Then he said, without inflection, “He would issue a public statement disinheriting me. He would arrange a marriage for one of my cousins to fill my political role within the year. He would remove my access to every family-controlled channel I currently use.”
His mouth tightened. “And he would never speak to me again in any room he could avoid.”
“Forever.”
“He has treated silence as a family tradition for longer than I have been alive. Yes. Forever.”
“And you would do this.”
“I would.” His gaze held mine. “The question is whether you should ask me to.”
I went still. “What does that mean?”
He took a breath. “I don’t want you choosing Ashenmere protection because Martin is moving against us. I don’t want my father to become the reason you bind your life to mine.”
The control in his voice was load-bearing.
“If you choose the bond, then choose the bond. Choose me. Choose Dominic. Choose both of us because you want us, not because the legal structure is useful and the timing is terrible.”
“Rhain.”
“Let me finish.”
I let him.
“I can survive losing Norway,” he said. “I can’t survive becoming the man you resent.”
The words hit hard.
He continued anyway. “If you accept a public claim as a defensive maneuver against my father, you’ll have shaped the rest of your life around someone else’s politics. You’ll hate me for it inside a year, even if you’re too disciplined to call it hate.”
His hands stayed flat on the table.
“I have been preparing to lose my father for thirty years. I can take that. I can’t take you choosing me because Dominic told you it was the only way to keep me within reach.”
“So what are you offering?”
“Patience.”
I waited.
“I won’t push for the public claim,” he said. “I won’t even ask for it. I’ll wait until you have considered every option, weighed everything on your own terms, and decided what you want for reasons that don’t belong to my father.”
My throat tightened.
“If you choose this, if you choose me, Dominic, both of us, because it’s yours to choose, then I’ll stand in the chamber the day you make it public. I’ll say whatever part the council requires of me. I’ll sign whatever must be signed. I’ll take the consequence.”
His gaze didn’t move from mine. “But I won’t let fear make the decision and call it consent.”
I understood what he was offering then.
Time. Time he might not have.
“If Martin pulls you first,” I said, “you go back to Norway.”
“Yes.”
“And we do what?”
