Chapter 25 #3
Sophia continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I’ve been anxious many times recently that Bertrand seemed to be spending money he didn’t have. If someone offered him a substantial amount of gold, I think it would be a motivator he would find hard to refuse.”
“Curse your disloyalty, Sophia,” Bertrand growled at her.
“You accuse her of disloyalty?” Elowen cut in, outraged. “When you’ve been trying to sabotage an important alliance since the beginning?”
“There was no disloyalty in trying to prevent Torrens humiliating itself with an alliance with a kingdom so far beneath us,” Bertrand scoffed.
“You fool,” Theo said, hardly able to believe the man’s shamelessness. “Do you really not understand that if an outside player wants to prevent the alliance, it’s because they don’t want our kingdoms to be strengthened by the connection?”
“Not to mention whatever you helped do to capture and remove the Dust released by those accidents was disruptive enough to throw magic off balance all across our kingdom,” Elowen added. “Many people have suffered from it, and who knows what the ongoing effects will be?”
“I’m ashamed of you, Bertrand,” Sophia said, the words quiet and personal.
“How dare you?” he breathed. “How dare you talk about shame when you’ve been carrying on like a tavern wench with some servant?” He spat at Simeon’s feet.
The sandy-haired young man had reached his limit. He loomed forward threateningly, his pleasant face set like steel.
“You will not speak of her that way.”
“Enough.” Prince Patrick’s voice brought instant silence. “I’m shocked at the display before me. We will return to the capital immediately, and try to untangle this whole deplorable mess.”
“Yes, let’s,” Elowen agreed, letting out a long breath.
“Load the viscount into the carriage,” Prince Patrick started, but Xavier jumped in.
“Surely he can make the journey thrown across a guard’s horse,” he said cheerfully. “Theo and Elowen are both injured, they should ride in the carriage. I can borrow the princess’s mare.”
Elowen looked faintly bewildered by this declaration, her hand rubbing at her neck as she tried to protest. “But I’m not really inju—”
“Trust me, Princess.” Xavier had stepped close, his voice low enough that most of the group wouldn’t hear. “When it comes to my little brother, you have to take what openings you can get.”
“We don’t need your meddling, Xavier,” Theo said, unimpressed. But for all that, he didn’t rescind his brother’s instructions. In fact, he was perfectly pleased with his situation when he found himself alone in the carriage with his intended.
They rumbled into motion, and for a long moment, there was silence between them.
“How are your arms?” Elowen was the one to break it.
“They’re fine,” Theo said dismissively. “The wounds are shallow. They’ll heal.”
“And the rest of you?” She searched his face anxiously, her voice a whisper. “You were so ill, Theo. I thought you were going to die.”
He grimaced. “I think I was close to it. I’ve never experienced an illness like it. I still don’t understand it.”
“I do, a little,” Elowen said.
Theo listened soberly as she explained about the vials, the investigation she and Lady Sophia had undertaken, and what Simeon had told them on the road.
“The duke’s family will be crushed by this,” he observed once she was done.
“Yes,” Elowen agreed, her voice sad.
“Do you think Sophia’s right that her father wasn’t involved in the disasters?
” Theo asked. “I had my guard make inquiries after we visited the landslide site, and I have reason to think that he was no longer sharing all the evidence with the king. Before that trip, he said he had a promising line of inquiry, but after it, that apparently dried up, which seemed suspicious to me. I had assumed he was trying to hide the embarrassing truth about his servant, but now…”
“Now it seems he was covering for Bertrand,” Elowen finished, her voice heavy. “That I can believe.”
“If it was after the landslide visit he changed his approach, then he must have recognized Bertrand’s scarf in the description from the witness.
It must have been torture to begin suspecting his own son.
Unless he was involved all along, in which case it would only be the fear of exposure plaguing him. ”
“I don’t think he was involved,” Elowen said. “I can’t believe it of him.”
