it in my bones.
Finally, he lifts a brow. “I believe you.”
“You should,” leaves my lips before I can stop myself.
There’s a flicker of amusement in his expression. “I don’t like that your king thought he could tell me what to do. Thought he could tell me, a king, who he will or won’t marry.”
“Noted.”
His lips twist. “Then let’s see how this will work. Shall we?”
Releasing my wrist, he moves closer. I take a step back and crash into Ebron. Before I know what’s happening, the Hollowborn puts one hand on my hip and pulls me against him. His mouth descends onto mine, giving me a smoldering kiss so hard and so possessive, it leaves my head spinning and the world unsteady beneath my feet. His other hand digs into the back of my hair, holding me in place as he kisses me harder and harder, stealing my breath, my thoughts, and my willpower.
Finally, he breaks the kiss, and I have to hold onto him as my legs shake beneath me and desire rolls through my every nerve. His mouth curls into a slow smile, and he says, “You liked that?”
I meet his pale almost-gold eyes, heart hammering. “So what?”
The “kill her, kill her,” grows more quiet, but doesn’t stop.
He lifts a hand, and everyone goes silent. His thumb sticks out, pointing in the middle, then slowly pointing down until the tension around me seems to disappear. He drops his hand, and I have no idea what exactly that meant, but I think it’s a good thing, for me.
“We agree to your terms,” he tells me loudly, and grins appear on the faces of the men that surround us. “Let The Binding Ceremony begin!”
“The what?” I ask, confused as the men begin to scramble around the cliff we’re on.
The golden-eyed Hollowborn, King Sevrin, releases me and takes a step back. “I understand that your people will have their own tradition to bind us in marriage, but it’s important we’rerecognized by my people with our ceremony. Otherwise, our marriage won’t be acknowledged.”
“So–?”
“If the princes were here now, we’d include them in this ceremony. Since they aren’t, we have no choice but to do a celebration now, and one with all of us later to bind the five of us together.”
“Okay,” I manage, but my thoughts have already started spinning.How does a marriage ceremony look between such wild creatures? Will it be anything like ours?
Ebron sounds on edge as he asks,We’re making peace?
Yes, it seems like it.
And you’ll marry him?Ebron asks.He’ll be your mate?
He will.
Interesting.
Why is that interesting?
