Had he been expecting this?
She couldn’t tell if he was surprised or not. Off to the side, Aimilia spotted Queen Clelia. She was outright scowling. So at the very least she was putting on the air that she didn’t approve.
Aimilia stared down at him with a new choice to make. It was completely legal for a champion to take her spot, and if they won, it would be like she had won, and in this instance, she would keep her position. If they lost, it would be like she had lost.
The thing was… Challenges were rare on their own. It was even rarer to have a champion offer themselves up. Even more rare was for that champion to not be either a spouse or a blood relative. Any one of Aimilia’s cousins could have volunteered.
But they hadn’t. Right now her dilemma was thatNikiashad.
Of all the gossip and rumors they’d started as of late… You didn’t offer yourself up as a champion, nor did you accept someone as one unless they were intimately connected to you.
To accept Nikias would be to say that any attack against her was an attack against him, that any victory of his was a victory of hers.
And she just couldn’t say that about a man who wasn’t her husband. You couldn’t offer to fight for a woman like this if you didn’t intend on making her your wife.
If Aimilia accepted, it would lock her into an engagement, or she would create the scandal of the century by letting Nikias fight for her and then not marrying him.
Everyone already thought she was his she-wolf. This all but confirmed it. The question after would be whether she’d clean up her reputation by letting him marry her and make her his wife.
The only way Aimilia would win this fight would be if she accepted Nikias’ offer. It was the only hope she had. If she refused…
Nikias’ lips moved, but if he’d said anything, she couldn’t make it out. She took a small step closer, biting her lip when it jostled her broken arm. Nikias’ head tilted back to look up at her as she stared down at him. He whispered, “Please. Let me do this. Let me fight for you.”
Aimilia’s throat was tight, but she didn’t dare cry, not in front of this massive crowd. Aimilia didn’t just have the consequences to think of if she accepted. They didn’t get to just walk away from this if she refused. To reject an offer like this was a grievous insult.
Considering the amount of times she’d already rejected Nikias and embarrassed him in front of everyone, the wrath she would receive from the royal family would be immense. All of Mitis would likely suffer because of her insults.
Unless… if she refused, and she fought, she would lose Mitis, and in that case, Cyprian would either make her marry Nikias or send her into exile.
Aimilia could feel every eye on them. But the only ones she was concerned about at the moment were Nikias’. She whispered, “Why?”
Nikias said, “I could list a thousand reasons why. I don’t know that you’ll believe me, though, deservedly so.”
“Then just pick one.”
“Because I’m sorry, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you. This is what you want. I just want to give it to you.”
Aimilia let out a soft huff. This didn’t get her anywhere close to what she wanted. It only got him closer to what he wanted. This offer wouldn’t fix anything. It would only make her condemnation more severe. There was no way out of this. At least not one where she got what she wanted.
No matter what, she lost.
Nikias shifted again. “Aimilia,please. There are no strings. I don’t expect anything of you. Let me do this for you. Let me win this fight for you. I can’t—I cannot stand on the sidelines and watch this fight. Please, spare me that.”
He was so good at it.
The word yes was on the tip of her tongue. The longer she stared at him, the closer she got to believing him.
But she couldn’t.
She couldn’t let herself believe a word out of his mouth ever again. But it hurt. It still hurt.
Because she loved him.
At least, she loved this Nikias, the one kneeling in front of her, promising her the world.
And she hated him.
She hated the Nikias that was kneeling in front of her, so artfully hiding his victory under his pleas. No matter what Aimilia chose, she had lost, and Nikias had won, at least.
