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He caressed my cheeks sweetly. “Whatever pleases you, my lady.”

He kissed me, and I could have died of happiness right then and there, my body vibrating with the need to be ever closer to him. When he stopped, I felt breathless, as if I hadn’t remembered to take in air.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“It’s wonderful.” I sighed against him.

“But you’re trembling.”

“Oh Beric, by now you must know how nervous you make me.”

When Beric’s brows lowered in concern and he moved to leave me, I couldn’t have been further from poised and demure, frantically wrapping my arms around him.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” I amended.

“Either way, the word doesn’t bring up positive imagery for me. I don’t want to make you nervous. I want to make you…”

He chewed on his lip, looking away. I didn’t think I would ever tire of seeing him flustered.

“Happy?” I volunteered. I reached up and kissed his cheek, and he relaxed into my embrace. “You do.”

Beric’s smile was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen, like the most perfect little cake filled with cream at high tea.

“You know what else I love?” I said with a smirk. “That my cousin will be out of my hair forever in a month’s time.”

Beric laughed. “I have to say, I’m in love with the idea too.”

“And to think, I almost didn’t bring her along.”

He raised a brow. “If you hadn’t, you would have been rid of her sooner.”

“Yes, but she is my cousin, after all. She’s family, even if I can’t stand her.” I felt overwhelmed with love as I looked at him, resting my hand against his chest to feel his heartbeat, still astonished I could feel so much so quickly for one person in this way. “And now she can be as happy as I am.”

He held my hand there with his, and yet his expression was troubled. “Will you tell me, now, why you were so insistent she come?”

I frowned. “It feels a bit embarrassing, after everything. Trivial.”

“Not very trivial, if it was the reason we couldn’t be together.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against him. “You must promise not to think of me differently.”

“I promise you,” he said, the vibration of his voice in his chest a small comfort. “Whatever you’ve done, I’ve done far worse.”

“It’s not something I’ve done.” I turned away, running my hand along the greenery as I walked. Beric followed me, as he always did, and I couldn’t deny that his presence was welcome and soothing, even if my intention was to escape him. “I’m not sure I know all the details myself. I was no more than four at the time. So everything I know came from neighbors and strangers and … worst and most biased of all, my aunt and uncle.”

“It’s all right,” Beric said gently, and I felt the strength to continue.

“My father invested a great deal of money into the building of the famous academy for knights. And when I say a great deal, I mean everything. I’m not even sure how we lived on what was left. I … suppose we didn’t. Because it wasn’t long after that my father discovered he’d lost every cent he had invested. They’d said it was because a portion of the academy had caught fire and needed to be rebuilt. We went into debt because of it.”

I fidgeted, uncomfortable, before taking a breath.

“Anyway, my uncle invested with him. He had no such losses—in fact, he earned a great deal. It’s the only reason my cousin’s family is of means today.

“My father went to prison for ‘nonrepayment of debts.’ He died there. My mother died of a broken heart soon after, and I was placed in her brother’s care.” I gave a sad smile, fighting to remember the face of the woman I hardly had the chance to know. “What a tragically beautiful way to die though, isn’t it? To not be able to carry on because one’s true love is gone. So achingly romantic.”

“There’s nothing romantic about leaving your only daughter alone in the world to fend for herself,” said Beric.

“She left me with family,” I countered. “I’m certain she didn’t anticipate her brother’s family would treat their only niece so poorly.”