Page 101 of The Winter Princess

“Mm.” Oskar places my palm against his throat, the pulse beating under my hand, and pushes it around his neck.

“I’m supposed to go along with immigration law and sacrifice you to save the museum.”

“Mm,” he responds, slowly pulling me closer. Oskar has his own plans.

“I don’t want to.”

He curls me into his side, resting his chin on my hair. “What do you want?”

“Some version of this, forever and ever.”

I feel a kiss on the top of my head. “I’m your willing servant.”

I hold my breath and screw my eyes shut like a princess making a wish at an enchanted well. “Forever?”

It’s too soon for that word. It should come after three years of dating, an exhaustive background check, a whole pro/con list drawn up by palace courtiers, and Mama’s approval. My mother won’t approve of this.

Oskar doesn’t laugh, and he doesn’t answer too quickly. When he does answer, I know he means it.

“Forever.”

I twist so I can see his face. I know how he thinks. The precariousness of his future stops his words. He has nothing—no job, no home. He won’t ask. He can’t ask.

Only I can ask.

I take a breath, aiming my arrow at a target a thousand miles away. An impossible shot. The string strains as I pull it back. “Will you marry me?”

He breathes a laugh and kisses my mouth, adding to the tab. I can’t be serious. “Next year at Roslav Cathedral, after we secure parliamentary approval?”

“Parliament won’t ever approve.”

The truth is too sad, so he kisses my mouth again.

Things won’t be simple. I won’t be able to follow a prescribed path. I might lose my place in the succession. My family will be furious.

It’s not a sacrifice if it doesn’t hurt.Damn Torbald for being right about something.

I can make peace with my sacrifices, but Oskar will have to sacrifice too.

“You’d be in the papers. They’ll call you Pavi and worse.” The thought of it twists my heart. I’ve never wanted to protect anyone as much as I want to protect him. “People will say you only married me for your citizenship or what my family could do for you.”

His gaze is clear but he’s silent. He kisses my mouth.

The arrow is still flying. “Could you do it, even with all that?”

He shifts, sitting up, and looks me square in the face. “Are you being serious?”

I nod.

It’s outrageous what I’m asking. People don’t do this. Princesses, especially, don’t do this. But Oskar and I walk in and out of a building stuffed with ancient treasures every day. We breathe the dust of a dozen centuries and have learned how to recognize timeless things, lasting things. I should be more shocked at my words, but instead, I feel how solid and firm my foundations are as we lay the stones out one by one.

I tilt my chin. “Will you marry me?”

“I will.”

“Today?”

He draws a breath. “How?”