“Then stay,” she said. Stay. How he hated that word. A word that might have had the power to change the order of the stars in the sky. A word that could break hearts and crumple fairy empires if uttered in the wrong setting. “You don’t understand what you’re asking of me,” he said. “I will not stay.” It was best she accepted it. He brushed her hair from her face. “Now give me all those kisses you were so willing to bargain away before.”
