“Nobody knew the truth and instead blamed our father for casting it. He eventually crumbled under the pressure and thought the only way to keep all of us safe was to abandon the throne. Our people…Fates, they hated us. We were outcasts from a young age, pariahs in our own home. It took nearly thirty years for the truth to come out and for us to learn that Gayl was behind it all along. He’d practically pushed my father out of the palace. ”

The look I gave her must have shown my shock, for she smiled darkly into her drink. “Not all of us grew up in fancy palaces and mansions with everything we could want placed at our feet.”

I scratched my beard, thinking of my own upbringing. The servants and splendor and riches. “That’s quite a story, Empress.”

“Well, we all have them.”

“I have to admit, it does explain some things.”

That earned me a confused glance. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“You’re unlike any monarch I’ve ever met. Or anyone of nobility, for that matter. You’re so…” I trailed off, twisting my lips and considering her.

“Confident? Witty? Capable?” She winked and brandished her cup in the air. “Take your pick. I’ve been told I have a way with words.”

“I was going to say earnest.” Her head tilted to the side, that playful smile sliding from her face. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Now who’s surprised?”

“I’m…not sure how to take that.”

I shrugged. “Most people in my world are nobles, lords, and aristocrats, all catering to the crown. They’re insincere and shallow, driven by their own agenda or by some sense of duty passed down from the generations that doesn’t even mean anything to them anymore.

It’s just what we’re supposed to do. What we were born into and can never leave.

We’re taught what to say and how to say it and to never deviate from the path.

But you…you’re refreshingly real , Empress.

” Every word drew me closer to her. I barely felt my feet as they took a step toward her.

“You care not only for your own people, but also the ones you’ve known for all of five days.

You want to take action and get things done.

And you’re not afraid to say what’s on your mind.

” I took a breath, once again all too aware of the effect she was having on me.

The fire sparking in her eyes as her features softened, those dark pools swallowing up everything I said.

I needed to rein this in and clear the heavy air forming between us. I needed to put the barrier back up. The one that kept me from drowning.

Because that look…that look could pull me under. I hadn’t even known I was close to the edge until now.

I threw my normal smirk onto my lips. “I knew you were different from the moment I saw you walking off that ship looking like a wet, feral cat.”

She gasped and faked an angry scoff. “I resent that statement, Lord Reaux,” she said, taking a step closer and pressing a finger into my chest. The contact sent lightning through my veins, and I couldn’t stop my hand from wrapping around her wrist.

She sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry, I forgot about your injury. Did I hurt you?”

I slowly shook my head. “No, Empress. It doesn’t hurt.”

Her eyes traveled from the finger that rested against the top of my chest to the locket that dangled from my neck. “I’ve been wanting to ask…what’s this for?”

“It’s a marigold,” I said, voice rough. “I had it made when she was born.”

She brushed her thumb along the chain, a soft hum leaving her lips. Her fingertips lingered against my skin.

Heat unfurled around my chest and into the hand holding hers.

I could feel her pulse pounding, could see flecks of gold I’d never noticed in her near-black eyes.

I’d touched her before, but only in moments when she needed me.

Stepping out of a carriage, working through a panic attack, shifting back into her human form.

Never like this. Never simply because we could .

But we couldn’t.

Too close. She was too close. She was marrying the king, and we were surrounded by hundreds of people. She?—

Her eyes drifted to my lips.

I wasn’t breathing. My thumb skimmed the pulse point at her wrist, causing her gaze to snap back to mine. When she let out a breath, I smelled hints of cherry on her lips.

“Dance with me,” she murmured.

Fates, this woman.

My fingers itched to grab her waist, to see what her body would feel like swaying against mine in the shadows of the flames.

Tucked away where no one could see us, where empresses and kings and curses didn’t exist. Where I could slide my lips along her neck, maybe taste the wine still lingering on her tongue?—

I threw up yet another wall on those thoughts, then barricaded it with steel. What was I doing ? She was going to be another man’s wife. I had a daughter, a territory to consider, and people to watch over.

It was the alcohol. Exhaustion and stress and alcohol. And that dress .

There had to be distance between us. There were lines that couldn’t be crossed.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Clarissa,” I said softly, releasing her hand and taking a step back. She blinked, and hurt flickered across her features.

Another voice rang out from the center of the festival.

“Everyone gather ‘round, gather ‘round,” a man in overalls cried out. “It’s time for the annual sacrifices to the Fates!”