“It’s the only way I know how to show that I want you,” he says. It’s not just a ring, but a Princess ring, almost exactly like the one I’m wearing. “That I respect you,” he adds, plucking something smaller from the bed of velvet beside it. I don’t realize it’s a key to the ring I’m wearing until he gathers up my hand, pushing the pointed end of the tool into the top stone. “That I care about you.” The ring on my finger expands, and for the first time since my coronation, it slips off the knuckle without sting or pain. His amber eyes glow in the candlelight as they meet mine. “That I love
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