‘I was referring to Eda.’
He chuckled and looked away. ‘I’ve been demoted.’
Blake’s face fell. ‘Oh. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’ His eyes returned to her. ‘It’s a good thing. As I told my father, I can’t command the merchant borough with you in it.’
She bit her lower lip. ‘What will you be doing instead?’
‘Training new recruits at the barracks.’
She could not hide her disappointment. ‘I’ll never see you. Though I suppose that’s a good thing.’
‘Is it?’
‘No,’ she replied immediately.
He tucked her hair behind her ear, but the breeze blew it forwards again. ‘I don’t want you to suffer anymore, and I don’t want to be separated by walls.’
‘Those are some big wants.’
‘And I want to see you every day.’
She watched him with a cautious expression. ‘We’re Chadorians. We don’t get what we want, we get what we’re given.’
Harlan took hold of her face with both hands. ‘I want you, all the time.’
She swallowed. How was she supposed to respond to that without coming apart?
He dipped his head, eyes searching hers. ‘Marry me.’
She pulled free of his grip and retreated into the water. ‘You can’t say things like that.’
‘Why not?’
‘You know why.’
He stepped into the sea, his boots filling with water. ‘Marry me.’
She threw up her hands. ‘We can’t.’
‘We can’t or you can’t?’
Her eyes never left him. ‘You can’t marry below you, and I can’t leave my family to suffer in that place without me.’
‘Marry below me? I barely deserve you.’
‘You know what I mean. You were born in the nobility borough.’
He shook his head. ‘Who cares about that shit?’
‘Everyone who isn’t us.’ She reminded herself to breathe. ‘And I can’t leave my family behind.’
‘I’d never expect you to.’
Laughter escaped her, despite there being nothing funny about their conversation. ‘What’s your plan, then? Are you going to come live with me? Sleep in my tiny bed with my sisters in the same room?’
He pulled her to him until she tipped forwards, head resting on his chest. He pressed his lips to her hair. ‘Your sisters and mother will come live with us in our home, in the nobility borough. No one you love will suffer under my watch. Understand?’
