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“Then why are you still upset?”

“I’m angry about the time that’s been stolen from us.I’m furious with my mother for taking you from me.My own family betrayed me.”

I search his eyes.“Why did she do it?Was it because of the prophecy?”

“Yes,” he says with gritted teeth.“And for that, I’ll never forgive her.I vowed the guilty party would pay, and I never break an oath.”

“What are you going to do?”I pull away.“She’s your mother, Aruan.”

He drops his arms to his sides.“She claimed to have banished you out of love for me and to save your life, but what she did was cruel and inexcusable.”

Empathy compels me to say, “I’m not happy about the situation I find myself in either, but I’m sure she loves you.Parents sometimes make the wrong decisions when they try to protect us, doing things they think are in our best interest even though we disagree.”

He studies me with a perceptive gaze.“You’re speaking from experience.”

I shrug.“My parents didn’t want me to study.They thought I was just wasting the little time I had left.They didn’t understand why it was important to me.”

“Then why do you still want to see them?”

“Because I love them, and that will never change.”

He considers my statement for a moment.“You’re not angry with them.”

“They sometimes annoy me like all parents irritate their kids at times, but they do what they do because they care about me.”

He narrows his gaze.“Are you saying my mother shouldn’t be held accountable for her actions?”

“I’m saying that there are always two sides to a story and that you shouldn’t judge her too harshly for acting in what she believed was your best interest.”

His eyes flare.“You’re defending her.”

Again, there’s a painful tug in my chest when I think about my own parents and how much I miss them, knowing that I may never see them again.“I’m just saying things aren’t always black and white.”

The silver of his irises darkens to the color of molten steel.“Intelligent and strong, as well as kind and fair.You’ll make a great queen.”

I laugh uncomfortably.“You’ll give me a big head.”

The heat in his eyes morphs into an intention I recognize only too well.

“Aruan—”

His name has barely left my lips before my mud-stained shoes and dress vanish, and I stand in front of him naked, wearing only the necklace he gave me.

“That’s better,” he growls with satisfaction, already reaching for me before I have time to gasp.

His own clothes evaporate before he yanks me against him in a crushing embrace.

My body agrees.It wants this.But my mind is still lucid enough to recognize our work is far from over.

I strain in his grasp.“I need to check on the humans.”

He presses a kiss on my neck.“They can wait.”

“No.”I use all my strength to push him away while I still have some self-control left.“It’s late.They’ll be worried, not knowing what’s going on.”

He spears his hands through my hair.“A little worry has never killed anyone.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to them.”