Page 86 of The Truth-Teller's Bargain

“Do you think it’s easy not to touch you every moment I’m near you? Do you think it’s easy not to kiss you when you... when you look at me like you did tonight? You replace my entire universe witha glance, Thea.” Each word was spoken in exasperation, pain etched into his features. “I have a thousand reasons to resist the constant temptation to be near you, to touch you, or worse. First and foremost is that when we’re done, I will be King of Lenorea, and you will be far, far away with enough gold to do whatever the hell you want. I made you a promise that I would honor our bargain.”

Each and every one of his words made total sense to her, so why was she moving toward him? He stood straighter as she met him behind the armchair, watching her nervously.

“I know you will honor our bargain,” she told him, soft yet resolute.

“I don’t know how to want you without wanting all of you,” Nakir confessed, daring to caress a featherlight trail down her shoulder.

Every part of her yearned for more, even without the ambrosia coursing through her, just like the moment they kissed upon striking their first deal.

“Have it,” she told him, fully aware of how reckless she was being.

He took her hand and placed the back of it against his cheek reverently, but otherwise, he kept a hair’s breadth between them. “There are things I haven’t told you,” he said, but she shook her head.

“I don’t care.”

“You might, if you knew. I care.”

“Then tell me,” she commanded.

Nakir’s eyes smoldered at her words, and he gently released her hand, his touch lingering for a moment before he carefully led her to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Then, with deliberate grace, he kneeled before her, his eyes never leaving hers. She peered down at him from this angle, sensing he’d placed himself below her for a reason. It was a quiet plea; an unspoken worry that she might reject him or view him differently.

“When I realized I’d lost my magic, all I could think of washow to get back what I had lost. My mentor had an Oracle with him when he resurrected me, and that Oracle told me I would never regain my magic... but that one day, I may regain my kingdom. The prophecy stated,‘Only with the power of the Truth-Teller will you finally take back what is yours, the Kingdom of Lenorea.’”

“Me,” Alethea stated plainly as the pieces clicked together. “I’m the Truth-Teller.” Her breath caught, eyes widening in astonishment.

Nakir’s desperation was palpable. “Balthasar and I, we looked... everywhere. We wastedyearsin search of it,” he confessed, the weight of his past efforts evident in his eyes. “I searched every library in the Realm. I could never figure out if it was a weapon or some ancient tome or a grimoire. I never imagined it would be a person, an Oracle. I never thought it would be... I never thought it would be you. The things I did in search of it... I’m ashamed of. I had to let it go before it destroyed me.”

Alethea’s head spun with his implications. Was their meeting not some chance encounter in the woods then? Was there a larger force at work?

“Say something, Alethea.”

The truth was, Alethea was hanging on by a single thread. She had little idea what to make of what he’d told her—whether she should be amazed or overwhelmed. Despite the staggering uncertainty, there was a fire within her; a resolve that refused to be extinguished. She may be hanging by that single, fragile thread, but she was not ready to let go.

She held his hands tighter. “I... I still offer my services to you, Nakir.” But it was so much more than that. Alethea shook her head, eyes swimming, unable to say anything more than the truth. “Whatever you want from me, it’s yours,” she promised, trembling.

“I don’t deserve it,” he told her, shaking his head. “Bernadea told me your Oracle name while you were unconscious after the attack on the camp. After all those years I spent searching...when I found you, I thought I had just another spoiled princess on my hands. But when my spymaster told me what he’d uncovered about your mother—what she did to you, how shetookfrom you... I couldn’t force myself to ask.”

“But... your prophecy. I can help you take the kingdom,” she countered, heart pulsing in her throat. “I can use my magic?—”

“Fuck the prophecy, Thea! Damn it all to Hell. If that’s what it takes to have the crown, I won’t do it.” His hands were on her waist as he kneeled before her, eyes tortured. “I gave up the search a long time ago, and we’ve always been prepared to do this without the Truth-Teller. I don’t want you for your gift, and I won’t stand by and watch you tear yourself apart to please those around you. You are not for consumption. You deserve to befree.”

Her eyes swam as she shook her head, trying to accept his words but finding fear clutching at her chest.

“I wantyou,” he promised, cupping her face. “Not because you’re an Oracle. Not because of some fucking prophecy. I want you because of your bravery and your heart.”

Silence stretched between them as she tried to gain some control over her spiraling thoughts.

“What doyouwant?” he questioned.

“I want to help you,” Alethea rasped. “Icanhelp you.” She could fix what she’d broken that day in her father’s bedchambers. All of this had happened as a result of his death—her mother’s corrupt rule, the assassination of Nakir’s parents, even Nakir losing his magic. She could fix this...

“What do youwant?” he repeated, his voice a low rumble.

Her eyes widened as his words struck something primal within. Her breath hitched, and she caught herself staring at his perfect lips. The air between them stilled.

“You.”

“Gods, Thea?—”