Chapter 36 — Come Home With Me
Amara waited until they were alone.
The harbor had finally become quiet. Most of the royal family had returned to their ships, and the crowds that had gathered after her speech were disappearing into the streets.
Alexander stood at the end of the dock watching the royal fleet.
Amara approached him.
“Alexander.”
He turned.
“Princess.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You know I dislike when you call me that.”
“I know.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because occasionally I enjoy irritating you.”
“That explains much of our relationship.”
He smiled and offered his hand.
Amara took it.
For a while they walked without speaking.
Tomorrow the fleet would begin final preparations for the voyage to Azania.
Tomorrow.
Suddenly there was very little time left.
“You're going home,” Alexander said.
“Yes.”
“You must be excited.”
“I am.”
She was more than excited.
She wanted to see her mother’s gardens, her old rooms, the horses, the palace terraces, the markets, the coastline. She wanted to wake and hear familiar voices outside her window.
But every image of home now contained something that had not existed before.
Alexander.
She stopped walking.
He turned.
“What?”
“I need to ask you something.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It may be.”
Alexander waited.
Amara had faced armed kidnappers with greater confidence than she felt at that moment.
“Come home with me.”
“Yes.”
She blinked.
“I haven't finished.”
“Yes.”
“Alexander.”
“Yes.”
Amara stared at him.
Then she began laughing.
“You don't even know what I was going to say.”
“You asked me to come home with you.”
“I was going to explain.”
“Unnecessary.”
“What if I intended to ask you to remain for six months?”
“Yes.”
“A year?”
“Yes.”
“What if my family drives you insane?”
“Already happening.”
She laughed again.
Alexander stepped closer.
“Amara, I don't need the rest of the sentence.”
Her smile slowly faded.
“This isn't a holiday.”
“I know.”
“You would be leaving your home.”
“Yes.”
“Your family.”
“For a time.”
“Your career could become complicated.”
“I'll deal with it.”
“My country is different.”
“I expect it to be.”
“You don't know our customs.”
“I'll learn.”
“You don't know the court.”
“I survived dinner with your family.”
“That was one dinner.”
Alexander hesitated.
“That is concerning.”
Amara smiled.
Then she became serious again.
“You would be entering my world, Alexander. Here you have your rank, your family name, your position. In Azania, you will be the foreign officer who arrived with the princess.”
“I know.”
“People will talk.”
“They already do.”
“Some will dislike you.”
“Your brother has prepared me.”
“They may say you came because of my money.”
Alexander shrugged.
“Then they'll be wrong.”
“They may say I chose beneath my position.”
His expression changed.
“Will you believe them?”
“No.”
“Then I don't care.”
The answer was so simple that Amara had no response.
Alexander touched her cheek.
“I didn't fall in love with your position.”
“I know.”
“I fell in love with a woman who argued with me approximately three minutes after we met.”
“It was longer.”
“Four?”
“Possibly.”
“Then I stand corrected.”
Amara looked toward the ships.
“When I was captive, I imagined returning home exactly as I had left it.”
Alexander listened.
“I thought I could simply walk through the palace doors and become the woman I was before.”
“You can't.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I don't want to.”
Alexander understood.
Going home was not going backward.
The woman returning to Azania had crossed an ocean, survived captivity, confronted the men responsible, and discovered a life beyond the palace.
“I want you to see where I came from,” she said. “I want to show you the coast where I learned to ride. The palace. The city. My favorite places.”
“And the royal stables?”
“Especially those.”
“Are the horses better behaved?”
“No.”
“I was afraid of that.”
Amara smiled.
“I want my people to know you.”
“That sounds less relaxing.”
“It should.”
“And your extended family?”
Amara hesitated.
“How extended?”
She did not answer.
Alexander sighed.
“I withdraw the question.”
They continued walking.
“There's another problem,” Alexander said.
“What?”
“Your father.”
“My father invited you.”
“Your father tolerated me.”
“He likes you.”
“He threatened me politely.”
“That means he likes you.”
Alexander was beginning to understand the royal family’s unusual language of affection.
“And Kellan?”
“He almost likes you.”
“He told me yesterday that if I embarrassed you in Azania, he would personally put me on the first ship home.”
“See?”
“See what?”
“Progress. A week ago he wanted to throw you into the ocean.”
Alexander laughed.
Amara stopped again.
“I am serious about this.”
“So am I.”
“You really want to come?”
He looked surprised.
“Did you think I would let you cross an ocean and disappear from my life?”
“I wasn't planning to disappear.”
“Good.”
Alexander took both her hands.
“I don't know what happens in Azania. I don't know whether I belong in a royal court. I don't know whether your people will accept me.”
Amara listened.
“But I know where I want to be when we find out.”
“Where?”
“With you.”
They kissed beneath the harbor lights.
It was not their most passionate kiss.
It was something better.
A promise neither of them needed to name yet.
When they separated, Amara smiled.
“You realize my mother will interpret your coming as something very serious.”
Alexander frowned.
“How serious?”
“Marriage serious.”
His expression remained surprisingly calm.
“That doesn't frighten you?”
Amara asked.
“No.”
That answer caught her completely unprepared.
Alexander smiled.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Princess Amara appears speechless.”
“I am not speechless.”
“You haven't insulted me for at least twenty seconds.”
“Idiot.”
“There she is.”
She hit his chest lightly.
He caught her hand and kissed it.
The next morning, Amara informed her family.
Queen Nalia smiled before her daughter finished.
“I knew it.”
“You knew what?”
“That he would come.”
Kellan was less enthusiastic.
“For how long?”
Alexander answered, “I don't know.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“It wasn't intended to be.”
Kellan looked at him.
Alexander looked back.
Amara sighed.
“Can we cross one ocean before you two start another war?”
King Adisa laughed.
“Captain Whitmore is welcome in Azania.”
Alexander bowed.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Adisa’s expression became more serious.
“But you come as Amara’s guest, not as her protector.”
Alexander understood the distinction.
“She doesn't need one.”
Amara smiled.
“Excellent answer.”
Kellan muttered, “He's learning.”
Later, Alexander sent letters explaining that he would be traveling abroad.
His luggage was transferred aboard the flagship.
Amara watched his trunk being carried up the gangway.
Weeks earlier, she had believed that reaching this ship would mean saying goodbye to him.
Instead, Alexander was coming with her.
She slipped her arm through his.
“Regretting your answer?”
“No.”
“You answered very quickly.”
“I was afraid you'd change your mind before finishing the question.”
Amara laughed.
Together they looked toward the open sea.
She was going home.
Not as the woman who had been taken.
Not as a victim being returned.
She was going home freely, carrying everything she had learned and everything she had become.
And beside her stood the man she had chosen.
Amara had asked him to cross an ocean with her.
Alexander had said yes before she could finish the sentence.