Page 97 of Kneel Before Me

Daphne regarded him with an expression he couldn’t quite interpret. Maximus had no idea what was going through her mind.

He could only say what was on his. “I understand this is sudden, and you may be surprised. But I need you to know that my feelings have changed. I want to pursue you, and I want you to be my wife. If you wish to simply proceed with our arrangement, I will understand. But I hope you will consider otherwise.”

Daphne simply stared at him. Maximus couldn’t stand her silence. This was a moment of reckoning for them, and he would not be dissuaded from it.

“Daphne,” he said quietly. “Tell me I am not alone in this.”

Her expression was tight, her jaw clenched. She shook her head. “Maximus,” she said just as quietly. “I can’t give you what you seek.”

Maximus refused to believe that was true. His feelings for her were so great—so debilitating—it was not possible that he felt them alone. “In that case I will wait,” he said. “Until you are ready.”

She stared at him. He stared right back.

Before tonight, Maximus might have been scared to have such a conversation. Before tonight, he might have been too much of a coward to tell her how he felt. But Lilibet had taught him that life was short. He wanted a future, and he wanted it with Daphne.

“I think I should go,” she said.

Maximus was not deterred. He knew it would take time for her to come around. She had no reason to believe his feelings were genuine until he proved to her that they were.

“Very well,” he said.

“You’re not going to try to kiss me again?”

He smiled. “No.”

“Or fuck me?”

“Not tonight.”

Daphne stared at him suspiciously. He knew she was wary of him. He would prove it to her slowly, if that’s what it took.

“Shall I find you a carriage?”

She was still staring at him, still incredulous. But she nodded.

As soon as she was safely inside the carriage, his feet took him back through the castle, out over the patio, and into the maze. Somehow he made it through without getting lost, his childhood memory guiding him through the twists and turns with perfect ease. On the other side was a clearing that housed the family crypt. After that, far in the distance, was the village.

He stared down at the little cottages, lit against the winter chill. Daphne was down there somewhere. Perhaps she was sitting by the fire or eating dinner or about to set out with friends. Maximus knew nothing of her personal life, he realized. He did not know whether she took her steak rare or if she liked mushrooms or if she slept in on the weekends. He made a mental note to ask her.

If he was to create his future, he would do it without the help of his father.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Daphne

Daphne had absolutely no idea how to process what happened last night.

The group chanting “slut” had been led by Benjamin. Daphne shouldn’t have been surprised; she knew exactly what he thought of her. But that didn’t make it hurt any less. As if spitting on her mat during the Showing wasn’t enough, now he had humiliated her in front of the entire village. Shame seeped into her chest. Furthermore, Maximus’s confession sat in her stomach like a stone, weighing her down as she went about her chores and helped her mother with the sewing. I need you to know that my feelings have changed.

Daphne’s feelings had not changed. She only felt something for Kronos. I want to pursue you, and I want you to be my wife. It didn’t matter what Maximus wanted. His father would never allow them to wed. That was the entire point of their arrangement—the crux upon which it was balanced. I must think of my own future, and the future of the kingdom.

Daphne’s future was not in the castle. It never would be.

She knew just how difficult it must have been for Maximus to say what he said to her. It probably went against every instinct he had as a member of the royal family. All his life, the prince had simply been handed everything he wanted. Now he wanted Daphne, and no amount of privilege or pedigree could get her for him. Part of her dearly wished she could give him what he asked for. But the other part knew it would cost her to do so. And as much as she wanted to make Maximus happy, agreeing to be with him would do the opposite. She would never be enough for him, and he would never be enough for her.

In the village, the festival wore on. There were mead and dancing every night in the town square. Daphne spent the afternoons at the Horseman with Ella, discussing anything and everything other than the competition. Maximus’s gifts became so numerous that Daphne began giving them away to the neighbors, leaving bottles of wine and bouquets of flowers on people’s porches at random.

Kronos sent her letters. Short ones—simply a line or two. Daphne read them over and over until she had them memorized. She went to the cave every night. It was always the same routine—they talked on his bed, he walked her home, he kissed her. Daphne was dying for more. But Kronos withheld himself, never allowing them to go any further. Perhaps he regretted how far they’d already gone. Whatever the case, Daphne hated it. Neither of the men in her life were giving her what she wanted. Finally, she gathered enough courage to do something about it.