“Well, either way, his standing will suffer,” Theo observed. “And perhaps it deserves to, frankly. I’ve never met someone as dangerously indulged as Bertrand, and we’ve seen the consequences with our own eyes.”
“Yes.” Elowen’s exquisite face wrinkled in a frown. “He should never have been given half the license he was, by any of us.”
“Bertrand is the least of my concerns now,” Theo said. “It seems Cassius was right about the threat from the continent, and it’s terrifying to think their magic craft is advanced so far beyond ours.”
“It is,” Elowen agreed. “If there’s another war, it won’t bode well.”
Theo leaned forward, taking one of her slim hands in both of his. “But we’ll be so much stronger together. And…” He hesitated. “And I hope our kingdoms will stand together, although I don’t mean to pressure you.”
“Theo.” She laid her other hand over his, her touch light but determined. “Surely you know by now.”
She swallowed, seeming nervous, and he searched her eyes seriously.
“Theo, you said before that you wanted to win me before we set our wedding date.”
“I meant win your heart,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you into a competition, or—”
“I understand.” She cut him off with a laugh. “What I’m trying to say is that you’ve already won me. If it was up to me, we’d get married tomorrow.”
Theo’s breath caught, fire surging up through his veins at the look in her eyes.
For a long moment, they just stared at each other.
Then he looked to the side, observing with approval the presence of curtains on the carriage windows.
He pulled them both closed with purposeful movements before shifting onto the opposite seat, beside Elowen.
She was blushing adorably, her eyes shy as they looked up into his.
He lowered his face so that his mouth hovered over her ear. “In case you think I’m only capable of passion when my mind is addled by mysterious magical ailments,” he murmured, his lips brushing the shape of her ear and eliciting a pleasant shiver, “I’m going to kiss you now.”
Elowen raised her face to his in a silent invitation, and Theo at last pressed his lips against the soft, irresistible ones that had been haunting his dreams. Elowen returned his kiss with an eagerness he would never have expected from the demure face she’d shown him when they first met, and a low growl of approval escaped him.
The movement of their lips was perfectly in sync, and the sensation was bliss.
One of her hands was splayed against his chest, and her hair had come loose enough to flow freely over the fingers he’d slipped under it so he could cradle her head.
Without breaking the kiss, Theo snaked an arm around Elowen’s waist, tucking her against him where she fit like they were made for each other.
Maybe they were. Not long ago, he’d thought sentiment like that ridiculous, but he’d been wrong about so many things, why not this, too?
“Elowen.” He pulled back, his breathing uneven. “I’m so sorry.”
“What for?” she asked, sounding dazed. “If you’re apologizing for your kissing abilities, trust me, you don’t need to.”
Theo’s chuckle rumbled in his chest. “I’m glad you feel that way, my love, since my kisses will be reserved for you alone until the day I die.”
She laid a contented head against his chest. “They’d better be.”
“I’m sorry for the pain I caused you by keeping you at a distance,” Theo tried again, his bandaged arms wrapping around her. “I was afraid of what would happen if I let myself want you too much.”
Elowen looked up, searching his face. “You said something like that, the night of the victory feast,” she said. “But I don’t understand why.”
“I didn’t fully understand, either,” Theo acknowledged.
“Until Xavier came, and I started to unravel, and some things came to the surface that I’d been trying to keep down for a long time.
” He squeezed her shoulder. “There’ll be time enough to tell you all about it later.
But suffice it to say, I made a vow a long time ago that I would never pursue what I wanted.
I didn’t realize I was making a vow, but that’s what happened inside me.
Somewhere along the way, that turned into a determination never to even want anything, at least not for myself.
I thought it was selfish to have desires, and you terrified me because from the moment I saw you, I desperately wanted you to be mine. ”
“You never gave a hint of that,” Elowen said, accusation in her voice. “I thought you were notably unimpressed when we met.”
