Symphony for a Deadly Throne (Mousai, #3)

by E.J. Mellow

It was a Knowing. One that came from two souls touching and finding they were made up of similar threads, similar dust and bones.

He would soon learn that she was more than real. She was another secret to steal: the eldest daughter of the Thief King. And he would come to love her.

“That is who I am to you.” “And who am I to you?” she challenged. Zimri’s gaze was liquid gold. “Arabessa,” he whispered, said her name as if it were one of Aadilor’s great wonders. “Music of my heart.”

“I love you, Arabessa. So much so that I have been happy to hold only pieces of you for all these years even though I know there is much more of you that you hide away. That we hide from your family. But I can’t keep this charade up forever. I cannot only care for you partially, love you in half measures. That is like asking the sea to not yearn toward the shore with its waves. I will forever be reaching for you, Arabessa, but the question I keep asking is whether you will ever reach back.”

It is how I can hear what you too often do not say, he had told her once. Your music is your language, Arabessa, and I could listen for eternity to your words.

“Act on every desire you have for me, Arabessa. They are assuredly no match for the desires I have for you.”

“Am I too late?” “For what?” “To be with you.” “Oh, my love,” he said, hand coming up to cup her cheek. He wanted to pull her into his arms, kiss her, take in her hurt so she could have a reprieve. “You are never too late. You are all the pieces of my heart.”

“You, Arabessa Bassette, have reigned over my heart since the first night I met you.”