Page 95 of The Nymph King

This time she did laugh, and the sound made him smile before his eyes dropped again.

“I’m telling you because you keep looking at me as though agreeing to this meant I arrived without wants of my own.” He looked back at her. “I have them. I want more than an alliance eventually. I would like to know you when neither of us is performing for a room. I would like you to know me. If affection grows from that, I won’t pretend I don’t want it.”

A vulnerable look crossed his face, and Imani knew he rarely let anyone see it.

“But wanting something does not make it mine,” he said. “That distinction matters to me.”

A lump formed in Imani’s throat, and she tried to swallow it away. “So, the house?” she asked.

“Still under consideration.”

“No fortress?”

“Absolutely not.”

“What if I like fortresses?”

Ellisar sighed. “Then apparently mating is a compromise.”

They both stared at each other for a few moments.

“I don’t know what will happen when I see him again,” she said, wringing her hands together.

“I don’t expect you to know.”

“You’re remarkably calm about such a thing.”

“I am not calm about it,” he scoffed. “I simply refuse to make my fear your cage.” Ellisar dragged a hand through his hair again, then met her stare. “I’m not asking you to love me more than him. I’m not even asking you to love me yet.”

“Then what are you asking?”

“For you to stand exactly where you are,” he said. “You made this decision. Not because you had to, but because you believed it was the right one.” A beat. “That’s enough.”

Imani studied him, searching the hard angles for a hidden trap. Was there something hidden beneath his words to poison the simplicity of his offer?

She found nothing.

Which terrified her more than anything. He wasn’t trying to pull her into his orbit; he was simply offering to stand beside her in hers. A sudden, hot sting pricked her eyes, which she blinked away furiously.

But the emotions cracked the door open for Kiran. His presence slithered into the edges of her awareness, a dark stain her new bond hadn’t washed away.

With a trembling breath, she thought about how there was no way this story could end well. Indeed, no scenario allowed Ellisar and Kiran to coexist peacefully without a violent clash.

She broke eye contact with Ellisar just long enough to hide her fear. When she looked back, the softness was gone, replaced by a ruler’s steel. “If Kiran moves against Essenheim, we won’t have room for understanding and reason… You know his reputation isn’t unearned.”

Ellisar’s face stayed impassive, but his eyes narrowed to slits. “I know.” His tone held only the lethal calm of a man prepared for war.

Imani allowed the silence to linger again, but its character had shifted. The oppressive uncertainty had faded, replaced by a tentative partnership—imperfect, challenging, yet undeniably genuine.

“We should leave soon,” she said, swallowing despite the lump still in her throat. “If we’re going to be seen, it needs to be before the parley.”

Ellisar inclined his head. “Agreed.”

As they turned toward the door, they moved in unison. Imani rested a hand flat against her chest, drawing a gentle breath as, for the very first time, the alluring pull of Kiran’s bond finally eased.

CHAPTER 28

They left the capital under a shower of ceremonial petals. Only seven days had passed since Imani and Ellisar’s match had been formally announced, barely enough time for Stralas to absorb the news before the court sent them back into the realm as a united pair. The court had framed their departure as a honeymoon, a convenient fiction Imani found easier to wear than to correct.