Chapter Fifty-Four Garrick
Chapter Fifty-Four
Garrick
Riela’s shoulders slumped with defeat, and I ached with the need to gather her close and protect her from the world. But while
I’d had a week and a half to come to terms with exactly what she meant to me, she had been awake for less than a day.
And I’d been a prickly, prideful, suspicious asshole for much of our time together.
Still, her heartfelt sigh stabbed through my chest more painfully than Koru’s sword.
“I can’t run,” she murmured. “I can’t leave the villagers undefended.” She chuckled bitterly. “Do you think Roseguard will
allow me to replace the seal on the forest while I’m trapped in his castle?”
“Since it was put in place to prevent the very things he would like to do, I doubt it.”
She fidgeted with the belt of her robe, her eyes on the ground. “Would he kill his own daughter?”
“Probably not,” I told her honestly. “But there are worse things than death.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” she murmured. She slanted a glance at me. “Could I kill him now?”
“With help and luck . . . maybe. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be easier with me by your side.”
Longing flashed across her face before she shook her head. “You don’t owe me your protection.”
“I’m offering it all the same,” I said. “Marry me.”
The longing intensified before she tucked it away. As much as she might pretend otherwise, she was not unaffected. “You’ve
already asked, and I’ve already declined.”
“I’m asking again.”
One side of her mouth pulled up into a sad smile. “And what happens when you find someone you truly want?”
“I want you, Riela. I have since the first moment you wandered in from the forest and tried to get Grim to eat me instead of you. I was
just too stubborn and wary to trust my heart.”
“That’s not the win you think it is,” she murmured. “You were very grouchy for someone who wanted me.”
“You would be grouchy, too, if I wandered into your home and made you feel things you thought you’d stopped wanting.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” she denied, but she couldn’t quite suppress the tiny smile that curved her lips. Her expression turned serious.
“What about the betrothal bond?”
“We could start with that,” I agreed slowly, “but we’d still have to visit the Blood Court. And while I truly would love to have a reason to visit Feylan, three days is not a lot of time to prepare, especially when you’re still exhausted.”
Her face twisted into an unhappy scowl, but she sighed and smoothed it away. “I will think about it. For now, help me dress.
I want to see Edea.”