“I will do whatever you ask.”
“Because you think for some delusional reason that I am your wife?”
He did not respond, but I could have sworn I saw his face twitch, his shadows darken. His eyebrows pinched for just a moment in what looked like a twinge of pain.
“If I asked you to leave and never come back, would you?”
“Is that what you’re asking me?”
“Would you?” I pushed.
“I would not wish to.”
“But would you?”
“For your sake, or mine?” he asked.
“Does that matter?”
He sighed. “If you truly wished to never see me again, if my presence was so… burdensome… that your life would be better without me in it—yes. I would leave. For now.”
My muscles slackened. “Wow. What does that mean, for now?”
“You will be ready for me someday. I can wait as long as necessary.”
My cheeks warmed. “That’s very presumptuous of you.”
He nodded. “I know my heart. It does not waver.”
“And what about mine?”
“I would like to know yours, if you would give me a chance. It would be my greatest honor and privilege.”
“You’re a god,” I argued. “I’m just a faun who runs a pub. I’m no match for you.”
“You are so much more than you give yourself credit for,” he insisted.
“But you area god. Do you not have some goddess for a wife that you’ve been spending eternity with?”
He tilted his head. “No.”
“Nobody?” I pressed. “How old are you, anyway?”
His throat worked and he winced as though in pain. “The memories have not all returned, yet.”
“All? So, some of them are back?”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “Some of my memories are back.”
“Care to explain?”
“I would. Over a cup of tea.”
My jaw fell open. I forced it shut with a clack of my teeth. “You want to have tea?”
“Yes.”
“The King’s men are coming,” I warned. “We alerted him.”
