I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”
“Love keeps no record of wrongs,”he said again.
“You know, for a knight that literally just confessed that he enlisted in his duty to avoid a woman, you’re awful bold to quote Corinthians to me.” I rolled my eyes, stepping into the foyer and leading him down the hall. “I don’t need to be educated on the word of God, Ser Willoughby. I’ve had it beaten into me my whole life.”
He shifted into a whisper. “Then what about the lore for your braid?” he asked.
I scoffed. “God, Chastity, and Bearer–a holy weave; a gift for the husband. That’s the sum of it, yes? What does that have todo with me and Mr. Evergreen? He’s not my husband. He won’t ever be.”
“In Chalke, the strands are God, Woman, and Man,” he said. “Virtue is not a giftforthe man; the man is part of the gift. The gift is the union–to be woven together. It’s unbreakable.”
I muttered. “That… slightly more coherent than our philosophy…But again, I am lost on the relevance, Daniel. I am not marrying Mr. Evergreen.”
We stopped outside the chamber.
“There’s no mention of marriage at all in Chalke. Well. Not exactly. The braid, whichever empire it’s displayed in, represents the same thing, yes, but differently.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“A promise,” he said. “A promise of commitment. Yes. You are here to marry another man. Your marriage is important but there is no love in it. You know that. His Highness knows that–he loves another woman. Yet, the union will bridge feuding nations; it will bring people together, and your worlds will merge for better or for worse. You won’t remain Svana Eisson of Oreia. You’ll become Svana Asarii, ofbothempires, just like your Mr. Evergreen is of both empires. He is both Cyrus Evergreen and Willem, your ostler’s boy.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Look. If he’s your soulmate, if hecompletesyou, if he is yourmissing half, then your love already exists outside of the martial constructs of mankind, and, as Corinthians explains, it cannot be conditional. It must be rooted in God and God defines love in Corinthians.”
“Corinthians also warns against sexual immorality, Ser Willoughby,” I said. “It suggests that marriage is forever and that women should submit themselves to their husbands, and never lay with another man until he is dead.”
“Well.”
“Thessalonians says that believing a liar can cost someone their soul,” I told him.
“I feel like you’re knit picking.”
“I’m not knit picking. I’m simply demonstrating that I know the word and better than you, Ser Willoughby. Don’t try to use weapons you’re not trained in.”
“Fine. But Evergeen lied about hisname,not his feelings. You act as though he’s caused irreparable damage to your future, but in the same breath, you expected him to have wanted you this whole time in spite of the fact that you will be married to the Prince–his very best friend–in mere weeks. Which is the greater crime? Honestly.”
“I don’t have a choice on if I marry the Prince or not,” I told him, angry. “Evergreen had a choice. He chose to lie to me!”
“Do you know that?” he asked. “You haven’t given him a chance to explain himself.”
“He’s been unconscious!” I cried, my hands flying outright. “And it’s not just him I’m angry with!” I heaved frustratedly. “I…I’m not just mad at Evergreen.”
Willoughby nodded. “Is it me?” he asked. “You’re mad at me?”
“No, I…” I sighed, defeated. “It’s… It’s Elías. I’m angry with Ser Elías.”
He watched me.
I shrugged. “I’m not just preserving myself from Mr. Evergreen, Ser Willoughby. There are many unanswered questions with this whole thing, and I am trying to find my bearings before I act poorly upon my feelings. Before I damn my closest friend.”
“I’ve overstepped. I apologize.”
“I hate you,” I said. “You know that right? I hate you.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe it. I think we might be friends, and seeing as you begged Elías not to bring me here, andyet we get along, that bothers you. I think you hate the fact that you like me.”
I folded my arms.
