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“I’ll honour the contract.”

What else was there to say? These people didn’t deserve to lose so much because of me. I didn’t deserve any of this either, but maybe honouring the contract wouldn’t be entirely for their sake. Stormforge lived in another kingdom, which meant starting over with people who had never met her.

I wouldn’t have to pretend to remember conversations we’d never had or recognise things I’d never seen. Stormforge wouldn’t know how their Elowen laughed, what she liked to eat or how she behaved when she was angry. To them, I was a stranger.

Maybe I could stop trying so hard to become someone else and figure out who I was here instead. I liked this family, but trying to be their Elowen was slowly killing me inside. And what if Mireya somehow found her way back into my life? No. I need to get out, and this is my chance.

“When is the mating happening?” I asked Cedric. “Is there a date?”

Something in the room changed.

“You were meant to be mated three weeks ago.”

“Three weeks ago?”

“Yes.”

“What did you tell them? When I didn’t… when we didn’t go through with it?”

“We gave them only the information necessary to explain the delay.”

“Do they know about the suppressants? Or⁠—”

“They do not,” Cedric said. “Nor will we disclose those details unless you expressly wish us to.”

“I don’t.” The answer came so quickly that Eleanor’s head snapped towards me. “I don’t want them knowing any of that.”

The thought of strangers receiving detailed reports about my body made my skin crawl. What if they noticed something different about me? What if someone decided I needed more tests? Absolutely not.

“What about my memories?” I looked around at them. “How did you explain that?”

“They were told you suffered a concussion after a fall,” Cedric said. “Mireya provided the medical documentation, and their physicians accepted her diagnosis.”

I frowned. “So as far as they know, I hit my head and lost my memory?”

“In simple terms, yes.”

“And they’re still willing to go through with the mating?”

“They are,” Eleanor told me.

Why, though? Is there something wrong with them? Or are they genuinely just… nice?

Cedric’s expression softened. “They’ve expressed concern for your recovery, but whether your memories return has no bearing on their willingness to honour the agreement. They wished that to be made very clear to you.”

That does sound considerate. I looked down at my hand, still entwined with Eleanor’s. Maybe they aren’t that bad.

“Are they good people?”

“They are honourable men,” Cedric said. “Their reputation can be intimidating, but men in their positions must inspire a certain degree of fear as well as respect.”

“So people are afraid of them?”

“Some are.”

“Should I be?”

“No,” he said immediately. “We investigated them thoroughly before allowing negotiations to proceed. Nothing we found gave us reason to believe they would mistreat you.”