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“Tell me about your home. Tell me what’s it like in the east,” I hear myself ask.
The small smile he sends my way feels like a dagger is slowly chipping away at my frozen heart.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
“I know. I just want to be prepared for what awaits me.”
There is a sad glimmer in his eyes, but all too soon does it disappear as he begins to tell me about hot springs where you can bathe and open fields where you can ride your horse for days and still only find the vastest of green of meadows. He talks about flowers adorned with an array of colors that bloom all year long. He continues on, describing his home with such passion that my reluctance of stepping foot on eastern soil slowly begins to dissolve.
We must walk for over an hour as he continues to excitedly list all the reasons why he’s so happy to return home and how his people will rejoice in the streets with our arrival. I don’t miss how he intentionally leaves out the part that me coming with him will also be cause for added celebration. Not only will his people be thrilled for having their rightful king return to them, but they’ll also be proud that he was able to make good on his word of conquering the north. At least to an extent, they are right to think as much. His kingdom will see me by his side and think they have won. The politics behind that naïve perception won’t be of importance to them.
Until it is.
Then everything will change.
When Levi escorts me back to my tent, I’m almost sad our walk has come to an end.
It’s been the only highlight of this whole damn journey, thus far.
But then I remember why I invited him to dine in the first place, and suddenly, all my good disposition flies out the window.
He tricked me.
He kept me entertained with talks of his home so that I lost track of my goal.
I lost sight of the fact that no matter how charming he’s able to be for an hour, he’s still the same man who brought tens of thousands of soldiers to my doorstep, threatening to overthrow me. He succeeded in making me forget that he’s still my enemy. Maybe in the future he can call himself my husband, but that won’t change the fact that he is not my friend, but my foe.
Before Levi even has a chance to open his conniving mouth and bid me farewell, I go straight to the cut of it.
“You received a letter earlier today,” I state matter-of-factly.
“I did,” he retorts in kind.
“Was it Atlas? Did the king of the west send you that letter?”
“Yes.”
It takes everything in me to keep my jaw in place and not let it fall to the floor.
“I can’t believe you admitted it,” I croak out, genuinely gobsmacked with his answer.
“You expected me to lie?” He smirks.
“Yes,” I answer truthfully.
He runs his thumb over his lower lip, bringing my attention to it.
“I did consider it… lying to you,” he confesses unrepentantly.
“Why didn’t you?” I choke out, averting my gaze from his full lips, since they are too distracting to keep my focus where it needs to be.
“Because I remembered the man that I am and the one I wish to remain. I value honor and integrity. What would it make me if I had lied to you, the woman I’m in a race to conquer and marry?” he states with conviction. “No, Kat. I won’t lie to you. And I’ll never lieforyou either. This is who I am. You may not like my truths, or how I say them, but that is all you will ever get from me.”
I chew on his admission as well as his reasoning behind it.
Unfortunately for me, my puzzlement must be written all over my face, because Levi begins to softly chuckle under his breath.
“Is this amusing to you? Why are you laughing? Do you think it wise to be laughing at your queen? To her face?” I whisper-yell in disgusted aggravation.