Theo gave a pained laugh. “That’s unforgivable of me. I should have told you immediately that you were, and are, and I’m convinced always will be, the most heart-stoppingly beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
Elowen’s already perfect features broke into a smile that took his breath away, and she snuggled closer against him.
“Go on,” she said invitingly.
“I swear that what I feel for you isn’t shallow,” Theo assured her.
“I fell in love with the person I got to know, your quiet strength, your kind heart, your humor. But I couldn’t let myself admit how captivated I was.
Until you were pulled into it, and my choices hurt you as well as me, I never realized how deeply I’d come to believe that I wasn’t allowed to want anything, and how much that belief had driven my life.
I let resentment grow toward my brother, and,” he shook his head regretfully, “I almost sabotaged my marriage before it even began.”
“Well, fortunately you came to your senses in time,” Elowen said sunnily. “And I think I can overlook the whole thing if you promise to pay me extravagant compliments at least twice a day for the rest of our lives.”
Theo didn’t know whether to laugh or grimace. “I don’t think I know how to do that, I’m afraid. I suppose I could take lessons from Xavier.”
Elowen scrunched up her straight little nose. “No, don’t do that. I don’t care for his style of gallantry. Forget the extravagant compliments. I’d prefer humbler ones if it means I can always be sure they’re sincere.”
“Excellent,” Theo said with a hint of humor. “Because I don’t know how to be anything but sincere.”
“No,” Elowen agreed. “You’re the truest man I’ve ever met, Theo. And I’ve come to love you for it.”
His heart soared, more full than he could ever have imagined.
He knew that he would always be his stiff self on some level, and he had a feeling he would at times disappoint his vibrant wife with his lack of emotional expression.
But he was determined to be a good learner.
And something told him that learning from Elowen would be an intoxicating experience.
“I’m glad I caught myself a valiant prince after all,” Elowen added in a teasing tone, slipping her hand beneath his arm.
“You didn’t catch me,” Theo said with dignity. “I caught you, through my prowess in a rigorous tournament.”
Elowen’s laughter was musical. “I don’t count that, because I didn’t get to choose the nature of the events. I don’t especially care about your skills in jousting or archery.”
“What would you have chosen?” Theo asked with a smile, very ready to join in.
“Kissing, of course.” Elowen checked it off on her fingers. “Eloquence of compliments. Ability to melt my heart with a single soulful glance.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Theo growled.
“Oh dear.” Elowen’s face fell comically. “It’s not a promising omen for our marriage if you don’t like the sound of any of that. Not even kissing?”
“I meant,” Theo protested, “that I don’t like the sound of a tournament featuring all those things. I know I’m considered steady to a fault, but I think even I would crack if I had to watch a series of men demonstrate their ability to melt your heart with a single glance.”
“Good point,” she conceded. “To be fair, no one’s yet achieved that, anyway.”
“I will work on it,” Theo promised solemnly.
“And we’ve already agreed to trade eloquence of compliments for sincerity,” Elowen reminded him.
“Yes.”
A dimple appeared on Elowen’s cheek. “As for the other one…”
“Yes?” Theo asked, his lips curving up expectantly at the corners.
“Well, I don’t think a single round is enough. Most tournament events would require you to demonstrate your skill on at least two separate occasions. Otherwise how can we be sure it wasn’t a lucky accident that you rendered me incapable of coherent thought on your first attempt?”
Theo reached for her, a rumble of agreement in his chest. “As always, Princess,” he murmured, his lips already brushing hers as he formed the words, “I wish only to please you.”
“And I wish only to be yours.”
Elowen’s whisper filled the space, and Theo’s heart ached with a joy so fierce it was almost painful as their lips met once again.
Whatever challenges lay ahead, together they were strong in a way that went beyond any borders or alliances.
For the first time since childhood, he was excited for the future, eager to embrace the joy it would bring.
With Elowen by his side, nothing was out of reach.
And he would protect not only her, but her heart, until his dying breath.