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“Then I will stand at your side, Autumn. Through anything and everything that comes our way in Mondu and beyond.”
“Sahlyn…”
“If this is the last thing I ever do, I will be happy to have done this with you. I will be happy to have spent my time at your side.”
Emotion clawed up my throat. This remarkable, beautiful man brought so low by an evil woman made me want to bring down the sky and burn the world to take that look away. To take away the horrors that inflicted him.
I bit my lip as his fingers tightened on mine. He brought my knuckles gently to his lips.
“Sahlyn, I…” I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I flung myself down on my knees in front of him and lifted his knuckles to my lips inthe seal of an unspoken vow. “Sahlyn, if the last thing I do is bring the queen toherknees, I will do so with the pleasure of knowing you no longer have to answer to her.”
“Autumn, donotdo this for me.”
I shook my head as his eyes took on a panicked gleam. “Sahlyn, I would do anything for you.”
“Don’t say that, Autumn. The things I have done—"
“Stop painting yourself as the villain, Sahlyn.”
“You have no—”
“You didn’t know all that the contract said when you agreed to it.”
“Which wasmynegligence.”
“We’ve all made mistakes and done things we are not proud of. It doesn't make us a villain. It doesn’t make us bad down to the core, especially if we understand what we’ve done is wrong and are trying to do better.Bebetter.”
“Autumn, I signed the contract not caring what it said.”
“Because you were an idiot, and you didn’t know her wickedness then. We can’t always be condemned for having moments of weakness or being irresponsible. Especially as youngsters. That’s an unrealistic expectation that we, as human beings, will never live up to.”
Sahlyn pursed his lips and glanced away from me. He knew I was right.
“Do you know what I see when I look at you, Sahlyn Asher?”
Pain flashed in his eyes. He was waiting for my strike of judgement, my verdict of his wrongdoings.
It wouldn’t come. “I see asurvivor.”
His entire body spasmed. His eyes widened, and I watched my words seep into him. Trickled into a shady part that had been consuming him from the inside. And before my eyes, I saw his spirit lighten. The guilt that consumed him lifted just a fraction. Those remarkable misty blue eyes, that always held pain for the things he’d done, illuminated.
He sighed so deeply, and I put my palms against his cheeks. His eyes held mine with a tentative resolve. His cheek nuzzled into my hand, and we gave ourselves a long moment of just being in each other's space, of offering and receiving much-needed comfort.
“We should get some sleep,” he whispered, pulling away from me. My hands dropped, and I nodded.
Sahlyn pulled his sleeping mat close to mine, and I hastily rummaged through my pack and tried not to think about having alone time with him. Desire had coursed through me around him too much for this to be a good idea, but with exhaustion wrenching through my head and limbs, I wasn’t sure I could deny that I needed the comfort of him next to me.
“Sahlyn…”
“It’s chilly, Autumn. It’s dark. We still have a perilous journey ahead of us, and I want to ensure we get a good night's sleep. To do that, I need to ensure you are safe and warm.”
“But…”
He laid out furs and blankets, making a comfortable little nest.
A smile edged my lips at his thoughtfulness, which turned into a playful smirk. “Where areyougoing to sleep?”
His blue-gray eyes met mine with a sparkle of mischief, and he chuckled. “Wherever you want me to.”
