“Finally.”
Letia shakes her head. “Not like that. He was a perfect gentleman.”
“You shared his bed and still turned the man down?” I sip my tea, which is already cooling. “Your self-restraint is admirable, Letia, but it wouldn’t hurt to let go every once in a while. From what I’ve heard, Benjamin’s talents with his hands extend beyond his affinity with a bow. You’d be doing yourself a favor by bedding him. Unless you’re still hung up on that mysterious guard who rescued you.”
A bright pink blush colors her cheeks. “He wasn’t a guard.”
“The only Fae on Alyssium are guards or prisoners. And a prisoner wouldn’t have been wandering the shore when you slipped and fell in.”
Nearly a year ago, Letia almost drowned while fishing at the shore but was saved by a mysterious stranger she’s yet to cross paths with again.
Her nose scrunches. “Maybe not, but he wasn’t wearing Crown armor, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“Or you’re just not remembering him correctly after getting all that seawater in your chest.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She sighs. “Even the Fae aren’t that beautiful.”
My eyebrows lift, trying to imagine anything more beautifulthan the Fae, when two guards round the corner into the square. Polished skin. Eyes that shine brighter than stars. A mask of beauty that disguises how lethal they are.
Something more beautiful can’t exist.
“He doesn’t matter.” Letia swallows the final sip of her tea, rolling her shoulders back. “Benjamin asked Mother’s permission a few days ago, so that’s settled.”
“Permission. As in…?” My eyes widen. “When did the two of you start talking marriage? You haven’t even bedded him.”
“Is it wrong to want one thing to be traditional?”
“Pick something else to make traditional, Letia. I beg you. Wear blue to wed him, sprinkle leaves on your first hearth. Honor any other tradition but that one.”
“Why not this one?”
“What if he’s terrible and fumbling all over you?”
“You just said the rumors state otherwise.”
“Rumors could be wrong. To be disappointed with someone warming your bed for a night is one thing, but until you reach the After… May Sarrow bless you for that travesty.”
“I love him.” Her blue eyes dim, not matching her declaration.
I’ve never understood the argument that love conquers all. Then again, I’ve never cared about a man past the point of sharing his bed for the night. It’s simpler this way. Love hurts badly enough when it’s family and friends you’re forced to watch die. Why choose more pain voluntarily?
“I suppose if you love him—” I shrug.
She frowns, glancing away. “He’s kind. And his family is good to my sisters.”
After her father died of sickness a few years ago, Mabel has struggled to care for Letia and her three siblings. Agreeing to wed Benjamin would ease the burden, but it breaks my heart knowing my best friend is sacrificing true love for survival.
I may not be searching for love, but I knowshe is.
“Then marry him.” I swallow any doubt for her sake. “And I’ll wish you nothing but the best.”
Letia grabs my wrist and squeezes. “I know.”
Her gaze sparkles with the kind of hope I wish I still felt. The kind that once made me wish humans had mates like the Fae do. Not because I want to fall in love, but because I wonder what it would mean to have a true counterpart. To have a bond that was unbreakable.
It’s difficult to imagine with the wandering eyes of the men in this village.
“Callum, thank the Gods you’ve come to save me from her.” Letia glances over my shoulder, and I turn to see Callum approaching in his polished Crown’s Guard armor.
