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“What is it?”Toren sent.

Mehl’s lips pinched so tight that they nearly disappeared. “Do you not realize what you’ve done?”

Toren froze.“What do you mean?”

“Gods above, Tor.”As Ria smoothed the robe carefully over the chair, Mehl incinerated him with his gaze.“In the throne room. You called Ria our wife in front of the entire court.”

What? That couldn’t be right. Frantically, he skimmed his memories of his interaction with Ria’s father, though the haze of anger made it difficult. Nothing terrible until…until Belak’s near-insult. The man had no doubt been about to call her a whore, and that had been the final tap that had shattered Toren’s tenuous control.

For the harm you have done our wife…

Toren shivered against the cold filling his heart. What had he done? He’d promised Ria time, and now he’d stolen it. Intention hardly mattered in the result, even if his words had been technically true. A link like theirs was considered a marriage by law, which was why he’d been nervous about testing her when they’d first met—the full force of his magic could forge such a link if he lost control.

But for royalty, there was another layer to marriage. The title of king or queen wasn’t automatically granted upon a linking. It required a formal wedding with a great many contracts signed in the process. As far as Toren could recall, there hadn’t been any royal couples who hadn’t married legally soon after linking. It was an understood process, and the nobles would have known how to treat Ria based on past protocol.

Referring to her as their wife without any mention of a legal engagement would create its own mini-chaos of etiquette. Everyone would wonder how Ria should be regarded. Some might consider it a slight, and no few would begin to wonder if Toren, Mehl, and Ria had skipped the elaborate ceremony and wed in secret. The nobles would question incessantly. Should they snub Ria since she hadn’t earned a place on the dais or treat her as queen to gain favor just in case theyhadmarried quietly?

Those stares and prolonged bows hadn’t been because of the formal robes.

The line between Ria’s brows deepened as she turned away from the chair. “You might as well tell me what’s wrong, because I can feel it brewing through our connection.”

Much as he felt the sick churn of regret.

He took a deep breath. “I hope you’ll forgive me, Ria.”

If she didn’t, he would never forgive himself.

* * *

Undefined worry becametrue fear at Toren’s words. What did he mean by that? Oh, gods, did he want to break their link after speaking to her father again? Surely, he must be considering the risk of merging with her bloodline after that.

Ria squeezed her hands together in front of her waist. “It’s about what happened in the throne room, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Toren said roughly. “But I promise you this was not intentional.”

Her heart clenched as tightly as her hands. “I understand. I don’t blame you for reconsidering after that. It must be a concern to bring such foul blood into your family line.”

“I—” Toren’s words cut off, his brows scrunching. “What did you say?”

“You wish to end our contract after my father’s display,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

Mehl stepped around Toren as he hurried to her side. “No, Ria. That’s not what he meant.”

Toren’s nostrils flared. “It absolutely is not. My own twin has threatened me for centuries and may have even murdered our mother. I could hardly criticizeyourfamily.”

“I…don’t understand, then,” Ria said.

And she didn’t. Toren and Mehl had protected her back there, and Toren had even given her future control of her father’s fate. She could have asked for nothing more of them. Yet the erratic pulsing of Toren’s energy and the distress she felt from both of them told her she was missing something.

“Ria…” Toren rubbed the back of his neck in an almost sheepish manner. “When I sentenced your father, I referred to you as our wife.”

Her head went light and airy, but she wasn’t sure if it was relief or shock to blame. That was all?

Wait. That is a lot.

Numbly, she dropped into the chair beside Toren’s overrobe. What did it mean? She’d begged for time to adjust before she considered a marriage. Did calling her wife in front of the court bypass a formal wedding? Oh, gods, did that make her queen?

“You said you would not force me,” Ria whispered.