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Finally, he spoke. “Give me a chance to win you, Marguerite…to show you that I am not some terrible, cruel monster.”

“The village—”

“Was a rash act.” He shook his head. “One I regret. We have both done deeds we would rather move past, have we not?”

I am still not certain the deeds equate in any way, shape, or form. “Yes, I suppose we have.”

He leaned forward and reached out to place his hand atop hers. It took every ounce of strength she had not to jerk away from his touch. “Give me a chance to win your love.”

“And if you cannot…?”

He smiled sadly. “Then you will be free.”

It was then that she came to the horrifying realization that he was lying to her. No creature destroyed an entire village to keep something he would be willing to release.

The only way she was going to escape this place was by her own hands.

I need a plan. Simply earning his trust is not enough. But she was a child playing at escape against something she still could not truly comprehend. What chance did she stand against Gideon? None. She needed help. But what help was there to be found around her? Every servant within the walls was his undead creation. She was alone.

Or am I?

Chewing her lip, she fidgeted with her goblet.

“What is it, princess?” He squeezed her hand gently.

“If I—” She hesitated, struggling to find her words. She was grasping at the edge of a cliff over which she dangled, and she quickly needed to learn how to climb. Deceit and manipulation were not skills she possessed. Yet she had to try, all the same. “If I am to give you this chance to win me, as you request, I need to come to terms with what you are. To find myself not so horrified at what manner of monster I now sleep beside.”

His expression fell, but he did not seem offended. Merely wounded.

She continued. “I must be at peace with the monster before I might learn to love him.” She could not look at him while she talked any longer, turning her attention back to the wine in her goblet. “Let me be there with you while you work. I wish to watch you perform your magic and your research.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers gently. “Nothing in this world would make me happier. Of course. And…thank you. I know times have not been kind to you of late. But let this be the valley and let us climb from it together. Agreed?”

I need help. And I know precisely how to get it.

Summoning the strength from somewhere she did not know, she smiled faintly at him. She did not try to hide her nervousness or her fear of him. There would be no point in making the attempt. “Yes, agreed.”

God help me.