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“Please don’t speak of the Acropolis,” his mother interrupted, her lower lip trembling dramatically. “I’m trying to forget they are leaving in ten days.”

“For the love of Arius, Cressida,” Valter grumbled. “They will be home on various breaks and on holiday. It is not as though they are leaving forever. Soon enough there will be a new little heir for you to dote on.”

Tessa stiffened imperceptibly beside him, and Theon reached over, placing a hand on her knee beneath the table. Her eyes flicked up to him for the briefest of moments before returning to her dessert. The rest of the talk around the table was idle chatter, his mother evidently content to imagine life with a grandchild running around this huge house.

As soon as dessert was cleared, Theon stood. Luka and Axel did the same, saying good night to his parents. He nodded at Tessa to follow, and the moment they rounded the corner and were out of sight of the dining room, he reached behind him and pulled her into his side, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“You were perfect tonight, beautiful,” he whispered into her hair. Tessa said nothing, but he could see thin pools of silver in the corners of her eyes. “Tessa?”

“Walk with me, little one,” Luka said, coming up beside them and holding out his arm to her. She glanced up at Theon, clearly asking permission. He didn’t want to, but he nodded, releasing her to loop her arm through Luka’s and let him lead her down the hall.

“How are these new expectations working out?” Axel asked, the sarcasm thick as he came to Theon’s side.

Theon shot him a bland look. “It’s only for a bit. Just until she accepts the bond,” he insisted as he watched Luka and Tessa disappear around a corner.

“And if she doesn’t accept the Source bond?”

“She will.”

“When? After you’ve shaped her into—”

“Axel,” Theon interrupted, rounding on his brother. “I am doing the best I can with a situation none of us anticipated, and something neither you nor Luka seem to understand.”

Axel shoved his hands into his pockets, the muscle ticking in his jaw a mirror to Theon’s. “She won’t be the same at the end of this.”

“Of course she will. I only need her to be this way around others. It just needs to be an act. When it’s just us in private, she can be herself,” Theon bit back. “This is temporary.”

“She won’t be the same, Theon,” Axel repeated, shaking his head as they began moving down the hallway again.

“And what makes you so sure of that?” he asked, not bothering to hide his growing irritation with this conversation.

“Because you are different. When you started acting to appease Father, I told myself it was only temporary. I told myself you would go back to normal soon, but you didn’t, Theon. You are not the same.”

“Neither of us can stay the same after…”

“I know,” Axel said, reaching to stop him from opening the door they’d come to. “I know why we are the way we are, but that doesn’t mean we have to create more of us.”

He pushed the door open, and Theon followed him into the suite. Tessa was standing near the bay window, looking out at the dark grounds. It had started raining again, this strange weather pattern appearing to continue. They didn’t get much rain in the mountains at the end of summer, but at least this was a steady drizzle rather than a storm.

“Are we playing cards or something tonight?” Axel asked, stretching his arms up before pulling his dress shirt from his pants. He slid his jacket off, tossing it on the sofa, and loosening his tie.

“Sure. I’m just going to change,” Theon answered. He crossed to the bedroom, motioning for Tessa to follow when she glanced at him.

As they stepped into the dressing room, he turned to her, caging her against the wall between his arms.

“What are you doing?” she gasped.

“Can I kiss you?”

Her eyes darkened some, her features hardening. “That’s not my choice.”

“It is,” he replied, reaching behind her to pull pins from her hair. “I told you I wouldn’t force anything on you, but today was intense. I know it was a hard day for you.”

“How will kissing me change any of that?”

“It will appease the bond. Ease some tension,” he answered, pulling the last of the pins free.

“I’d rather just change and go to bed.”