Page 101 of The Darkest Oath

Her arms wrapped around his waist, as if she were meant to be there. For a moment, the world could crumble, but she would be whole.

He grasped the seam of her coat and pulled her close. Tension fled from her shoulders, and tears burned the back of her eyes. Fate had answered. The years apart compressed into moments as if time had stood still, affirming their love was never meant to fade. She had fought the town to marry in the summer rather than Christmas, and standing before Rollant, unmarried, fate validated her resistance. Hating Louis to die, she thought maybe it meant Rollant could come home with her. She lifted her face to his.

She had begged the stars for Rollant’s return, and now that he was here, Hugo crept into her mind. Hugo, who had stood by her, steady as the earth beneath her feet, who had loved her when she could not love herself.

But she couldn’t let go of the ache in her chest for Rollant, the place where he had taken root years ago. That part of her had never healed; it had only grown, biding its time. Standing before him, her heart’s desire roared back to life.

“Oh, Élise,” he whispered, stroking a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

“I am sorry, Rollant,” she spurted. “You are not a monster, and I have hated myself every day for telling you to leave.” Her lip quivered.

He sighed in relief. His back rounded, and his grip tightened on her coat as if he wanted to hold her.

“Come with me, Rollant,” she whispered, feeling the aching love in his gaze. “The king is dead. The crown is gone. Your curse is lifted. We can be together.”

His eyes darkened, and he looked down at his hand, where a bloody handkerchief sat against unbroken skin. “I thought perhaps,” he said. “But there is still a king. And as long as there is a crown, I remain bound.”

Her words were a raw mixture of anger and disbelief. “I thought—I thought the curse?—”

“I know,” he said gently, cutting her off. “I thought so, too.” He lifted her chin, his thumb brushing her cheek. “But the crown still stands, and so do I. Why are you here? Did you come alone?”

“I was with Hugo,” she said. “But we got separated in the crowd.”

Rollant’s jaw grew taut. “It’s not safe. I’ll take you home.” He tucked her arm under his and pushed through the crowds.

They passed through the city gate with a few crude jokes about where Rollant was taking such a girl by the guardsmen on duty. But once the rolling hillside greeted them, they slowed their gait, talking and walking hand in hand, hidden in the folds of their coats as they once did.

“I dreamed of you, and I still wear your shirt,” Élise said with a chuckle.

Rollant leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You have healed my heart with such secrets.”

They came upon a large step in the walkway, and Élise jumped atop it to face him, eye-to-eye. “I have decided I want a life with you,” she whispered. “I wish to grow old with you, though you may never change.”

She slipped her hands to his shoulders.

“Élise, I—” He covered her hand, but the jewelry she wore took his words and attention. He pulled her left hand to view her carved wooden ring. “You are married already?”

“No,” she whispered with a violent shake of her head. Her eyes tingled with guilt and shame. “Only promised to be.”

“To Hugo?” he asked.

“I wish it were to you,” she said.

But sorrow swept over his face as if he hadn’t heard her. “Our former king sent me to plan the escape route where he was caught in Varennes. I took the long route to see you, and I saw you and Hugo in a passionate kiss. I have had that image burned in my mind ever since,” Rollant whispered.

A man shouting Élise’s name echoed from down the road. Hugo’s—he was pounding at her door.

“You came back two years ago?” she asked, wishing she had seen him. “That kiss wasn’t real?—”

“Is he good to you?” Rollant changed the subject.

She smiled beneath a knitted brow, allowing his question. “I wish he weren’t. I wish he gave me a reason to hate him, refuse him.”

Rollant swallowed hard. “Do you love him?”

She peered over her shoulder with tear-blurred vision at his frantic search for her in the stable. “Not as much as I love you.”

Rollant nodded, pulling her closer by grasping the side seam of her coat. “Then your love for me will fade if I stay away.”

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