I press a palm to his cheek, rough with stubble. “I’m here if you want to tell me more about it. I don’t expect all your truths, but please do not lie to me.”
“One day, I’ll tell you everything, all about Caspian. I did love him. I trusted him, and in the end, it almost destroyed my realm.” Keldarion closes his eyes. “I never lied to you, Rosalina.”
I wrinkle my nose. “What about when you said being mated to me was—what did you say again? Utter torment.”
There’s a low growl in his throat. He pulls me on to his lap. “Because itisutter torment. To have the most beautiful and kind andstrangewoman as my mate and not be allowed to do more than look upon her.”
“Strange?” I reply, flicking him on the nose.
“I would not have you any other way.”
We stare at each other, and I let myself enjoy this quiet moment in his presence amid the turmoil of last night. Finally, I open my mouth to speak and Kel silences me with a quick shake of his head.
“Don’t say it.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
He raises a dark brow. “That I should make love to you, forge our bond, break the curse, and you would bejust finein the Below.”
I stick out my bottom lip and cross my arms. That was what I was going to say. “I would be fine. I’ve escaped the Below twice already.”
“Yes, but the bargain doesn’t send you as you are. You would be enthralled to him. Think of the woman who showed up here, how desperateshe was to see me. I never imagined that horrific result because I never imagined the bargain would be used in such a way.”
“Caspian wouldn’t…” I begin, but even I can’t be sure of exactly what the Prince of Thorns would do. He wouldn’t hurt me, but I’m less and less sure of his ability to protect himself in the Below. And he’s certainly not willing to help us, otherwise he would have rescinded his bargain with Kel ages ago.
But can they even break it? Or does the wording forbid that?
“Caspian wants you there for some reason,” Keldarion continues as if reading my mind. “He wants you there under his control, ashis. I can never let that happen.”
I sink into Kel, my lips falling to the crook of his neck. “Wouldn’t it be worth it, though? One woman to save your entire realm?”
“It wouldn’t be worth it for me.” Keldarion grips my chin and makes me look at him. “If that brands me as a terrible leader, then so be it. But there is nothing I would not do for you. There is nothing in this world I would not sacrifice for you.”
I cannot argue it because the same devotion runs through me for all the princes of Castletree. “Kel.” His name falls from me, dripping with need.
With his hands in my hair, my face an inch away from his lips. His warm breath caresses my cheeks.
“And there is nothing I would not give to both of you,” a deep metallic voice says from the door. Slowly, we turn, barely moving away from each other. Ezryn leans against the doorway. “May I come in?”
A smile quirks on my mate’s lips. “Always.”
63
Rosalina
My bed sinks with the weight of Ezryn’s full armor. I slide off Kel and cuddle between them, feeling a strange bubbling happiness at being boxed in.
Ezryn tilts his helm down, running a gloved hand along my cheek to tenderly caress the pointed tip of my ear. He looks at Kel.
No words are spoken between them, but I sense an understanding.
“I was telling Rosalina I am glad she is aware of the bargain now,” Keldarion says slowly. “As I am you.”
Ezryn makes a dismissive noise. “I would have stood by you, Kel. I will always stand by you. And I agree with your decision. You cannot fulfill your mate bond until we figure out a way to break your bargain.”
“Of course you would agree with him,” I say, sneering. But Ezryn pulls me close, and I melt against him, feeling the hard metal planes of his body through the thin layers of my nightdress.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” I whisper. “I was so worried about you, caught in that terrible dream.”
