Page 20 of Fragile Oath

She squeezed her eyes shut, and I pressed, wondering if I had finally landed on something close to the truth.

“Galina, if anyone is threatening—”

“No,” she interrupted sharply, taking a deep breath before meeting my gaze. “You’re so mired in conspiracies that you’re building them where there aren’t any. It isn’t as complicated as you’re making it out to be. I left for all the reasons I put in my letter, Davin.”

She shook her head like a disappointed teacher explaining a simple concept to a willfully obtuse child.

“Your people hate me, and my clan needs me…” she hesitated, looking away. “And we both know you aren’t really capable of settling down. Why do you think I didn’t accept your proposal the first time around? We were only ever going to make each other miserable.”

I blinked once, trying to recover whatever scraps of pride I had left. “That didn’t seem to be a concern the other night,” I said flatly.

She let out a small sound, something between a scoff and a whimper. “That was only ever supposed to be a goodbye.”

For the first time since I entered her rooms, her eyes glossed over with a sheen of tears.

Despite myself. Despite every word she had just hurled at me, my inclination was to step forward — to comfort her. Before I could take a single step, she spoke up once more, saving me from humiliating myself further.

“But I was caught up in a moment, and for that, I do apologize.”

For that?For making that promise, but not for leaving in the middle of the night. Not for whatever the hell this was.

I stared at her, some foolish part of me still looking for a sign that she was lying, but there was none. Perhaps the only lie was the person she had pretended to be.

Finally, I straightened to my full height, averting my gaze from the woman I had thought I would spend the rest of my life with.

“Regardless of how very horrified you are at the prospect of a future with me, you had your reasons for leaving the first time, enough that you were willing to set your precious pride aside for five seconds to call in a life debt and risk both of our kingdoms,” I said more quietly. “I wouldn’t have gone back on my end of our deal just because you turned down my proposal. You don’t have to go back to Socair.”

“Yes, I do.” Her words rang with conviction. “You may not give a damn about duty, but I’ve run from mine for far too long. I have to do this, and you have to let me.”

She certainly wasn’t pulling any punches today. Did she honestly think, after everything, that I didn’t care about duty, or my people? That I was just a womanizing arseling who would never settle down or take any responsibility?

And what did she mean,let her?As if I would stop her from leaving if she wanted to. Hadn’t I offered that more than once?

“I’ve never had nor desired any control over your actions, Galina,” I said flatly. “I had no plans to forcibly drag an unwilling fiancée back to my home.”

Her expression flickered, but it was back to stone with a single blink. “Yet here you are.“

Just when I thought the knife couldn’t get any deeper. How the hell had we gotten from being allies, from joking on a rooftop, to hurling accusations across an icy chasm?

“Yes, here I am,” I fired back. “To see you safely to the border, as I would have done if you had bothered to let me — or anyone know you were planning on leaving. For all your talk of duty, surely you can understand that I have one as well, to my people and my cousin.”

The blood drained from her face. “That’s not necessary. I have guards.”

A low, dark chuckle rumbled through me. “Worry not, I have no intentions of escorting you myself. I have —”A murder investigation that will be made worse by your absence. “— business to attend to back home, but Ewan and Hamish are here.”

Something like guilt glimmered in her eyes. At least she was capable of the emotion. Just not where I was concerned. Still, she opened her mouth to argue, but the door banged open, cutting her off.

I spun around, then promptly wished I hadn’t. Two figures stood in the doorway. My cousin, who was wearing a warning expression, and another, larger man, one whose existence had mocked me since the day I realized Galina was still wearing her Wolf’s head charm. I wasn’t sure if the puzzle pieces were clicking into place or if they were just catching fire on the ground around me, but belatedly, I realized I should have been prepared for this.

If she was going back to Socair, she was going back tohim. Except that it appeared he had saved her a step. Alexei had come for her, and she had left with him the moment he did. Even knowing that, I was still wildly unprepared for his next statement.

“Laird Davin, would you care to explain what you are doing alone in a room with my wife?”

ChapterEleven

GALINA

Nothingin my life could have prepared me for this moment.

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