47. FOURTY-SEVEN
FOURTY-SEVEN
Darius
Tayla’s a genius. I have half a mind to replace Staefan, since his wife knows all our secrets anyway. She caught wind of my gifts to Mina and promptly scolded us both for being obtuse. Pretty things bring temporary happiness, so she suggested a more thoughtful gift.
Based on Mina’s glow as she sweeps into our room for dinner, Tayla was spot on.
The sky starts to fade from bright blue to a burnt orange that matches Mina’s favorite blanket. I have dinner set up on the balcony so we can enjoy the sunset, but she pauses at the doors.
A halo of light kisses her shoulders, making her white dress glow golden like a radiant flower in bloom. My hunger shifts to a different kind, and I glance at the bed, torn over which to satiate first.
Mina twirls toward me with a bright smile. The predatory gleam in her jade eyes gives me pause.
“What do you think?” She drags a painted nail from her throat to her hips, and I follow the line like a devotee.
“My compliments to the dressmaker.” Mina’s glare loses its bite as I step closer.
“Oh, you meant the woman in the dress?” I pull her hips flush with mine and trace the hollow of her neck with the tip of my nose. She smells fucking delicious, like the bouquet of fresh-cut flowers I sent her.
My tongue darts out to taste that sweet spot on her pulse point, her breath hitching when I graze it with my teeth.
“You are breathtaking, as always.”
I kiss my way up her jaw, capturing her lips. The kiss is downright chaste, yet I ache for her. My task grows that much more terrifying.
I can’t lose this, lose her.
“Thank you for today. It was wonderful. The others pass along their gratitude as well.”
I hold her closer, letting her familiar scent calm my frayed nerves. I’m tempted to save the truth and let her enjoy this peace, but she deserves to know. Love without respect is no love at all.
“The next couple of weeks will be madness. I’m glad you were able to relax, even for a few hours.”
Her lips meet mine again in a teasing nip. “I plan to do more relaxing later, dear husband.”
I hope that will still be the case.
She pouts when I break the kiss, putting space between us. Her head cocks to the side, clocking the sudden change in mood. I take a measured step back.
Mina scans our surroundings with worry. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.” I rub the back of my neck as the words I rehearsed disappear from my mind. “At least, not in the way you’re worried about.”
The tension in her shoulders relaxes. My fierce warrior was ready to jump into action at the slightest threat, not realizing the only one who’ll hurt her right now is me. The notion feels like running into battle without armor or weapons.
I swallow the urge to deflect again. “There’s no easy way for me to say this. I only ask that you hear me out until the end.”
She closes the gap between us and takes my hand, prying my fist loose to intertwine our fingers. She nods, giving me time to find the words, almost as if she’s been expecting this moment. Her patience is a kindness I don’t deserve.
“Many kings have tried and failed to conquer Kalisham, my ancestors among them. I always knew that I’d need Kalisham to truly unite Veloria. Other nations will come for our empire to test their strength and satisfy their greed, but they won’t be able to stand against your home.”
Mina smiles with pride and squeezes my hand reassuringly. “I know all this.”
“Before you came storming into my life, my plans for Kalisham were no different than how I’d united the other nations.”
I let the weight of my words sink in, and she squeezes my hand. We’ve danced around this truth for too long.
“Before you, Mina, I was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to succeed. My desire to join Veloria and Kalisham hasn’t changed, but my motives have. I want to help you take your home back and restore your people’s faith in you. I want Zala to suffer.”
Tears line Mina’s eyes, adoration reflecting back at me. My next words turn to ash in my mouth, but I force them out anyway.
“I want revenge on Zala for everything he did to you and your family.” I take a deep breath to calm my racing heart. “But also, for how he betrayed Veloria.”
I explain how a shadow from Kalisham approached me with information to sell. I tell her about the partial ship designs, what he taught me about the royal family, and how I used the knowledge to verify her story.
I watch each truth dig a trench between us.
Mina pulls her hand from mine, and the small motion lands like a blade to the ribs. My brilliant wife senses where this is going. Tension rolls through her as she steps backward, shaking her head.
I continue, “I now believe that man was Zala. He certainly fits the man you described, and shortly after his missed meeting, you showed up.”
“No.” Mina shakes her head, eyes dropping to the ground. “It could have been anyone.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
I watch as she plays out different scenarios in her head, moving the pieces until only the most logical one remains. She sucks in a sharp breath and presses her eyes closed. It does little to stop her tears.
I dare a step forward, but her dagger is at my chest in an instant. Her green eyes cut to me and the sorrow there cleaves me in half.
I lost her.
“What did he promise you?” Anger laces every word.
Wind rattles the balcony doors, slamming them into the wall. The glass fractures, spreading with each impact. How much more can they take before breaking completely?
“Kalisham. He’d rule as my proxy, and I’d get access to your mines and blacksmiths. Trade routes and protection that goes both ways.”
My words land like a violent strike as she realizes Zala made the same deal, minus the marriage. The tip of her blade bites into my shirt, drawing a small bead of blood.
If I’m going to die, I want to tell her the whole truth at least.
“I had no idea what he had planned or if the money he earned from me aided in your family’s death. Had he kept our agreement, I may have very well been the one to take their lives instead.”
Her sob breaks free. “Quiet!”
“You married me because you needed a monster to fight a monster. You know what I did to the other standing monarchs to unite Veloria.”
Her grip shifts on the dagger to steady her shaking hand. I close my eyes, resigned to letting her exact whatever vengeance she needs to for the part I played in her family’s deaths. The weight of the truth breaks down the final barrier between us.
“I’m sorry, Mina. I should’ve told you sooner. Before…this. Us.” I summon the courage to look at her one final time.
Bright jade eyes, torn with an emotion I can’t pinpoint, bore into me. She’s so fucking beautiful despite the tears I caused. “I was never supposed to fall in love with you,” I say.
She chokes on a sob. A violent storm drowns out her scream as she pulls the dagger back to strike. I brace for the cool slice of steel, but the blade digs into the wall behind me instead.
Mina’s whole body shakes, tears streaming down her face as she sucks in ragged breaths. My body burns with the urge to hold her, comfort her, but I lost that right.
“Congratulations, Emperor Gilchrist. I should have seen that move coming.” The cold distance in her voice stings as she turns my own words against me. We’ve come a long way since that first chess game. “One move or one hundred, right? You never lose.”
Pain lances through my chest where my heart used to be. For the first time since I was a boy, I don’t hold back my tears. I let them fall free as Mina’s tears dry up.
“No, Mina. Today I lost.”