Page 115 of Rise of a Fallen Man

“Is everything okay?” I stepped out of Salas’ hug reluctantly.

Mother was a busy woman, even more so since I wasn’t there to help her now. She had little time to spare but made an effort to find a few minutes to speak with me almost every day.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.” Salas inclined his head.

The queen gave him a brief nod, without a word of reply. But it was better than before when she refused to acknowledge his presence at all.

“How is Father doing?” I asked the queen.

“The king is well,” she replied in the same formal tone.

Salas took off his apron and hung it on the hook by the door.

“I’ll go check on that pie,” he said, heading for the walkway to the house.

Mother followed his departure with her gaze. A wrinkle of displeasure formed between her eyebrows.

“Is that how you allow him to walk around, Ari? Does he not have enough clothes to put on?”

It took me a moment to remember that Salas’s sleeveless tank top would be highly inappropriate for a man to wear back in Rorrim. Salas still refused to wear anything sleeveless out in public, even on a hot day.

“It’s summer here, Mother,” I reminded the queen since it was currently the middle of winter in Rorrim. “Salas works at the forge. It’s hot.” I shrugged. “What’s so scandalous about it, anyway? It’s just arms. We all have them, don’t we?”

Mother shook her head.

“That world is not good for you, dearest. It’s such a twisted place.”

“No world is perfect, but I’m safer here now than before. I have Salas. He supports and protects me. Without him, I’d have no roof over my head. He pays for everything. Amazing, isn’t it?”I teased. “Apparently, a man is perfectly capable of running a successful business if given the freedom to do it.”

She waved that off. “I’m sure you’re helping him, dearest, even if just with your guidance and advice. And you don’t need his support or his protection.” Mother still blamed Salas for taking me away from Rorrim and from her. “You would be perfectly safe here, home in the palace.”

“I would. But Salas wouldn’t be. He’d be dead or rotting in jail. I couldn’t let that happen, Mother. I love him.” I paused, considering whether to share with her the secret I hadn’t even shared with Salas yet. “I want to ask him to marry me.”

Her chest heaved in the tight bodice of her dress.

“Oh Ari, sweetie.” Her voice turned pleading. “Is it necessary? That man is such a wrong match for you.”

I didn’t expect her to meet the news with enthusiasm. But she took it better than I’d anticipated.

“I’ve had the perfect match before, haven’t I?” I argued. “It didn’t turn out that great, did it? How is Leafar doing?”

A divorce law existed in Rorrim, though it was rarely used, not because marriages were so perfect there, but because with so few options for men to support themselves, they held on to their wives even at the expense of their own interests, happiness, or identities.

“The prince is recovering in your summer estate,” Mother said. “Gem has been keeping him company whenever she has time to spare from her duties at the palace.”

“Gem? Really?” That came unexpected, until I remembered that she’d always favored handsome, golden-haired men. “Does the prince welcome her visits?”

“He seems to enjoy them, from what I heard. Why? Would you rather I put a stop to that?”

“No.” I shook my head quickly. “Not if they like each other. Leafar can spend his time however he wants. He’s no longermarried and doesn’t have to worry about his reputation. I can only protect him from any unwanted contacts, but I can’t tell him whose company to enjoy. As long as he’s safe and happy.”

Mother pursed her lips. “With the full access to your allowance, he certainly has the means to keep himself happy. The number of horses he’s ordered so far probably exceeds the number of servants at the estate by now.”

I knew for a fact that happiness was not in money. After searching for it all my life, I’d finally found it in Salas’s arms. But if Leafar needed money to feel happy, I was glad I could give it to him.

We’d promised no love to each other, because love was never meant to be the foundation of our marriage. But trust was, and we both betrayed each other’s trust.

Because of Leafar, the man I loved had nearly gotten killed. But because of me, Leafar was now living as an abandoned ex-husband, bearing the stigma of the divorce that had never happened in Rorrim’s royal family before.

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