Page 96 of The Throne Seeker

His arms locked around her waist as his voice broke. “You can never scare me like that again, do you hear me? I could never live in a world you weren’t in.”

She smiled into his neck and kissed it. He sighed, tilting his head back to allow her better access. She grew greedy, trailing kisses along his chin, jaw, and the base of his throat, wishing she could just take him here and now.

He clenched a handful of her dress. “Rose,” he groaned. “If you keep that up, I won’t care if I rip my stitches.”

She reined her desire in and pried her lips from his throat, forming another smile as she kissed his lips.

She held on to him for what seemed like forever, savoring his warmth. She closed her eyes, relishing the calming strokes on her back as she drifted into a peaceful sleep…

CHAPTER 40

It was hours later and well into the night when someone woke Rose, still wrapped in Tristan’s arms. “I’m sorry to wake you,” Zareb whispered, leaning over her. “But the queen insisted I take you back to your room.”

Half asleep, she nodded, checking on Tristan, who was still out cold. His handsome face was smooth and relaxed as his chest softly rose and fell. She untangled herself from his arms, careful not to wake him. Without another word, she followed Zareb out the door.

The corridors were dark and deserted, with only a low whistle blowing through a half-closed window, letting in a cool draft that made Rose shiver.

The bags under Zareb’s eyes had grown.

“When’s the last time you slept?” she asked.

Zareb avoided eye contact. “The night before the third challenge.”

That was nearly twenty-four hours ago. She cast him a sympathetic glance. “You should be sleeping.”

Zareb’s gaze fell to her wrists, still wrapped in bandages, then straight ahead again. “I can’t.”

“Zareb—”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that Ican’t.”

His voice was so sharp that she stopped in her tracks. It wasn’t just sleeplessness reflected in his eyes. Something was eating at him—hauntinghim. If it stemmed from guilt, she needed to know.

“Why not? Please, you know you can tell me anything.” She was near begging. Anything to make the sadness on his face disappear.

Zareb looked down the hall, shaking his head—shaking off a bad memory. She thought he wouldn’t answer, but then he spoke in a low voice. “A group of armed men came through my village during a night like this when I was only ten. They stormed in, taking every boy they could find. I was one of them. My…” He struggled to get the words out, clearing his throat. “My mother and sister were killed because they tried to stop them from taking me. I soon learned it was my own father and a few other men in the village who had sold us for money.”

She froze, horrified at the revelation. She had always wondered why he’d carried a heavy look in his eyes, why he seemed like such an old soul, but this—this was beyond her wildest imagination. “What happened after they took you?”

Zareb kept his face carefully blank, but something in his eyes grew tortured. “I was trained to be a soldier, a killer for their own purposes.”

A new heartache swelled in her chest as she gazed at him sorrowfully.

“It was their own mistake to train me as well as they did,” Zareb continued. “Once I was strong enough, I killed every single one of them and escaped. I went back to my village, looking for my father, wanting to kill him, too. But the bastard had already died years ago, killed by men he owed money to.” He paused, his eyes faltering. “When I realized you’d been takenjust like I was… I was furious with myself. I didn’t want you to be robbed of your life like I was robbed of mine.”

Her mouth parted as she gazed at him in a whole new light. He had no idea how much she understood, how similar they were. It explained how he’d become such a force.

Zareb’s eyes finally met hers, his hand resting on the ever present sword strapped to his waist. “I hesitated to train you because it reminded me of a dark time in my life. You were so full of light, and I… I didn’t want it to be smothered out. But when we overheard the council that night, it sparked a fire in me. And I’m so grateful they stoked that flame because I would’ve never added it to yours, I would have never witnessed that flame turn into a wildfire, and I would never have gained a friend… You know, you remind me of them—my mother and sister… of my home.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she said softly, “Perhaps one day you could take me to see it.”

Zareb’s face grew into a smile.

A smile.

“I’d like that,” he replied.

Her heart filled with that rare warmth as she stared at the lingering creases. It was such a handsome expression on him. It transformed him into someone completely unfamiliar to her. Pride enveloped her to know she was one of the rare people to see it.