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Her eyes are gleaming in the moonlight. I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe she’s with me. I want to take hold of more than her hand. I want to inhale her breath until the end of time. I want to make sure no one ever takes her away from me again.
She only has eyes for me. Every emotion I’m feeling, I see echoed in her gaze. Love. Desire. Need. Relief. Hope.
“I hope you know I plan to sob all over you properly later.” “I hope that’s not all you plan to do all over me later.” She gasps, then grins, her smile bright in the darkness.
Tessa is breathing hard. “I’m not watching you die again,” she says.
Tessa never hurts anyone.” The man’s arm’s don’t loosen. “She killed Oren.” “Because he was killing all those people.” Corrick pauses. “I love her, Mouse. She’s very precious. Please give her back.”
I have Thorin and Saeth at the wall, with Quint seated beside me, his book and pencil ready. I’m so grateful for his presence, and I realize I’ve always been grateful for his presence.
I take the book from his hands, but gently this time, no tussling. Then I kiss him softly. “No,” I say. “No book, no notes. You rest.”
“Well, I could be wrong, but based on the way he and Olive have been attached to each other, I’d expect him to moon around for all forty.” Corrick smiles and tugs me against him. “Haven’t you learned? Love changes things.”
He steals my breath until my heart is racing against him, warmth pooling in my belly. But then he pulls away, his hands chastely on my waist. Which is exactly what he’s done every single time he’s kissed me on this ship.
I don’t know when we make it to the bed, just that we’ve abandoned most of our clothes on the way. His arms are so strong, and his body is so warm, and I’ve never felt so cherished, so loved, so adored.
Longing fills his eyes, and when he says the words, I hear the weight in his voice. But it’s not Kandala that he’s missing so much. It’s his brother.
“I’m not leaving you.” “Quint. Corrick needs you—” “No, Harristan.” He takes my hand. “You need me.”
I put a hand against the warm smoothness of his cheek when he bends down to kiss me. “No more rebellion?” I tease.
Corrick’s fingers are gripping my hand as if it’s all that’s keeping him tethered to the deck of the ship.
He shouldn’t have to learn that his brother is dead while people are cheering for his safe return. “Corrick,” I whisper again, and I realize I’m crying, too. “Oh, my love. I’m so sorry.”
“No!” Corrick turns around at once. His eyes meet mine, and again, I see that flicker of panic, of desperation, of need. But only for a moment, and only for me. Then it’s iced over. “Miss Cade will remain with me.”
His eyes glitter with unshed tears, and he says, “I loved him so very much, Tessa.”
“You’re going to be a great king.”
My brother is dead. My best friend is dead.
My body nearly flinches at the title. Every time I hear it, I expect to see Harristan—and I have to remind myself that I never will again.
Tessa herself is a balm, a constant source of comfort. She wraps herself around me at night and allows me to whisper my fears. During the day, she’s by my side as well, always fearless, always unhesitating in front of the people, always kind.
Tessa smiles. “You’re going to end up getting hugs all over Kandala.” Saeth sighs again. “And a knife in the ribs, if this keeps up. Your Majesty—” “Really, Captain,” I say to him. “I rather doubt I’m in any danger from your daughter.” “No, but I—” Then he stops short at what I said. His wife gasps. Even Thorin snaps his head around. But he smiles.
It’s at night that he shares his grief, in our quiet moments together where he doesn’t have to be an outlaw or a king. He can simply be Corrick.
“I notice all of them, too,” I say, pulling at the laces of my own corset. The maid seems to have knotted it. “I know what they’re doing.” He catches my waist, forcing me still. “Are they upsetting you?”
“I meant I could ask you to marry me.” My hand freezes against his cheek.
“This is quite the proposal,” I say roughly. “It’s not a proposal yet,” he says quietly. “I didn’t want you to feel obligated to say yes. I wanted to make sure you knew you could say no. That no part of me expected you to uphold these—” “I love you,” I say. “Of course I’m going to say yes.”
I’m just Tessa, a girl who fell in love with him.
“And when you have a ring,” I say lightly, trying to take some of the intensity out of the moment. “Not when you’re warning me about threats against the Crown.” He presses a hand to my cheek. “Yes, my love.”
He catches my hand and turns me back around. Without hesitation, he drops to one knee. There’s a ring in his hand, and a determined look in his eye. “Tessa Cade,” he says, “I’m ready now.”
“Tessa, my dear friend.” Karri reaches out and puts a hand over mine. “You are going to make a great queen.”
Quint’s eyes flash my way with feigned annoyance. I reach up to brush snowflakes out of his red hair, and the annoyance is replaced with a smile. Miller, I think. Not Quint.
“It’s not as if I signed it,” I snap. “No one is watching for letters from a long dead king.”
“There’s a part of me that wants to punch you, you know.” “I do know,” I say. “And I’m sorry.”
