“A lot,” he scoffed. “Most of it I would say, aside from the uppermost northeast.”
“You’ve seen the deserts down south? I've always wondered what they are like.”
He nodded while pulling the reins back, slowing our pace. “Briefly. They’re brutally hot; the closer you get to the southernmost part of Mealioria, the more likely you are to melt into a puddle of flesh.”
“Ew.” My nose scrunched. “So the river we crossed when going to Draemor, the River of Reisneim, that flows into Mealioria, too? Right?”
“Only slightly, but yes. A good portion of it is spread across the unclaimed land,” he supplied.
“What was that beach called? The one you brought me to last year?”
Sebastian glanced over his shoulder with an entertained smirk. “If I had known you were going to quiz me on my geography knowledge, then I would have studied before we left.”
A small giggle escaped me, a sound I hadn’t heard much from myself lately.
His smirk turned into a full blown smile. “That beach is such a small strip of shore that it was never named, so I took the honors upon myself.”
“When you were a child?” I remembered the story he told me about how he had run off to that beach once when he was young.
“No, actually. I named it after I brought you there.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. “What’s it called?”
Switching the reins to one hand, he reached the other behind him, settling it on my thigh. “Stubborn shore.”
I smacked his hand with my own. “Ha-ha, very funny.”
A gravelly, sexy chuckle filled my ears. “I named it,Someday Shore.”
My head cocked. “Someday Shore?”
“Remember last year, we were in the archives? It was right after you found the prophecy and you told me,someday, we’ll live again.” He returned both hands to steering the reins as we increased our speed in line with the others ahead of us. “That beach is oursomeday.”
I swear, every inch of my skin blushed. I nestled my cheek in his back, running my hands up to his chest. “Seb?—”
“Shh. Let me finish.” He took one of my hands in his, pressing his lips to it with a soft kiss. “Before you, every day felt like my own personal purgatory. I was so…lost, in every aspect of my life. Then, the gods gave me you, and I haven't been the same since, nor would I ever want to go back to how I was.”
A tear fell from my eye, sliding down the smooth material of his jacket.
“So when you said that to me,someday, we’ll live again, it stuck. And I made a promise to myself. A promise to give you the life you desired. I prayed I would get to be a part of that life, but regardless, I wanted you to have at least one thing that you truly wanted, seeing as my father was the reason behind the life you despised. So, I purchased the property rights of the beach from him and made it your—I mean,our—someday. Though in hindsight now that Bitchmont thinks he has the right to our kingdom, the gesture seems a bit…preemptive.”
My jaw went slack.
“Once we get the kingdom rebuilt and back under the rule of my father—or someone more fit—you and I can build the ocean view home of your dreams.”
I stuttered before settling on the only words I could scrounge up. “You…you bought me abeach?”
“It was going to be my wedding gift to you someday, should I be so lucky to call you my wife. If not, I was going to send the deed anonymously in the post, though I do have full intentions on marrying you, in case that wasn’t obvious. Sorry to spoil thesurprise, but you asked, and I promised not to keep things from you so, happy future wedding, love.”
“Sebastian Hawthorne, stop this horseright now,” I abruptly ordered.
“What?”
“You heard me.Stop.”
Our mare whined at the sudden jerk of her reins. She halted in place, and I jumped down off of her back.
Sebastian stared down at me, blue eyes wide.
