“Gavrilneverlooked at me the way you did her.” Her eyes watered as she smiled. “He never loved me like that. Watching you love Faustina would make me sick with longing and I was certain there was something wrong with me if I couldn’t get that devotion from him.”
“There was never anything wrong with you.” No matter how many times he’d told her, she still didn’t seem to believe it.
“I appreciate it, Nikias—” Aimilia reached up, fiddling with her braid, but he caught her arm, turning her to face him.
“I’m not letting you go until you believe me. It wasn’t your fault. It had nothing to do with you or your worth. Those girls were wrong. They could never hope to be half the woman and commander you are. As for the rest, you are breathtakinglybeautiful, and as your prince, I command you to never let anyone make you feel less than your worth.”
Aimilia reached up with her free hand, brushing her palm across her cheek to wipe away the tear. A smile broke out on her lips. “There he is.”
Oh. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it. He’d been too wrapped up in his self-pity and wounded pride to be anything more than bewildered. Although, that was the point.
He caught her other arm, gently shifting her toward him as he also moved closer. Aimilia now froze, hand still in the air as he reached up. He cupped her cheek, sweeping his thumb right below her eye and wiping away the rest of the tears that had started to fall.
“Aimilia, have you really been coming out here, ruining your sleep, bringing yourself to tears as you tear open your scars just for me?”
Her breath hitched as he continued dragging the pad of his thumb softly across her skin.
“Well…” Her voice came out in a whisper, but she didn’t pull away. His other hand had slipped under her arm and curled around her back. “We need you at your best tomorrow.”
“And the only way to bring me back was to expose yourself and your pain?”
“It worked. You’re looking me in the eyes again.” Aimilia’s hand shifted, bumping into his leg, stilling immediately, but he could still feel the soft warmth as it stayed pressed into his. “I may not be able to take away the misplaced shame you feel, but I can at least give you a knife in return.”
“Is that what this is?” Nikias stared into her eyes, looking, always looking for just a hint that his feelings weren’t in vain. “Mutually assured destruction?”
This couldn’t be all it was. She had to feel something for him, right?
“I suppose so. I ended up with your darkest secret, now you have mine.”
If she knew that wasn’t even close to his darkest secret, still…
“Careful, Aimilia, I might start to think you actually care about me.”
Aimilia’s lips twitched, but she leaned into his palm instead of pulling away. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“You’ve shed an awful lot of tears for a man you don’t care about then.”
“I…” Aimilia’s eyes were hazy, fluttering shut as his fingertips found her hair. “I don’t…”
He was a breath away from closing the distance between them. His lips were just about to brush hers, unable to take it anymore, when she let out a soft gasp and his arms were empty.
He looked up to see Aimilia stumbling off the log, brushing her clothes off, face violently flushed and matching her exquisite hair.
“Good—Goodnight, Nikias.”
Nikias watched her go.
Even when she was running in the opposite direction, she was breathtaking.
How could he ever marry another while she lived? If she only knew that love she was so jealous for was seconds away from spilling out…
Would it horrify her? Or would it save him?
Chapter 26
AIMILIA
Aimilia should have listened to Gavril. She should have known her scheme would blow up in her face.
