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“And you’re still going through with it? I’d have thought you’d walk straight back to the shrine and make them regret calling you here.”

“I thought about it. But they asked me to help secure the peace, and I agreed.”

For a few seconds, he said nothing. He only looked at me, his eyes impossible to read. The silence between us felt charged with an undercurrent I didn’t know how to explain.

Finally, Nessos lowered his head toward mine. “Thalia, I never asked you to consider me as a mate. You’d chosen the shrine, and I respected that. But if you’re going to enter the market now…” He hesitated. “I can’t just watch you marry him without saying anything.”

Take Nessos as a mate? We’d never so much as talked about it. I’d looked for him among the visitors at our rites because we always found a reason to laugh. Had he been hoping then? I’d been such a stupid child, dancing barefoot in the grass. I couldn’t remember half the things I’d said to him.

Nothing I could do would fix that now. It was foolish to even hear him out after I’d already agreed to marry Eryx. But when he reached for my hand, I let him take it.

Warmth rushed through my palm and up my arm. My magic pulled toward him, steady and strong, and my breath caught in my throat. Nessos went still, his fingers tightening around mine.

We were a match.

“I’d hoped,” he murmured, staring down at our hands. “I couldn’t know without touching you, but I’d hoped it might be like this.”

His palm was rough against mine. The warmth felt good, strange as it was. Such an ordinary thing, holding someone’s hand. We’d known one another for years, and my vow had kept us from discovering what that touch could tell us.

A woman could have more than one match. The current might answer some men more strongly than others, which was why women took every offered hand in the bride market row before choosing. A bond with Nessos was possible. I’d never imagined I’d have to reject it.

“Let me stand in the row,” he urged. “Choose me, and come to my tribe. You’d have a home among people you know. You wouldn’t have to leave everything familiar behind.”

He brushed his thumb over my knuckles. The warmth remained, and for a moment I let myself consider how much easier it would be to go with him. His tribe ranged through the woods near Melia. I knew the people who would greet me, the groves where they worshipped. I could picture the life he was offering far better than anything waiting for me in a gorgon’s home.

But nothing had changed since the elders’ hut, not really. And I hadn’t agreed to their request simply because my father had left me no choice.

“What happens to Melia if I go with you?”

“My people won’t abandon the village,” he replied. “We’ve defended these woods for generations. Your father can count on us without giving you to a Blighted One.”

I believed him. He’d lead his warriors into battle for Melia tomorrow if we needed him. Villages like ours depended on the centaur patrols, whatever the satyr clans decided in their councils. Nessos had always taken that duty seriously. His father, Rhoikos, had died keeping the Wilds safe. He was offering protection he truly meant to provide. It wasn’t enough.

“I know you wouldn’t abandon us. But you can’t fight the Blight, Nessos. You know you can’t.”

That was the one thing no one could argue against. Right now, the only person who could fight the encroaching plague was my would-be husband. And that made him my only possible choice.

I drew my hand back. His fingers loosened, and the wind cooled the palm he’d held in his own.

“Even if there were no treaty, I wouldn’t want to be your wife,” I told him. “I’ve cared for you as a friend for years. Touching you hasn’t changed that, and I can’t let you think it has.”

It was true, though perhaps not as true as I’d have liked it to be. If things had been different, I might have learned to love him. But my choice had been made for me, and I was already spoken for.

His mouth tightened. He looked away toward the trees, and I hated that I’d hurt him. Usually there was something I could say to make him laugh. Nothing came to me now.

“I’m sorry, Nessos,” I murmured.

“I thought you’d be glad,” he muttered at last. “To have someone you could choose for yourself.”

“I wish they’d never asked me to do this. But I can’t say yes to you simply out of spite for the marriage they’ve arranged.”

He stepped back. “I don’t understand how you can trust him. You’ve never met him, Thalia. You don’t know what he’ll expect when he takes you home.”

I’d been trying not to think about that part. Eryx would know I’d renounced my vow. He’d know I’d stood in front of everyone at the market and chosen him. What else had Father told him? What had they agreed I would do?

“I think we both know what he’ll expect,” I said. “But I won’t go to him pretending I’m happy with whatever he decides. He’ll have to listen to me.”

Nessos glanced toward the hut again. He didn’t argue, though his silence offered very little comfort.