Page 169 of The Throne Seeker

It was so peaceful. So beautiful. Amid its rocky terrain, purple and blue wildflowers thrived—enough for her to pick a handful and still leave plenty wild. Trees swayed in the morning breeze, sending a comforting wave from afar as the mountain peaks towered overhead.

The longer she stayed here, the more it felt like home. And that terrified her. Because this wasn’t her home, and it never would be. It was only temporary, just as everything in her life seemed to be. She wouldn’t let herself hope. She was too bruised, too broken to deserve something this pure. She’d have to accept it.

Rose walked over to the edge, soaking every detail in. She was so transfixed on the scenery she didn’t realize Roman was standing right behind her.

“Was it worth the swim?”

An involuntary shiver coursed through her as if his graveled tone had come alive and grazed her skin.

“It’s my new favorite place in the world,” she whispered. She looked over her shoulder at him—at the only thing that could make this view better.

His handsome face dripped, water running off his smooth cheeks, his soaked hair bringing out his natural wave just below his ears. She desperately wanted to give in to the impulse to reach out to him, to take his face into her hands and find out what he tasted like. She found herself imagining it—craving it.

As if he knew what she was thinking, he said, “You know, I’ve seen my fair share of Vallor. I’ve been to the shores of Eristan, seen Ostlyn’s sacred temples, explored the vast forests of Vertmere, climbed the snowy mountains of Artistan, but none of those compare to the scene I am looking at right now.”

His eyes were on her.

Her and her alone.

Unconsciously, she licked her lips and pressed them together, trying not to read too far into his words—convinced that the hope fluttering in her chest was only her heart grappling for something that didn’t exist. “Wasn’t it hard? To come back home after all that?”

“More than you imagine.” He cast his gaze out. “It was like returning to a vaguely familiar place. Everything looked the same, only… everything was different. When I came back, I desperately wanted it to ease my soul. I craved the peace it used to bring. But no matter how much I willed it, it couldn’t ease the pain I’d just endured. It couldn’t erase all the terrible things I’d seen and done. The lives I’d taken. Coming home was merely a painful reminder of all the things well out of my reach.” His gaze returned to hers, his eyes searing themselves into her soul.

Her breath caught in her throat. His words… they could very well have been her own. He’d hidden his pain so well that it had made her forget that he’d just come back from war. “You know, you saved thousands more than you took.”

He shook his head as if the fact changed nothing for him. “The castle must feel much the same to you,” he acknowledged, changing the subject. “Now that you’ve had time and distance… do you know what you’ll do? When you’ll go back?”

She knew the answer, already coming to terms with it. “I’ll suffocate if I go back. I’ll do what I must. I’ll find a suitor away from the castle and marry him.”

Roman’s mouth grew into a hard line. “You say it like you already have someone in mind.”

She lowered her gaze. “Maybe.”

“Moretti?”

She didn’t respond, looking out into the distance, neither confirming nor denying it.

A fire ignited in his eyes as his fists clenched. “That prick is as slippery as a snake. You have no idea what he’s truly like, what he’s done.”

“That may be true, but I know he’d take care of me. And despite his selfish nature, I know he doesn’t give a damn about my situation. Which is more than I can say for anyone at court.”

His eyebrows raised. “You actually talked about being together? You can’t be serious. You barely know him.”

She shrugged. “I know him differently than you.”

The statement only fueled his anger as he scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous. He gives youoneafternoon of attention,onetaste of his money, and you’re going to let it seduce you? Come on, Rose, you’re better than that.”

She fumed at his blatant arrogance, his words stinging her like she’d just barged into a forest of stinging nettle. Now he was going to insult her by saying she was only after money? The nerve.

She faced him, coming so close he had nowhere to look but straight into her eyes. “Tell me, do you see a better match lining up for me? To willingly take me when I have nothing? To go against Tristan? If you know anyone who’s up for the challenge, please—I’m all ears.”

He scowled as he immediately opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He couldn’t respond because she was right. She was a doomed cause, ruined in the court’s eyes. Even he couldn’t deny it.

Rose lifted her chin, her point proven. “Judge me all you want, Roman, but I’m not going back to court to wither away.”

Without another word, she left, braving the water and swimming back towards the manor herself.

CHAPTER 66