I’ve never felt so relieved to leave a place as I do leaving the courtroom.
51
Genevieve
After an exhausted Mari is tucked into her room, I guide Kieran through my room and outside into the evening air. It’s cool, with a delicate breeze that feels all the more worth savoring, knowing Kieran is free and we have a life ahead of us to share.
We walk through the gardens, arm in arm, saying so little, and yet the contentment I feel is something I want to enjoy for the rest of my days. There’s a lightness between us, and though there’s much to be decided, I don’t want to step away from his side. We need time alone to let our new reality sink in.
“Do you believe your mother will abdicate the throne? Shouldn’t you be there for the conversations?”
I cringe, knowing I’ve been avoiding what’s coming next, then shake my head. “If a monarch is being forced to abdicate, it shouldn’t come from the crown princess. It should be up to the people of Naseria. It’s best that I remain out of the conversation until the decision is made.”
Kieran raises an eyebrow. “Well, then. Can I bring you to your glasshouse? It’s been days, I presume, since you’ve entered it.”
“I can’t think of anything better than to go to my favorite place with my favorite person.”
We walk hand in hand, skin brushing skin, across the gardens, making our way toward the glasshouse. Kieran cracks open the door, and I’m brought back to that moment weeks ago when he knew exactly where to find me. It’s always been my private oasis, and while his presence here once felt like an intrusion, I now welcome him into my sanctum.
“How well do you remember your plants, Kieran Greenbluff?”
He gives a light chuckle, his fingers gliding across a leaf. “More than you’d believe.” With enthusiasm, he starts listing the names of the different plants, from common tropicals to rare breeds. When he reaches the Begonia Gen, his face tightens into a frown.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask.
“My father’s the one who helped me cultivate this plant for you. His imprint is on so many things here, and yet he was tossed aside in the end. There was no reason to send him away with me. None. I always wondered why that letter insisted we both leave. Now I know.”
I know what he means too. The real reason his father left with him. “She knew he wouldn’t survive, didn’t she? My mother must have known enough about the conditions to understand it was a death sentence for an older man. But if he stayed here, you would have come back—and she couldn’t have that.”
Kieran lets out a harsh sigh, turning toward me. “I blamed you. I blamed you for so long, filled myself with such hatred, and it was all for nothing. All that wasted energy hating you, and now I don’t think I even have it in me to pass that hatred on to your mother. She doesn’t even deserve it.”
I bring my hands to his strong body, kneading the tight cords of muscle in his arms and shoulders, feeling the tension release beneath my touch. “It’s not going to be easy to move on. None of what happened to you or your father was fair, but it’s over now.” “It will always hurt,” he says, a sorrow lingering in his eyes that’s been there since his return. I can’t take that pain away, nor should I.
“It always will,” I whisper, working my fingers into the tightness along his neck. “But now we get to rebuild our lives into something beautiful. I want to take care of you, Kieran. Just like I always wanted when we were children.”
He gives me a sad smile. “You already have. You saved me today, Gen. Saved me from your mother’s final plan for me.”
“But now I plan to make you mine.” I take his hands in mine, look into his green eyes, and say the words I’ve wanted to say for days. “I love you, Kieran Greenbluff. Will you be my husband? My king consort?”
Kieran looks at me in surprise, lifting one hand to my cheek. “You want me as your husband?”
“Yes, of course. I should have asked you nine years ago. Please forgive me.”
He leans down, bringing his lips to mine in a sweet, savoring kiss, like we have all the time in the world. “I would be honored to be your husband, Genevieve Ashcroft.”
I grin against his lips, and he lets out a soft, joyful sound. “I hoped you would say yes. As it happens, I still have a date in two days’ time and a dress to wear.”
His strong body anchors against me, filling me with the sense of him—his spicy scent and clean-shaven skin. “We’ve lost enough time. I’d have it no other way.”
“Then it’s a date,” I murmur, leaning deeper into him, the tips of my breasts peaking from the nearness of his heated skin. He’s theonly man who can nullify my curse, who’s always made me feel loved, appreciated, and cared for. I loved him as deeply as a young woman knew how, mourned him like I’d lost a piece of my own heart, and now I can spend the rest of my days loving him with all the fervor and gratitude I have to offer.
“It’s a date,” he agrees, pulling me closer. I wrap my arm around him, bumping a plant on the shelf and sending it teetering, but Kieran’s quick reflexes catch it before it can crash to the stone floor.
“Will I be Kieran Ashcroft then? Morris Ashcroft?”
I look at him thoughtfully, knowing what taking the Ashcroft name must mean to him. “You’d go by Ashcroft? After everything my family has put you through? You don’t have to do that. I’ll call you whatever you’d like.”
He peppers kisses along my skin, and the heat of him is so consuming, so overwhelming, it feels as if my skin will catch fire. “Princess, if I’m yours, I want your name branded on my soul. The title I care nothing for. But your name—I want it to be mine. My own means so little to me now, anyway, after all the changes.”
