A low rumble sounds in the back of his throat. Jealousy? “I knew that was risky.” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. Thrall or not, you won’t get far in the Below without your briars.”
I chew my bottom lip. He’s right. Slowly, I sit up, realize I’m now wearing a silken nightdress. I throw my hand across my chest. “Did you…?”
A slow smile curves over his face until he finally says, “No, Heidigog changed you. Couldn’t have you in those tatters.”
“She’s alright then?”
“You would care about the goblin,” he says, though not unkindly.
This is the most he’s spoken to me since I’ve come to the Below. Perhaps having a doting thrall grew tiresome for even the Prince of Thorns.
“But you know,” Caspian continues, tilting his head, long strands of dark hair covering his brow, “it wouldn’t matter if I had been the one to do it. I’ve seen your body. Tasted every inch.”
“Really? The Green Flame didn’t burn those memories away from you too?” I ask, remembering what he said of Caspian’s soft heart.
He kneels on the side of my bed. “No fire in the world could burn away the feeling of being inside you.”
The intensity in his gaze shocks me. I know that stare.But what about your love for me?
“You were afraid today,” I try.
“You’re very breakable,” he replies. “As you’ve pointed out, I lose you, and I lose my ability to rule the Vale. My father’s blood may give me an edge over Sira, but it makes it tricky to live anywhere but here.”
“It’s more than that,” I challenge him.
“You’re my mate, Rosalina. I don’t like people touching what ismine.”
I’m not sure why it comforts me, the thought that our bond holds strong, even when he’s like this. It feels more like possessiveness—and, judging by the way his gaze sears into me,lust—than the love I once knew from him. But if those emotions are there, perhaps the others are buried deep inside.
There were flashes of purple in his eyes. He’s still in there. I just don’t know how to bring him back.
But first, I have to concentrate on what I can control.
My eyes search his room until I land on his cloak discarded in the corner. The cloak in which he’s hidden the rose.
If Sira gets that, we have no hope.
But without my magic, there’s no way for me to escape with it.
Idly, I finger my beautiful wedding ring and think of Kel, Ezryn, Farron, and Day. I hope they’re alright. It feels like there’s a brand crawling over my skin as Caspian’s eyes track my every movement. A plan begins to form in my mind. “I don’t just belong to you,” I say lowly.
He lets out a low breath and crawls closer to me. My body heats at his presence.It’s because I know he’s still in there.
“How come you never touched me?” I ask. “Even when I begged?”
He shrugs but doesn’t answer, instead tucking a curl behind my ear.
“Tell me.”
“I meant it, Rosalina.” He leans in, breath hot over my neck. “You are to be my queen. I would not have you any less of mind.”
I hold out my wrist. “But you would have me less of power?”
He chuckles and touches the cuff where his bargain binds my magic. “Not forever. Just until you accept your place by my side.”
I tear my wrist away. “You know my heart will never fully belong toonlyyou.”
In an instant, he hooks an arm around my waist and flips me to the mattress. Then he prowls over me.
