I swat his chest, but he catches my hand and brings my fingers to his lips, softly kissing each one.
“I have a surprise for you too,” he says quietly.
“Please tell me they make scandalous bejeweled outfits for men, ” I say with a coy grin. “I’m furious you didn’t put it on sooner.”
“It isn’t an outfit,” he laments, “but it is something I should have shown you sooner—so you know every part of me.”
He swallows hard, eyes filled with sudden gravity, as he rotates his arm to expose the underside of his wrist, where three small stones are embedded in his skin.
A crimson ruby, an apricot diamond, and white quartz.
Blood, flesh, bone.
Thirty-Four
I gape down at the gemstone triad—three perfect jewels that have been, quite literally, at my fingertips all this time.
I sit up, clutching the blankets to my chest, unsure if I want to recoil from Alaric and this deception—if it can even be considered that, since he has no clue I’ve been hunting for the gemstones—or if I should grab his wrist and hold it tight. Sink my nails into his skin and claim the prize that’s been eluding me for months.
“This is the gemstone triad—the source of my and my father’s power,” Alaric explains, running his fingers across the line of stones. “It was forged from the earth by my great-grandfather Callahan and has been embedded in every Vanzadorian king since. He referred to them as his own blood, flesh, and bone, which I know you asked about, and I’m sorry I waited so long to explain. I just didn’t know if I could trust you.” Alaric ducks his head sheepishly. “I was worried you might try to use me, but now I know better. We want the same things and we’ll work together to accomplish them.”
He smiles and reaches for me, and I feel like I’ve been kicked in the chest.
He was right to doubt and mistrust me. If he’d explained the meaning of blood, flesh, bone when I first asked, I wouldn’t have hesitated to drag him back across the Tomb Flats to Tashir. I would have been thrilled to see our roles reversed, sohewas the captive husband—tortured and starved until he agreed to wield his power for the betterment ofmycountry. And if he’d refused to cooperate, I would have lopped off his arm or scraped the stones from his flesh. I would have found a way to implant them in my own skin, because that’s what Rowenna would have done—what she would have told me to do—and I would have listened without question.
It would have been the perfect way to avenge Rowenna and prove Iwas a competent heir for Tashir. More than just a second-born sister or a gardener. But now the thought’s unfathomable. Unbearable. Especially when Alaric’s looking at me with those hypnotic eyes and hopeful grin. When I can still taste his mouth on my lips, feel his fingertips on my skin. I would sooner cut out my own heart than rip the stones from Alaric’s wrist, and I don’t know what that says about me and my duty to my country or my ability to lead them.
I blow out a breath and thank Earth Mother Rowenna’s no longer speaking to me. Her disappointment would be crushing, her demands more adamant than ever, reminding me it isn’t too late to do the right thing. I could still use Alaric and the gemstone triad.
Alaric reaches for me and gently tilts my chin up. “Hey, what’s going on in that brilliant head of yours?”
“I understand why you kept this from me,” I finally say. “I can’t fault you for guarding your biggest secret when I was just as hesitant to share mine. It took me weeks just to accept that you’re not a murderer. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence,” I say with a self-deprecating laugh.
Alaric laughs too, and all the tension melts from his shoulders. “I don’t want there to be any more secrets between us. If we’re going to rule Vanzador and Tashir side by side, as true and equal partners, you need to know everything. All of me.”
He holds out his arm, inviting me to touch the stones. “The king of Vanzador has always embedded the triad in his skin, but after the memory you witnessed, when I broke the stone of flesh and Besnikdied, my father destroyed the larger stones to keep our power safer and closer. These pieces are all that remains of the triad, so someday, I will pass them on to my own son or daughter.Ourson or daughter—I hope.”
He looks at me from beneath his thick lashes, and my heart might burst from pumping so hard. My hand shakes as my fingertips skim across the triad, because this feels like a promise—a thousand times more sacred than our wedding vows—and I’m determined to honor it.
Honorusand the future we will make.
“Thank you for trusting me with this,” I say.
“I’d trust you with my life,” Alaric answers, pressing his forehead to mine.
My eyes flutter closed, and I wait for the warm brush of his lips, but my chamber door bangs open instead, and we fly apart.
Delphine shrieks and holds her arm over her eyes. “You really need to start tying a ribbon on your door, so I know if it’s safe to enter.”
“Or you could try knocking,” Alaric says with a good-natured laugh.
“Of course,” Delphine splutters, “and normally I would, but I wasn’t thinking straight.” Her big blue eyes find mine, wide and terrified. “Cloudia’s been speaking more, and there’s something you need to see.”
“Of course.” I leap to my feet, rummaging for my clothes. “I’ll be ready in a moment. You don’t mind, do you?” I ask Alaric, who starts to shake his head, but Delphine cuts in.
“I think His Highness should come too.”
Alaric glances at me with surprise and delight, and my heart melts at his eagerness—and Delphine’s acceptance. These different people and parts of my life are starting to come together.
