My entire world suddenly felt like it was spining out of control...as I realized that the only reason they were having this conversation in the first place was because of me.
“We would protect the honor of a noble daughter of Suneria—”
“If the treaty requires a daughter of the House of Desmonde,” Mik’hail cut in, “then let it be Aurora. She is also Lord Richard’s daughter—”
“I’m afraid that’s not true, Your Highness.”
My body started to sway. W-What was this man saying?
“Lady Elizabeth’s...indiscretion...during her marriage is not unknown to us.” The envoy’s voice was cool. Matter-of-fact. “Aurora is not Lord Richard’s biological child. He agreed to raise her as his own, but she carries none of his blood. She cannot fulfill the terms of the treaty.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Couldn’t do anything but stand there, frozen, as the words echoed in my head.
Mik’hail and the envoy were speaking again, but I could no longer hear a word.
I wasn’t a Desmonde.
I never had been.
And the man I loved was about to lose everything because of me.
Chapter Ten
MIK’HAIL KNEW HE HADa million other things to do for the day. He was not the kind of ruler whose only job was to be a figurehead and pose for pictures and bring goodwill. He had an entire kingdom to lead and protect. A former betrothed’s mysterious reappearance to dissect. But be that as it may...
Right now, all he could think about was her.
His Briar.
The way she had trembled in his arms and whispered his name. The way she had looked at him afterward, her blue-gray eyes soft and dazed, like he was everything to her, the sun, the moon, and the stars in which her world revolved around and drew light and balance from.
And truthfully, so it was for him as well.
