Page 121 of Severed Heir

I stepped closer, flame curling at my fingertips. I touched them to his jaw. “Do you want to marry me?” I asked.

His mind reached for mine, and I burned him out.

“No,” I whispered. “If I can’t read your mind, you don’t get to read mine.”

“Let me in,” he said. “Please. I need to know what you’re thinking.”

“Drop your shield first.”

He shut his eyes. “I don’t know how.”

Archer had once told me that bonds, especially rider bonds, could deepen when you least expected. Maybe this was the only way—to pretend I cared, just long enough to see the unfiltered chaos inside his mind.

“Just try,” I said quietly. “Because I don’t know how to trust you anymore.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.” His hand rose to my cheek. I should have pulled away, but I didn’t. The air shifted. Magic stirred around us, a blend of quells, wards, and that breathless hum of something beginning to wake. And I felt it. The fragile barrier between us was unraveling.

And then, clear as fire-fed wind, his thought slipped through again like smoke under a door: “She’ll never forgive me for what I’ve done.”

It was a sense of dread I felt deep in my bones. He didn’t even realize it. He couldn’t have, because why would he say that?

I didn’t react. Didn’t breathe. If I was going to marry someone I couldn’t forgive... Gods help me.

“I need to know,” I said carefully. “Why didn’t you tell me you were alive?”

“You seemed happy.”

“Why did you lie?”

“I don’t know.”

Then another whisper from his mind crept through our bond. “Because I loved you.”

Was he letting them slip on purpose, or was I finally breaching his shield? “Did you tamper with my father’s mind at the titling ceremony?”

“No, Sev.”

But the thought came louder.“I was surprised he gave her up so easily.”

“And if I gave in,” I asked, inching closer, “if I said yes to this arrangement… would that be enough for you?”

He leaned in. “I’d be satisfied with a smile, Severyn.”

Then his gaze flicked past my shoulder. “And… your brother’s watching.”

“Charles?” I turned.

But Damien caught my jaw, gently guiding my face back to his. “I’m still owed that handhold.”

“No,” I said flatly, stepping away.

A gust of cold wind swept between us as Charles approached. “Severyn. May I speak with you?” He shot Damien a look. “Alone.”

This wasn’t just my brother standing before me, it was the royal guard of Malvoria. And honestly, if he ordered me back with him, I might’ve gone.

I followed him past the estate walls, toward the cliffside fence where the ocean roared below. For a long moment, he didn’t speak. Just stared at me, jaw tight, like he didn’t know where to start.

“I came by the other night,” he said at last. “Wanted to see if the rumors were true, that my little sister was marrying the heir of Ravensla.” He studied my face. “I can see it now. You don’t want this.”

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