Page 114 of Enchanted Shadows
I saw her stay strong, her shoulders back as she squared off with him through my green sound barrier. As the minutes ticked on, I saw her sharp intake of breath when whatever he said surprised her, and saw the tension in her, how rigid she went.
When she wiped at an eye, I’d had enough being the understanding husband. I dropped my magic and moved in.
She held up a hand. “I’m okay.”
“You don’t look okay,” I argued.
Calix continued, “Please, Kessara. Think about what I said. It would be good for all of Agria. I don’t blame you for wanting torun away. I don’t even blame you for trying to forget your old life and marrying this guy, but we both know this isn’t really you.”
And just when I was about to force his mouth to shut up, he left, walking for his room in the ship.
“Quick question,” I called to his back.
He turned slowly, looking over his shoulder.
“Now that we all know there is another ship, would you like for us to sleep on this one or the other?”
He turned to look at me, not getting my point.
“We are newlyweds,” I reminded him. “It’s hard to keep our hands off one another.”
He took a deep breath and moved his fingers as if they itched for the shadows. “So, use your little trick,” he bit out.
He had me there, but I’d just been wanting to get under his skin a little.
“We will stay on this one,” Kessara told him as he finished retreating inside the ship. To me she added, “I want to keep an eye on what he’s up to. Not sure it was wise to intentionally make him mad like that.”
I whispered back, “He can be mad at me. I was just trying to get his attention off you.”
She didn’t elaborate on what he said to her, and I gave her the space to process it. She was quiet the rest of the afternoon, through our meager dinner, and as we watched the sunset paint the sky.
Not even the sunset could bring her joy.
As the stars began to dot the night sky, I continued to stand with her. Never leaving her side.
“Kess, what can I do?” I asked, not for the first time.
“Nothing. I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
She wiped at her eye, and I moved in to wrap an arm around her, just in case she fell apart.
“He—well, he offered me becoming queen. To rid myself of you.”
I wasn’t surprised. I’d suspected from the first time she told me about him that he was after crowns and power.
“Always knowing that I was never going to be queen because of my real father, there was a point in time where that would have been tempting. To be treated as equal to my half-brothers. To finally be fully accepted by Agria.” She inhaled shakily. “Calix told me that we could lead together. The Cyncrest name is enough to overcome the question of my lineage. That if we took over quickly, before Damek could get any crazier, we could deal with him together. Could save Artem.”
In only a few minutes, he’d spun quite the tale to her, it seemed.
She turned toward me and whispered, “He framed everything so perfectly. Such a pretty picture. Becoming queen with him. Saving Artem. And four months ago, I might have accepted just to save my little brother, but now....”
“Now?”
“Now rather than be tempted to accept his offer, I am left repulsed by how well I have been played the fool.”
“Kess,” I scolded.
