“Camped?” She looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. “Of course not. Ladies do not sleep in tents.”
I bite my tongue. She’s in for a shock tomorrow evening. There isn’t an inn nearby on the next leg of our journey. We’ll have no choice but to camp in the woods.
“But I suppose I’m no longer a lady now that we’re wed.” She sighs heavily, staring at the dancing flames in the hearth. “And it’s all my fault,” she adds in a voice so low I’m certain she thought I wouldn’t hear it.
Little does she know that my people possess exceptional hearing. I hate that she seems so despondent and yet…
As she takes another sip of her tea, I study her. Everyone knows the reason her father was desperate to marry her off—to avoid the bargain he’d made with the Goblin King. But Vivienne seemed determined to sabotage every match he tried to make for her, and I don’t understand why.
I tilt my head. “Why didn’t you want to marry, Vivienne?” Before she can answer, I add, “Would you have rather been bound to the Goblin King?”
“Of course not,” she replies vehemently. “Why do you think I married a common—”
She stops short as if only now realizing what she was about to say. So, I decide to finish her sentence for her. “Dark Elf soldier?”
She at least has the decency to appear chagrined. “I’m sorry.” She huffs. “I didn’t—”
“It’s fine.” I pause a moment as I consider her. “Still… you had your pick of suitors. Even my King wanted you, but you wouldn’t even entertain his offer.”
I want to know why she never considered me, even knowing that I was interested.
Vivienne tips up her chin. “If you must know, I didn’t want to marry because I enjoy my freedom. I was… afraid I’d be shackled with a husband who wanted to control me.”
I meet her gaze evenly. “I won’t do that to you.”
She narrows her eyes, as if gauging the truth of my statement before she adds, “And I thought I could somehow find a way around the bargain.” She sighs heavily. “But I realized that was simply denial.”
“Ah,” I say, understanding. “So that’s why you went through with our wedding.”
She gives me a prim nod. “Why did you agree to marryme?” she asks. “It certainly wasn’t for the coin, since you refused the dowry my father tried to offer you.”
I could tell her of the fated bond. About how my soul recognized her as mine. But her people do not have fate bonds, and I’m not sure she’d understand. Besides, it’s not the only reason I desired to take her as my wife.
I wanted her before the bond even revealed itself… when I saw her in the ballroom eviscerating every suitor with that sharp tongue of hers.
We’re still so new to each other, I worry the intensity of my feelings might be more than she wants to hear, but I cannot hold back.
“From the first moment I saw you, I admired your spirit… your inner fire.” I meet her gaze evenly. “You were living flame wrapped in silk, and the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen.” I pause. “Only a fool would have turned down the offer of your hand.”
A pink blush spreads across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, accentuating the tiny smattering of spots on her otherwise pale skin.
I stare at her, transfixed, curling my fingers into my palm to resist the urge to reach out and trace them. To count each and every one, committing them to memory.
Deafening thunder shakes the inn, rattling the windows. Vivienne’s entire body goes tense, her breath catching in her throat.
I’m not sure why the storm unnerves her so much. Perhaps, it’s because she’s used to life in the castle. The thick stone walls provide a sturdier barrier to the elements. “It’s alright,” I reassure her. “We’re safe in here.”
Her jaw tightens, chin lifting. “I’m fine,” she says, trying but failing to hide the slight tremor in her voice. “I’m simply tired. That’s all.”
My lips twitch as I watch her pride grappling with instinct as she refuses to yield to something as common as fear.
“I should return to my room.”
“As you wish,” I say, because I will not press her. Not when she is fighting herself already.
She sweeps toward the door with all the dignity of a queen leaving court, not bothering to look back as she shuts the door behind her.
Almost instantly, as if the gods themselves are testing her resolve, lightning arcs across the sky as thunder crashes again, shaking the walls.
