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When I reached for him, he reached back, automatically pressing his forehead to mine before I could even begin to offer comfort. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said with such feeling that I reared back to examine his face. His eyes were fierce and tormented.
I kissed his cheek. “Relax, darling. I know I abhor handling anything magical, but I swear, the mages haven’t asked me to touch a single enchanted item all day.”
“No.” He paused as if frustrated. “I wasn’t talking about here with the mages. I was talking about Far Shore altogether. You shouldn’t be here in this kingdom. You shouldn’t be here with me. You should be safe and sound, back in Donnelly. With your family.”
“I am with my family,” I argued, squinting at him. “I’m with you, my partner in all things. I’m right where I want to—”
“No!” he growled, tearing himself away. “God, how can you be so naïve and innocent? One moment, you’re pure royalty, settling the friction between Mydera and me
as if you were born to rule and keep peace. And then the next, you’re making these rash, thoughtless decisions, and they’re going to get you hurt. You are going to get hurt.”
“But—”
“No buts,” he boomed. “You’re not safe in Far Shore. You need to return home to Donnelly.”
“What?! No,” I snarled. “Not until you stop talking these vague circles around me and tell me what’s really going on here. Why are you saying all this?”
“I…” He swiped a hand over his face and let out a dry sound of pain. “I wouldn’t like it if you were harmed, that’s all. Watching you dance tonight, seeing you laugh and enjoy life—I…” He shook his head firmly. “That’s how you should always be.”
My lips parted. “My God. You’ve grown feelings for me, haven’t you?”
His eyes flared with anger. For some reason, I hadn’t been able to read his emotions for days, but I swear I detected some fear in his features now. “Listen here, princess,” he snarled, pointing at my nose. “You are going back home tomorrow.”
“And what about your mother?” I countered, not about to back down under his stern tone.
His gaze flared with a stark reaction I couldn’t name. “I’ll speak to Mydera in the morning,” he insisted. “And if she can give me something to cure my mother, I’ll trade her for the flagon, and then you’ll return to Donnelly with them.” Breathing hard, he arched his eyebrows. “Is that understood?”
“No.” I stepped up to him, right into his face. “I go where you go unless you can look me in the eye and tell me why you don’t want me with you.”
Teeth clenching together, he glared at me, his entire frame shaking before he rasped, “I don’t…”
But that’s as far as he got. He gave his head a slight shake as if to jostle the words from his tongue, yet they refused to come.
“You don’t what?” I taunted.
The man wanted to throttle me. It was written as clear as day on his expression. But all he muttered was, “I can’t sleep in here with you. Be ready to leave with the mages first thing in the morning.” And he turned tail, fleeing into the night.
With a sigh, I slumped down onto my bedroll. “Why do you keep fighting it, my love?”
The more regard he seemed to grow for me, the harder he tried to resist our union.
But I think a part of me understood. I wouldn’t like thinking some tattoo on the side of someone else’s face was trying to force my feelings for them. That was the problem, though. I understood that wasn’t what the mark was about. It wasn’t forcing anything. It wasn’t making us fall for each other—and I was definitely falling for Farrow, the man, just as much as he was falling for me. All the mark did was let a person know who to pay attention to because it recognized that you had more potential to fall in love with them than you did anyone else.
All our feelings were still our own.
I could see how he might think it was all being manufactured for him, however. And in his shoes, I would probably resist it too, if I thought that way.
I guess I was just going to have to explain the mark to him a little better, wasn’t I?
Tomorrow, I promised, as I lay down. Tomorrow, I’d get him to understand.
19
Farrow
I snuck into Nicolette’s and my tent early the next morning while she still slept. She looked so lovely and serene draped across her bedroll with her thick, dark braid curled around her neck like a scarf and a bare knee and calf peeking out from the confines of her skirts.
My body reacted instantly. I swear, I’d been in a perpetual state of arousal since plucking her from Donnelly. And it didn’t help that she made it so damn obvious that she was more than willing to lie with me.
