Page 214 of Kneel Before Me

“Yes,” he said. “With some practice.”

When Daphne didn’t reply, he continued.

“Shall I play something for you?”

She didn’t know how to answer that. “Right now?”

“Yes.”

“I—” she started to say, but he was already gone. Daphne watched in shock as Maximus navigated his way through the crowd until he reached the piano. He bent down and murmured something in the piano player’s ear. The piano player nodded, then stood. Maximus took his place on the bench, arranging his fingers over the keys. Somewhere along the way, the entire ballroom had fallen silent, watching him.

Maximus cleared his throat, looked straight at Daphne, and said: “This is for you.”

Then he began to play.

It was even more beautiful than what the man before him had played. Maximus’s melody was prolonged and emotional, and Daphne could clearly see he was playing from his heart. It wasn’t a song she recognized. Yet it felt familiar. When the prince stopped, the silence remained. Everyone was looking at Maximus, but Maximus was only looking at her. He stood, crossing to Daphne and pulling her back into his arms. The band started again seamlessly, a new song already swelling by the time they were dancing again.

“That was beautiful,” Daphne said.

“I wrote it for you.”

The thought made her feel…warm. And undoubtedly guilty. There was no doubt that the person Daphne thought of when she heard such a beautiful, romantic song was not the person who had played it for her. Was she truly doing the right thing? Maximus was a person too—a man of flesh and bone. He had a heart just like her. A heart that would be broken if he ever found out just how deeply she was involved with Kronos.

“Max…” Daphne murmured.

“You don’t need to say anything.”

“But I want to—”

“Daphne,” he cut her off, stopping them both on the dance floor. “I don’t need you to feel the way I feel. In fact I’m pretty sure you don’t.”

“Max, I—”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that I care about you. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop expressing it.”

Daphne looked at the floor. Then the ceiling. Anywhere but him.

“I understand you think there is an insurmountable distance between us. But my heart beats no differently than yours. It does not matter to me where you come from, nor do I care who you were involved with in your past.”

The past? Was that supposed to refer to Kronos? He was not in the past. He never would be.

“If we are to have a future, I wish for us to approach it on equal ground,” Maximus finished quietly.

What could she say to such an admission? It was the second confession of feelings she’d received in as many days. If Daphne had known this was what happened when Maximus drank, she never would have suggested it. She respected his honesty, but they had no future. Even if he wanted them to.

“You’re supposed to be a prat,” she whispered. “You’re not supposed to say things like that.”

He raised his hand to her face. “Is it possible you’ve underestimated me?” he whispered.

“Anything is possible.”

Technically it was true, but she hardly meant it. Now that she’d seen what Kronos had done for her—how he had conducted himself during the Ranking, risking his entire future for her—the prince could only pale in comparison.

“In that case,” Maximus said quietly, “will you move into the castle?”

Daphne already knew her answer, and the prince did too. It did not matter that his feelings were genuine while hers were not—that was her burden to bear. She was here for a reason, and she would not falter now. So she whispered, “Yes.”

He pulled her closer. “The ceremony will happen shortly,” he murmured. “Then I must meet with my father. Can I…call on you after?”