But meeting Cora…
She’d changed him in such a short time. He’d made mistakes with her, ones that taught him the dangers of blindly following what he thought was his duty and going against his heart.
Now his duty and his heart were aligned. Because Cora was both.
“What will you do now?” Cora asked, finally breaking their silence. Ridine’s towers peeked over the trees in the distance.
“Well, I…” Teryn frowned. “I don’t actually know. My mind has been so consumed with simply getting here and speaking with you about our engagement, I haven’t thought about what comes next now that the alliance is secure.”
She arched a teasing brow. “Oh, so the alliance is all you came here for?”
“You know I came for more than that,” he said. It was true, although he’d never expected their conversation would end in a kiss. He’d intended to tell Cora the truth. That regardless of her feelings, or lack thereof, his own ran deeper than politics. He hadn’t realized just how deep they ran until she’d refused to entertain such a notion at all. Until he was forced to spell it out—both to himself and her—that hewantedtheir union to be a romantic one. A passionate one.
Had she told him she wanted to keep things platonic between them, he’d have agreed. Grudgingly, yes, but respectfully. But gods, was he thrilled she’d accepted his affection. He wasn’t ready to call it love. Not yet?—
“Will you stay?”
Teryn glanced at Cora and found her worrying a corner of her lip.
“Now that you’ve secured the…the alliance, will you return to Dermaine Palace, or will you…stay? For a while at least? Maybe until the peace pact is signed?”
He paused and turned toward her. “I’ll stay. For as long as I can.”
He hoped it would be long indeed and that Verdian and his brothers wouldn’t interfere. He hated that they had a stranglehold on Ridine Castle and the kingdom at large. OnCora’skingdom. He hated that they treated her and her brother like they were still prisoners. Perhaps now that the engagement was secure, they’d respect her title more.
“I’d like that,” she said.
A tendril of dark hair unraveled from her messy updo and fell onto her cheek, but before she could sweep it away, he gently took hold of it. He ran the silken lock between his fingers before tucking it behind her ear.
“My hair is probably a mess right now,” she said, cheeks flushing.
“I like when it’s a mess.” And for the love of all things, he liked it when she blushed. The fact that he could make this fierce, gorgeous little creature blush made his stomach tighten.
She averted her gaze with a poorly hidden smile, and they proceeded toward the castle once more.
By the timeTeryn returned Cora to the stairwell leading up to the tower room, she’d told him about the task she’d taken on. It gave him no small amount of terror to imagine her in that room surrounded by a dead mage’s possibly enchanted belongings. He knew better than to ask her to stop her work. All he could do was offer his help, which she’d predictably refused.
At least she said yes to dinner tonight.
Teryn let that warm his heart as he left the stairwell, left Cora to proceed with her work alone, but it did little to calm his nerves. He trusted Cora’s powers, knew she was so much stronger than anyone gave her credit for. And yet, he couldn’t shake how she’d looked when he’d first climbed the staircase and saw her standing frozen, staring at…
At…
Teryn’s mind went blank.
Hadn’t she been staring at something? Something she’d held in her hand? The more he tried to remember, the hazier his thoughts became. That in itself was worrisome, not to mention the fate of Cora’s lady’s maid, Lurel. His muscles tightened, begging him to turn around. Begging him to take up post next to her useless guards and ensure she was safe every moment she spent in there.
But he couldn’t.
He wouldn’t.
He’d trust her. Believe in her.
Because he knew there were few others who did right now.
He released his worries in a heavy sigh and made his way through the castle halls…only to realize he hadn’t a clue where he was going. This was only his second time at Ridine, and the first had been so fraught with tension that he’d hardly paid heed to the castle’s layout. This time, his arrival had been overshadowed by his single-minded focus to find Cora. Master Arther had greeted him, given him a room, and set an appointment for him to be received by King Dimetreus that evening, but he’d evaded every question Teryn had asked about Cora’s whereabouts. Which had left Teryn to investigate on his own. Thankfully, other members of the castle staff had been far more amenable to his inquiries, especially when they realized who he was. It seemedsomerespected royal title over the influence of two self-righteous lords who’d been given more power than they deserved.
Was Teryn bitter at seeing Cora’s castle swarming with Ulrich’s and Kevan’s guards and staff? Yes. Yes, he was. And was he perhaps growing just a little too protective over her? Also yes, but that simply couldn’t be helped, not after they’d shared that heated, incredible, mind-blowing kiss?—
