Page 158 of Destiny of a King

Adira tried to pull free.

He refused to release her. “Look at me.”

She shook her head.

“You will since we will stand right here until you do.”

Her eyes finally lifted to his: confusion, anger, and hurt filled them.

Dravic understood none of what she must be feeling. How could he? In the space of a short time, she had learned that the people she believed lost to her were alive, that the woman who had taken her in was her mother, that a warlord, an enemy of the king, was her father, and that she possessed a remarkable power.

But what he did understand was that all of that changed nothing, and he would make certain she understood it as well.

“All of what was revealed changes nothing between you and me.”

Adira did not understand how that could be possible, and her brow puckered.

“You do not believe me?”

She shrugged, unsure what to believe.

He let go of her arm and took hold of both her hands. “Listen carefully, I did not fall in love with a healer. I did not fall in love with Tharne’s daughter or Faith’s daughter. I fell in love with you.”

Strangely, she could feel his sincerity, the truth to his words and tears began to threaten her eyes.

He brought one of her hands to his chest. “You, the woman who somehow worked her way into my heart without saying a word. The woman who lived in silence yet found reason to smile. And a woman brave enough to challenge a stubborn king.”

A smile fought through the tears that had pooled in her eyes and were just beginning to fall.

“There is the woman I love and intend to wed.”

Adira shook her head.

He laughed, a strong laugh that echoed through the woods. “You can shake your head all you want. You cannot refuse to wed the king.”

She stared at him, mostly because she had never seen him laugh, and to see and hear it for the first time shocked her. As did the idea that he would make her his queen. It just was not possible.

“I love you, Adira, and you love me.”

She didn’t deny it. She couldn’t, she truly loved him.

“You will be my wife and my queen—” He released her hands to wrap his arm around her waist as he stepped closer and drew her against him. “I will have no other. You are the only woman I want, and will have, beside me for the rest of my life.”

Tears trailed down her cheek.

Dravic wiped them away. “And if you never heal another person, it matters not to me.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“You heard me. You never have to raise anyone from the dead again. You never have to use whatever power is inside you unless you choose to.”

Adira stared at him. He meant it. She could see the truth of his words in the dark blue of his eyes and feel it in his heart, and that made everything hurt more.

The problem was that she no longer knew the woman he loved.

This morning she had been Adira. Now she was Tharne’s daughter, Faith’s daughter, and the healer who could defy death.

Everyone seemed to know who she was except her.