A Dance with the Fae Prince (Married to Magic, #2)

by Elise Kova

“Sire, true king, permission to speak freely?” Shaye has perched herself on the top of a rock we’re passing by. She’s been close enough to overhear the whole conversation. “Granted,” he growls. “You’re being an ass.” Shaye smirks. “That is all.”

“I do.” He takes a step forward. “I love you in a way that I never expected to love anyone. I have always been destined to be thrown into a marriage of convenience. I never expected to love.”

“Because I love you, truly. I love you in a way that makes me want to sacrifice for you. That makes me want to move the mountains, or oceans, or stars, to merely see you smile.” He strokes my cheek again, looking down at me with all the wonder in the world. “That is what love is, Katria—what it should be. You are worthy of that love, from me, from others, and from yourself.”

“What if you don’t like me once you really see me?” I ask between quivering lips. I have yet to show him the scar on my back. He has only caught glimpses of the wounds I still carry with me. “I really saw you in the first moment you walked in my door. I have seen your soul, and I have fallen in love with it. So there’s nothing about the mortal casing it’s housed within that could make me love you less.” He is so sure, so confident, the grip I have on myself relaxes. My hands return to his hips. “Trust in my love, in me. I will never break that trust.”

Music is like painting. Artists can use the same medium, but no two people will create in the same way.