Page 32 of Dueling the Suitors

She froze. His attire wasn’t disheveled, but his hair looked like he had been raking his hands through them.Whatwas he doing here?

He was helping your brothers find the loophole and brought a bunch of books from his own library about law and annulment—your brother’s words,Skylar said.

Astoria met Jasper’s gaze in disbelief. He dipped his chin in an acknowledging nod.

“What is going on here, Father?” Emmett demanded.

“Well, what do you see?” the king retorted.

Astoria’s eyes brushed past her betrothed as she turned towards them. She did a double take.

Silas regarded Jasper with hardened eyes.

Now,thatwas interesting. Did he see Jasper as a threat? Did he somehow realize Jasper was in love with her, from the way he looked at her?

Did he fear losing his chance to marry her and become a lord, thinking Jasper was here to convince the king?

Suddenly, Astoria became fully aware of how little she knew the man she was supposed to marry in two days, compared to Jasper, whom she had known most of her life.

Had Jasper been right when he asked if she’d rather marry him than a complete stranger?

At the time, she had shoved the question aside, never believing she’d reach this point. But now that she was here, the weight of the situation hit her.

Would she rather marry Jasper than this stranger?

But would Jasper even take her back? She would have to find out. It was pathetic and desperate of her, but there was no way in all the realms she would tarnish the name of the Unyielding Princess by cowering from this fate. If she had to marry, it might as well be someone she knew.

Her brothers had launched into an argument with their father by the time she zoned out into her thoughts. They were insisting on how much of a stranger her husband-to-be wasto her and her father arguing back that he had no desire to postpone the wedding.

“Why don’t I marry Jasper, then?” she yelled over their raised voices.

The room fell into pin-drop silence.

Astoria felt the heat of Jasper’s gaze and turned to look at him. Her face burned with humiliation, but she pulled herself together and held his shocked gaze. “If he will take me, that is. He’s a Mage, too.”

Her heart pounded inside her ribcage like the relentless march of soldiers’ boots on a silent night. With seven pairs of eyes on her, the pressure on her rose to the skies. She dropped her gaze. Maybe this was when she was finally going to drop dead from humiliation.

What a fortunate, merciful end that would be.

Shut it, Astoria. Are you truly out of your mind?Skylar chided her.

Astoria didn’t respond. She didn’t want to miss the others’ reactions, which she would if she replied to Skylar. He was in one of his ‘adult’ moods now.

“I would.”

Her gaze snapped up to Jasper. “You would?” She couldn’t hide her surprise.

“I was ready to take you even when I knew you didn’t love me back,” he said gently, his eyes shining with sincerity, as though he was trying to remind her of his words from months prior.

Astoria almost smiled, but then, her father spoke. “Jasper, my boy, I adore you. You must know you are like one of my own sons to me, but Astoria cannot marry you.”

“Why not?” Emmett took a menacing step forward, clenching his fists.

“Because he’s not powerful enough for the union, why else?” he retorted, and added to Jasper, “No offense to you, my boy.”

“None taken, Your Majesty,” Jasper said, tying his hands behind him. “But may I ask, weren’t all the suitors you brought in for Storie before this man like me? And you were so keen for her to marry one of them. If I remember correctly, you weren’t exactly into Storie’s scheme ofdueling the suitors.”

The king studied him, his way of ignoring a question that he couldn’t answer without humbling himself. “You sound so taken with my daughter. Why did you never try to compete for her hand?”

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