Viper stepped inside, halting by the door as he adjusted to the darkness of my home. All the curtains were drawn closed to block out the sunshine on a beautiful day. He approached the couch and stopped at the sight of me. “You’re back at the beginning.” He moved to the armchair and took a seat at the edge. “What’s happened between you and Callum?”
I stared at the collection of empty wine bottles on the table before I told him what had happened.
Viper didn’t say anything, even after I finished speaking.
“Every step of the way, there’s been a dead end.”
He gave a slight nod. “The whole relationship has been a dead end. But every time you conquer one, there’s another one to take its place. And you deserve to have someone who feels like an endless road of possibilities.”
“What I deserve is the man I love, but I’ll never get that.” I stared at the wine bottles again.
Viper said nothing, just sitting in the silence with me.
After a couple minutes went by, he spoke again. “Your father and his allies are forming a plan for the battle. He asked me to bring my army, but I told him I’m unable to do that.”
I shifted my gaze to him. “Because your men are still weary from battle?”
“No. My brother said he wouldn’t come to the aid of an ally on a second occasion in such a short amount of time. But he would come to the aid of my future wife as many times as she needed it.”
I was suddenly cold, like it was a winter afternoon rather than a fall morning. I understood his words and the meaning behind them perfectly, but it took my mind several seconds to process it. “I just told you that I love Callum?—”
“And it’s a dead-end relationship that was doomed from the start,” he said without a hint of emotion. “I understand the broken shards of your heart need to be healed before you can give it to someone new, but I’m okay with broken shards. I can settle for your friendship for as long as you want until the conditions are right for it to deepen into something more. But I need a commitment if I’m going to ask my brother to do this.”
“Wow, that’s romantic. My love in exchange for your army in our time of need.”
“That’s not how it is?—”
“That’s exactly how it sounds.”
“My brother is annoyed with me for abandoning my post and spending all my time in a realm far away for a woman who loves another man. He doesn’t understand it, so there’s no way he’s going to provide his aid for a woman who continues to reject his brother. I understand it’s premature and you’re in the throes of grief, but those are our circumstances.”
I’d struck rock bottom after my final conversation with Callum, so I didn’t have the patience to be sympathetic orunderstanding. “Together or apart, Callum is the man I love, and it will take me decades for me to move on. I know we both have eternal life, but neither of us has the time to wait around for that. You said that you gave your love to me freely, but now you’re demanding it for a price.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Just go, Viper. Go back to your kingdom and move on with your life, while I figure out what to do with mine.”
He remained in the chair, still staring at me. “You and your father both misunderstand me. I’m not leaving the Southern Isles. I will stand and fight with you. But to secure my brother’s army is a different scenario—that’s all I’m saying.”
I turned my attention to the dead fireplace, the stone hearth cold since the fire went out last night.
“I am sorry about how things ended with Callum.”
“I’m sure.”
“Lily.”
I kept my eyes on the fireplace.
“Lily.”
Against my better judgment, I turned to look at him.
“I mean it.”
I felt the sincerity in his gaze and heard it with my ears at the same time, and maybe I was an idiot for trying to see the good in people, but I believed him. For some reason.
“I’ll ask my brother for the army, but that’s the most I can do.”
