Farron stands up, hand on his neck.
He looks so beautiful bathed in the morning light. I think back to when I first fell in love with him all those months ago: our long days together, the stories we shared, how he felt like the first person in my life to understand me to my core.
And that’s why I understand him so well.
Understand his anger. His fear.
Can we have a do-over?I say in my mind.
His golden eyes flick up at me.Anything you ask.
The space between us disappears in a moment, then his hands are on my face and my fingers are tangled in his hair, and his mouth is on my neck, my jaw, my lips.
“I’m so sorry, Rosie,” he murmurs against my skin. “I trust you. You know I do. And I know better than anyone that us princes have no right to cast stones.”
“I’m sorry, too. I want you to know that I understand how much Caspian hurt you. Hurt Kel. I’m not apologizing for him.”
Farron pulls back and wipes away the tears I didn’t even realize were falling down my face. “I wish I had your optimism about the world.”
“And I wish I had your sense of self-preservation.” I force a smile, and we both laugh.
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me tight to his chest. “We’ll figure this out. We always do.”
I breathe him in, letting his scent calm me. “You know I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me, don’t you, Fare? I want to protect all of you. I won’t let him hurt Kel again.”
“That may be your intent, Rosie, but none of us can control the Prince of Thorns. Even if you’re right, even if there is some good in him, he’s still in allegiance with Sira.”
But what if he doesn’t have to be?This thought I keep to myself. For now. “Did you really rip his book?”
Farron shrugs.
My thoughts drift back to Caspian’s birthday party, the indifference in which Caspian regarded my gift to him. But beneath that indifference, I’d felt something else. A spark of joy. “Hatred doesn’t cure hatred,” I whisper.
“I know.” Farron closes his eyes and leans his forehead against mine. “I don’t like myself like that. I don’twantto be that person.”
“You aren’t that person, Farron.” I place my hand on the side of his face. “I know your heart better than anyone. The anger there. The sadness. But your goodnesswill always win.”
A roguish grin crosses his face. “Well, I can be a beast when I want to be.”
I lift up on my toes to kiss his mouth. “Don’t give me that look, or I’ll never leave.”
“Ez better take good care of you.”
Regretfully, I pull away from my mate’s strong embrace. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back before you know it.”
Something shifts in Farron’s gaze, a look of longing.I love you,he says in my mind.
In the starlight way, I say back.
Be safe.
I promise.
I force a smile as I leave the library, knowing in the world of the fae, this is never a promise I can keep.
70
Rosalina
