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I put my hand tentatively on the hard wall of muscle that was Liath’s chest. His skin was warm and smooth—not rough at all, as I had half-expected. Beneath my palm I felt the steady beat of his heart, a deep rhythm that seemed to call to me somehow.
“Very good,” the Priestess said approvingly. “Now please repeat after me, Prince Liath: Wife, to thee I pledge my troth. My loyalty, honesty, and love shall all be yours for as long as we two shall live and the sun and moon shall endure.”
Liath said the words but he didn’t just repeat them—he spoke them directly to me, looking into my eyes. For somehow he had caught me with his bronze gaze again and I found I couldn’t look away.
“Good.” The Priestess nodded. “To continue—As my Wife, I offer you the protection of my Court, my house, and my body. None shall harm you when I am near and if any offend you, I shall punish them with my strong right arm.”
All these words, Liath spoke in his deep, rumbling voice as I stared into his eyes, mesmerized and unable to look away.
I hate him, I reminded myself. He killed Quill—he deserves to die! And yet I still couldn’t keep from staring into the huge warrior’s eyes.
Then it was my turn for vows.
“Princess, please repeat after me,” the Druid Priestess said. “Husband, to thee I pledge my troth. My loyalty, honesty, and love shall all be yours for as long as we two shall live and the sun and moon shall endure.”
This time I managed a little better, speaking my vows in a voice that didn’t sound quite so high and frightened. Then the Priestess continued.
“As my Husband, I offer you my complete obedience, the abundance of my womb—which you will fill with your seed—and the comfort of my body to ease your needs. I shall withhold nothing but give myself to you freely and completely.”
I opened my mouth and then shut it again. What? Who had made up these vows? I was certain this wasn’t how a regular hand fasting went.
“Well?” Liath rumbled, arching an eyebrow at me.
“I…uh…” I cleared my throat.
“Princess?” The Druid looked at me uneasily, concerned that the ritual wasn’t proceeding as it ought to.
“Perhaps my new wife objects to the promise that she will obey me,” Liath growled softly. “You may leave that part out if you wish, little bird,” he added, looking down at me.
Little bird? I wondered where he had heard that. It was Quill’s nickname for me, mostly because my name—Alira—means “songbird” in the Elder language, but also because I tend to sing or hum to myself when I’m busy with a task—it’s a habit I can’t seem to break. But how would my husband-to-be know any of that?
“You may proceed with the vows and leave the ‘obey’ part out, Princess,” the Priestess urged me quietly.
As it happened, it wasn’t the “obey” part that was tripping me up—it was the promise to offer Liath my body without reservation. That was scary—more frightening than any oath to obey him. But the audience was getting restless and it became clear the ceremony couldn’t proceed until I said the vows.
My heart was pounding like a rabbit’s as I looked up at Liath again.
“As my Husband, I offer you the…the abundance of my womb, which…” I cleared my throat, which was suddenly dry as dust again. “Which you will fill with your seed. And the…the comfort of my body to ease your needs.”
“I shall withhold nothing but give myself to you freely and completely,” the Druid murmured, reminding me I had forgotten a bit of the vow.
I found myself looking into those bronze eyes again. The worst thing was that these were no ordinary Joining Vows—this hand fasting was being made in the presence of the Goddess and in the center of the Summer Court—the seat of power for the entire Seelie Realm. They would bind me, just as Liath’s vows bound him.
But again, I had no choice.
“I…I shall withhold nothing but give myself to you freely and…and completely,” I said quickly, trying to get it over with.
A slow smile spread over his dark face.
“I shall hold you to that vow, little bird,” he murmured.
To my horror, I found my face was growing hot with a blush. By the Shining Throne, when he looked at me like that…why did it make my heart beat so much harder under his large palm?
He killed Quill, I reminded myself again. And you don’t even know why he asked Father for your hand. In all likelihood, he wants to take you back to the Winter Court and torture you the same way Asfaloth and Calista torture small animals.
And I would be caught in his trap—unable to free myself or to fight back since I had no magic.
