A Throne From the Ashes (An Heir Comes to Rise, #3)

by C.C. Peñaranda

“How much I wanted you,” he finished, though it felt like an amended answer. Regardless, it burst a warmth in her chest. “Gods, I objected to being sent back to High Farrow—I really did. Only because I knew even then how dangerous it was for me to be close to you. To get to know you. I feared… More than anything, I feared I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, to keep my distance from you beyond making sure you stayed alive.” His smile was partially broken, cleaving her heart. “It was a futile fear because I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you I wouldn’t be able to stay away. Even if you weren’t who you are, if Agalhor didn’t send me back, at some point…I would have gone back to High Farrow myself. Even just to check on you, maybe only from a distance, and you would never have known. In High Farrow, you might have been fed and sheltered, but you were not happy. How could you be? You were someone who had been led to believe you had all you deserved when you had nothing. Nothing was yours.”