Page 115 of Heart of the Summer Queen

He hesitates before saying, “If I no longer please you, I shall understand.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” I exclaim. “I married you for more than your hair color.”

“Yes, to kill me.”

I smack his shoulder.

His lips pull upward. “Too soon?”

“Much too soon.”

“A pity,” he says. “But I shall have my revenge by tormenting you throughout all our years together.”

I arch a brow. “What was that about annulment?”

He meets my threat with far too much laughter.

“Oh, you think I’m joking?”

Elaric tackles me, pinning my wrists to the mattress. His eyes rake across me. “I know you’re joking.”

“If you insist,” I say, struggling to restrain my smile.

“Then say it. Tell me you wish for our marriage to be dissolved.” He twirls a lock of my hair, awaiting my response.

Despite my teasing, the pain of almost losing him is too raw. I can’t voice such words, not even in pretense. Instead, I free my arms and embrace him fiercely.

Elaric stills, surprised by the sudden fervor, but then returns my desperate grasp.

“I love you,” I whisper into his shoulder.

“I heard you before,” he says softly, “when you thought me gone.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “I’m sorry it took this long for me to say.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he whispers. “For so long, your heart harbored such hatred. And I too am at fault for concealing the truth about your sister, causing you great confusion.” He pauses, his hold around me tightening. “But the past is in the past. I’m merely grateful to have earned your forgiveness and claimed even a fragment of your heart.”

“All of it,” I say, pressing his palm to my racing heart. “All of it belongs to you.”

Elaric lifts my hand to his lips, grazing my knuckles in the softest kiss. “As is all of mine forever yours.”

True to the king’s word, a ship awaits us the following day.

By late morning, we board the vessel, and then Elaric and I stand side by side along the railing, his arm wrapped around my shoulders. Together, we watch as Eruweth’s cliffs dwindle into the horizon.

While the voyage spans three pleasant days, each hour drags past like an anchor scraping the seabed. My heart yearns to see Avella’s shores, to look upon my sister’s face once more.

Day after day, I stand sentry at the bow, eyes scouring the horizon, willing the line between sea and sky to morph into familiar lands. Yet the endless wait persists, my patience constantly tested.

Until at long last, land emerges from the rolling waves.

I brace myself, wary of wishful thinking. But as we draw nearer, certainty stirs within. These shores can be none other than home.

The harbor in which we anchor is situated to the north-east of Avella. There, Elaric and I acquire a horse, and we ride onward together, leaving behind our ship and its crew.

My pulse pounds to the swift rhythm of our horse’s hooves, and I cling to Elaric as we ride, burying my head against the back of his silken tunic. Every step closer to the palace feels a step farther away, until finally its mountain swells before us.

Elaric pulls our horse to a stop.

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