I am ready. Even though your mating kept me up last night.
Blushing, I explain.It wasn’t mating.
It was notnotmating.
He has a point.
When I’m at Ebron’s back, Lucien suddenly appears around his side. He’s buttoned his shirt, but incorrectly, and his hair is a bit of a mess. Still, I’ve never thought he was more handsome.
Our gazes meet, and I jerk mine away, focusing instead on running my hand over Ebron’s scales. The last thing I need right now is to see Lucien. There’s no way I’ll be able to go into this with a clear head when he’s near. Especially when I have so many questions about last night and about what it means.
“Harper,” he greets, as he comes up to me, huffing and puffing as if out of breath.
“Good morning, Prince Lucien,” I say, trying to sound formal.
He grasps my chin and turns me to face him. “Just Lucien.”
I look down at his chest. “Listen–”
“It was disappointing to find you gone this morning. I had a lot I wanted to discuss. A lot I felt I needed to say.”
“Sorry, I had responsibilities.”
“I could’ve sent for breakfast.”
“I know, I just–”
“Don’t run away from this, Harper.”
I glance up, and suddenly I’m swimming in the green depths of his eyes once more. “I don’t run. From anything.”
For a second, I think he’ll kiss me. And I think I’ll let him. But then, he says, “I spoke to my father this morning. He heard me loud and clear.”
I’m surprised. “About what?”
“About you. About all of this.”
“Really?”
“He had to listen to the truth about what I thought about our upcoming marriage.”
That makes my stomach flip. They said they’d been trying to get out of this marriage every day.Is that what he ran off to do this morning? To try to get out of it again?
The truth is, I have no idea how he feels. Lucien is a man accustomed to having a different woman in his bed every night. I’d be foolish to think last night meant anything important to him. And if he was still arguing about not marrying me, then I can be sure that it meant nothing. That he doesn’t think one night of sex ties us in any way.
“I think I finally managed to get him to hear me. To know for certain what we want, even though he still won’t bend on you delivering this message, or seeking a peace agreement with the Hollowborn.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat. “Of course.”
But the thing is, I want to ask him what he means. These men are confusing. They’re possessive, jealous, and a little insane, but they also don’t always seem to like me, and they definitely seem to resent their father marrying them off to me.
“Lucien,” I say, choosing my words with care as I straighten my shoulders and meet his gaze. “What exactly did you say to your father? Did you–?”
“Harper Nightborne!” I hear the bellowing sound of my name and already know who it belongs to.
We step away from each other and hurry around Ebron to find the king, his advisor, and a small gathering of people near the two princes. The king is dressed in his finest, and has a big grin on his face. The people around him look like they’re there for a party rather than to send me off to their enemies to deliver a message that may or may not cost me my life.
“Harper!” the king says again, opening his arms. Awkwardly, I come closer, and he folds me into a hug before releasing me and stepping back. “Today is the day! A day of celebration! It’s the beginning of a new time of peace, when two great nations will come together.”
