AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Allera’s gaze filled with censure and disappointment, even as Nicolette exclaimed, “But… What does that mean?”
“It means,” Prince Urban turned back to her. “I’ve seen her from across the room, and that is all. We haven’t spoken.”
“But….” Nicolette repeated, shaking her head and looking almost forlorn. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you talk to her? Didn’t you want to?”
He looked too pained to speak for a moment before rasping, “Of course I wished to speak to her. More than anything.”
When his sister reached for him to squeeze his hand, I swallowed down a sudden lump in my own throat. His agony was so prevalent, I kind of wanted to squeeze his hand in reassurance as well. I’d never been able to stand back and watch people suffer.
“Well, then why didn’t you?” Nicolette demanded, totally unaware how much he was hurting.
“Nicolette,” Brentley hissed again. “Leave it be, child.”
“But—” Nicolette started, only for Urban to blurt, “She’s already married.”
Everyone stopped eating to gape at him. Even Soren seemed captured by this tidbit of news.
Prince Urban smiled tensely around the table at us and explained, “I was aware she was married from the moment I first saw her. And I couldn’t approach her after that, because I… I knew… I knew it would hurt too much. So I decided to leave her alone to live her own life without my interference.”
Dear Lord, the poor man.
“But…” Nicolette shook her head. “How could she already be married to someone else yet be your one true love?”
Clearly unable to answer, Prince Urban bowed his head.
Princess Allera was the one to explain. “Sometimes a person can search their entire life and never find their one true love. It’s not uncommon for our people to settle for another who makes them happy enough.” She shrugged and glanced at Brentley, explaining, “It combats the loneliness.”
“Perfectly understandable,” Brentley answered, once again touching her arm with compassion.
“That, and my one true love isn’t from High Cliff,” Urban added, causing his sister to cut him a quick frown. “She doesn’t bear the love mark as you call it. So she’ll never feel the bond for me as I do for her. It’s entirely possible she isn’t even aware of my kingdom’s custom.”
“I suppose that could be true,” Nicolette offered kindly. “I mean, not even Vienne knew what your tattoos meant until I told her about them just a few minutes ago.”
Prince Urban’s gaze flashed sharply my way, startling me.
Until that very moment, I wouldn’t have thought he was aware of my presence for all the attention he’d given me… Or even knew who I was. But he looked at me so directly and instantly, it told me he’d known exactly who I was and where I’d been seated the entire time.
I’d been right earlier; he’d been scanning and detailing the layout of the entire dining hall the instant he’d entered it. This was definitely a warrior. A good one.
Yet his stare was anything but what I imagined a savage, brutal warlord’s stare would resemble. It was sharp and intense, yes, and blazing with awareness, but not hateful. It was so un-hateful, in fact, he looked at me as if he were already inside me. I swear, I could actually feel him lodged deep and moving against the part of me that ached the most.
A bolt of heat lumbered through my stomach with unexpected swiftness, and my breasts suddenly felt ten pounds heavier, the tips tingling as if my milk had just come in. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, wondering if the babe was okay. But she must’ve been napping because she didn’t even stir when I moved.
The startling response had been all me.
That was a little disconcerting. I’d looked upon attractive men before, yet none of them had made me feel so wanton and…and so damp before.
It was probably because of all that love mark talk flowing around us. Prince Urban was letting his pain show, and any time a man revealed his emotions, it brought out the tenderness in me. I just needed to… I needed to clear my head from such nonsense.
“Well. There you have it,” he murmured in a somewhat hoarse voice as he slid his gaze away from me. “We can’t rightly expect other realms to mark themselves for our benefit when so few of them even know of our custom.”
“But that’s just sad,” Nicolette argued, looking troubled as she eyed the prince and princess from High Cliff. “Neither of your stories ended happily ever after.”
Prince Urban’s laugh was soft and brittle as he shook his head. “The marks don’t guarantee happy endings, Princess.”
“Which is one good reason why you never need to get one,” Caulder spoke up for the first time, sending his sister an arch glance.
Urban studied the king a moment before he added, “Instead, they direct you toward the person who could make you happier than anyone else. They guarantee knowledge and assurance. Both attributes we value in High Cliff.”
