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Her heart lurched painfully, then dropped.
But he was continuing. ‘My time in the desert forged that change.’ His lips twisted. ‘For starters, I didn’t trust a single word the print media said about anything from then onwards.’ His face resettled into austere lines. ‘But to answer your question, yes, I became more of the man my father wanted me to be.’
‘And what was that?’
‘Steeped in duty to the Jukrati people. Rebuilding the reputation of my beloved kingdom. In the end, I gained his approval.’
The words were as austere as his expression, a literal answer to a literal question. She licked her lips, fighting the urge to let it be. But she couldn’t. Because, right along with everything she’d wanted for this man, she wanted him to have found peace with his father, too. ‘Did he ever forgive you?’
A bleakness fleetingly shrouded his face, gone the next instant. ‘I didn’t ask for forgiveness, and he never indicated I would get it. But according to those in his council, he died believing I would rule Jukrat ably enough.’
‘And your mother?’
His expression grew tighter. ‘What about her?’
‘You explained the relationship you have. But...did you ever ask her why she signed the document?’
He frowned. ‘There is no excuse for agreeing to such a thing.’
‘Even in arranged marriages, especially if perhaps some council of advisors suggest it?’
His expression darkened further, but just as before he seemed disarmed, as if the possibility hadn’t occurred to him. Then he shook his head. ‘Why are we discussing this?’
She shrugged. ‘You’ve given your opinion, repeatedly, about my family situation. I thought it only fair to return the favour.’
‘But unlike you, I’ve accepted the glaring truth. And moved on with my life.’
Heart caught in a tighter vice, and not wanting him to see how much she hurt for him, she dropped her gaze.
‘You don’t look content with my response, Lauren,’ he said after a full minute.
Confused and, yes, a little desperate at how much his happiness meant to her, she let out a shaky laugh. ‘Content? How can anyone be content by a father not telling his son that he’s proud of him? That he loves him? And a mother who might feel more but is unable to show it?’
He exhaled harshly, the corners of his lips pinched tight. ‘Perhaps because neither of them deemed me worthy.’
‘That’s absurd!’
He stiffened, those eyes burnishing brighter. Sharper. Drilling straight into her vulnerable spaces. ‘Why?’
‘Because...’ She froze too, her heart caught in her throat.
Because you deserve love. You deserve to be loved the way I love you.
The truth shook her to her last cell. And it came with laughable inevitability.
Of courseshe loved him.
She’d loved him for twelve long, lonely years when she’d lived less than a half-life.
‘Because?’ he demanded tightly.
She cleared her throat of the rock of truth waiting to tumble free. ‘Because every child deserves to be told they’re loved, no matter what.’
The light dimmed, a harder tension seizing his body. ‘Surely you know by now that receiving what one deserves is often not a foregone conclusion. If it helps, I didn’t think my time here was a total disaster.’
Registering that she was clinging to straws didn’t stop her from pushing. ‘Soyoubelieve that something good came of it?’
A fierce light illuminated his eyes, turning them golden in the lamplight. ‘Until recently, I imagined so,’ he rasped, his lips barely moving. ‘But I’ve changed my mind.’
