CHAPTER 46 #2
He fisted his hands to keep them at his sides. She was so close, and he desperately wanted to wrap his arms around her. To bury his fingers in her silky black hair. But he couldn’t.
“Because you were meant to be queen,” he whispered. “And I’m only a weapon-smith from Daraigh.”
She stepped back and looked away, blinking hard. “Then I suppose that’s my answer. Despite your pretty words, you believe that neither of us is more than our position.”
“No, that’s not what I—” Keenan wanted to kick himself. He’d been trying to ease the weight on her shoulders, and instead he’d made it worse.
He grabbed her hand as she started to walk away. “I just meant that you have a whole kingdom to consider. If you would let those around you see your true self, you’d be able to find someone who can love you without forcing your brother to wear the crown meant for you.”
She didn’t look at him. “You forget. I’ve known my nobles my whole life. They’re unlikely to appreciate my particular imperfections.”
“Then they’re fools.” He swallowed hard, then made himself say it. For her. “Because who you are is beautiful…Sakura.”
He had said her name once before when trying to get her attention underneath the cherry trees.
As soon as he had, he’d realized how dangerous it was to let himself be so informal.
To drop the shield of her title, even after it had become more of an endearment.
To whisper her name – to admit to seeing her as only Sakura and ignore the title she came with – it would be a long road to recover his heart from such a step.
But she finally looked at him, and the smile she gave him through her tears was the most brilliant thing he’d ever seen. “Truly?”
He nodded, giving her a teasing grin as she took a step closer. “Your pretty black hair and eyes don’t hurt, but as I didn’t care for them when you were treating me like I was dirt under your heel, I can safely say that I’m not confusing the two.”
She grimaced. “My mother has always discouraged friendships with servants. And after Dai, I couldn’t risk…”
“I know.” He gave her hand a light squeeze, trying to convince himself to retreat.
To release her hand, maybe slide sideways away from her.
But when she was looking at him with such adoration, all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and draw her closer.
“Kasumi told me you used to be friendlier. You still hold yourself apart, but the way you treat all of us had changed by the time we made it back out of the tree.”
Sakura set a hand on his chest, and he gave in to temptation, letting his other hand settle on her waist. “Ryuni doesn’t have to suffer just because I love a weapon-smith,” she murmured. “If you’re willing to try, we can find a way.”
“But the law—”
“Hari would run everything by me anyway,” she said, shushing him with a finger on his lips. “And laws can be changed.”
He brushed his lips across her finger. A voice in the back of his mind wondered why the law hadn’t already been changed – hadn’t she said something about it before?
– but that hardly seemed to matter as she slid her hand to his jaw, guiding his descent into madness as he lowered his lips toward hers.
“After all, that’s why Mother sent you after the tinderbox,” the princess continued with a smile. “She said it would let me marry whomever I wished and still be queen.”
Keenan jerked back, the pleasant haze vanishing. “That’s why she wants it? And you’re all right with that?”
She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be? I was raised to be queen, and a prophecy spoiled that when I was seventeen.”
“The prophecy isn’t real, Princess,” he said, setting his hands on her shoulders and firmly pushing her away. “And even if it were, I can’t believe you’d be willing to—”
His jaw clenched. Maybe it had all been an act. Except why admit the plan now? Had she or her mother feared that he was wavering in his resolve to relinquish the tinderbox?
“Would you have Cherry intimidate whomever necessary to change your law?” Keenan ground out. “Burn down a house, maybe hurt someone, to get what you want? Or have her mother do it?”
The princess’s eyes widened, and she took a step back, mouth falling open in horror. “Of course I wouldn’t.”
“If you could make a gryphon use his wind magic to destroy the crops of someone challenging your right to the throne, would you do it?” His hands fisted at his sides as he took a step toward her, but this time he towered over her.
She looked hurt. “A monarch may sometimes need to make difficult decisions, but your propositions would break the bond of good faith between a ruler and her people. I refuse to ignore sound laws in order to fix bad ones. But what makes you suggest such examples in the first place?”
His anger ebbed. Stepping back, he frowned at her. “Don’t you know what the tinderbox is?”
She shook her head. “My mother only told me that it would let us enact any change we wish. I don’t know the means by which it would.”
Keenan sighed. “I don’t know the specifics, but I can make a guess. And I refuse to use it that way.”
“Then you can’t give it to my mother.” She folded her hands at her waist, but her right hand soon drifted to the opposite elbow.
“She lied to me about the reason you left the winter castle. She would have continued her attempts to persuade me that you were an Amitian prince had I not pressed her on the reasons it couldn’t be true. ”
Biting her lip, she glanced up at him before looking away. “I used a way-finder to lead us to the tree. I would lend it to you to find your friend, but…” She gave him an apologetic expression. “Mother demanded it back as soon as she greeted me. I think she anticipated the offer.”
“It’s all right, Princess,” he assured her. “I haven’t trusted the queen since before I left on the quest.”
She gave him a sad smile. “Are we back to formalities now?”
“That should probably depend on how my audience with the king goes.” Then setting a careful hand on her back, he guided her back to the center of the hall.
Oliver and Mori stood a little farther down the corridor, pretending not to watch. But Oliver’s eyebrow was several notches above its normal position, and Mori was struggling to keep his lips from turning up.
“Are we ready?” Mori asked, his eyes skipping between Keenan and the princess. “Or do you need another minute?”
Sakura lifted her chin and swept past him. “Do keep up. The king should not be kept waiting.”