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I watch his Adam’s apple bob, a sliver of fear passing through his golden gaze.
“What? What are you thinking?” I ask, worried.
“Nothing, kitten. It’s nothing.”
“No, Teo. You were thinking of something. Tell me. Don’t lie to me ever again, even if you think it’s just to protect me from the truth.”
I watch him swallow dryly, that trace of fear back in his gorgeous amber eyes.
“I have loved you all my life, Katrina. Know that first,” he confesses, placing my hand on his heart. “But when you came into my room earlier today with all those accusations, I thought I was speaking with someone else. Someone I haven’t seen in a long time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The woman that came into my room, bent on seeing me dead, wasn’t the girl I fell in love with. She wasn’t the woman that I still love.”
“Who was she?” I stutter, feeling a cold chill run down my spine.
“She was more than just the Winter Queen. She was the spitting image of him—your father.”
Chapter 49
Katrina
“You want to stay? Here? In Nas Laed?” I ask, stunned, after Anya announces her desire to stay in the south instead of traveling west with Inessa and me.
But even as the question leaves my lips, I know what her answer will be. It’s written all over her face.
“I do. Very much,” she admits with a shy nod, still on her knees in front of where I’m seated.
“Because of Cleo?”
Another nod.
I gently pick up her chin and look her in the eyes.
“Is that wise, Anya? You’ve only just met her.”
“I know.” She blushes. “But she’s… different. She makes me feel… special.”
“You are special, sweet girl. I could have told you that,” I tell her truthfully, feeling my own gaze going soft.
“It’s not the same, my queen. I love you with all my heart. I would follow you to the edge of the earth—”
“Just not west,” I finish for her.
“It will only be for the duration of your stay, my queen. Just a couple of months. Then when King Teodoro sets to go north, I’ll go with him. Cleo too. And who knows, maybe by then you’ll know who your heart belongs to, and maybe that will be King Teodoro and Cleo can stay with me in Tarnow,” she says hopefully, but her wishful hopes are soon tarnished by Inessa’s loud scoff.
“What about King Levi? Have you forgotten him so soon? Is our queen supposed to pick this king over another just because you fell in love?” Inessa is quick to reprimand, showing her outrage.
Anya tilts her head over to her friend, deep sorrow in her eyes.
“Are you asking that question because you honestly believe King Levi to be the better man for Kat, or are you just afraid that you will lose Brick if she chooses King Teodoro instead?”
Inessa widens her eyes in fury but slams her lips shut, refusing to answer that loaded question.
“I’m sorry, Inessa, but I’m not like you. I’m not frightened of love. I’ll fight for it if I must. And I love Cleo.”
Inessa frowns but refuses to voice her opinion any further.
