Page 120 of 2 Books in One Bundle
Helia tried to pull away. ‘Don’t feed me false hope. We both know how you feel about children.’
‘You know, I believe I still owe you a thought,’ he said, not letting her go.
Their honeymoon seemed as if it had been eons ago, but she would never forget that night she’d offered to leave. When he’d said he didn’t want her to go.
‘I dreamt of it once,’ he said. ‘Our children...with curly hair and your smile. I craved it but I pushed it aside, thinking that life wasn’t for me. I was so convinced I knew what would happen to my children that I wanted no part of it. But then I read a letter my father had left in Leander’s care, to be given to me in the event of my brother’s death, and I know now that he loved me. He chose not to show it, because that’s what he thought he needed to do in order to be a good king. I have said it before. I am not my father and I believe that now. I have made different choices. And that life I dreamt of with you... I want that too.’
Helia could see the sincerity in Vasili’s eyes. It made what was left of her resistance crumble, because the picture of life he’d painted was exactly what she was leaving Thalonia to find.
‘I hate it that you didn’t get the love you needed growing up. I hate it that your parents made such awfully bad choices. And I especially hate it that those choices made you believe that you weren’t worthy of love. That they made you stop loving yourself. But you need to know I will always love you. No matter what happens. I will always be yours, and I know that your people love you, Vasili.’
‘Helia...’ he whispered brokenly.
‘Do you know what I saw after our wedding? Happiness. I saw smiles on every face in the crowd. They were happy for you. Happy to have you as their king. The man who treated everyone in his palace with kindness. You think I didn’t notice the way you spoke to everyone? You think that was a secret or overlooked? It wasn’t. I paid attention. I saw what you didn’t.’
He leaned his forehead against hers. ‘I wish that I’d met you sooner.’
‘Then tell me you want me. Tell me it’s not a mistake for me to go back with you. That you won’t get scared again and push me away.’
Because Helia wanted to go with him. As much as she was hoping for the life she deserved, she knew there was only ever one man she would love like this. Only one man who would ever make her heart pound and set her blood ablaze. Her eyes fell on the envelope. Only one man who had ever fought for her. And after these two weeks of constant heartache and never-ending tears, in Vasili’s embrace she felt hopeful. Lighter. Happy. As if a light had been turned back on.
‘I want you,’ he said. ‘I want you every day. I want you when you’re cranky in the mornings, and I want you in my arms at night. I want you for the rest of our lives and then some. You’re it for me, Helia. I promise that I will never push you away and that you will never know another day of loneliness. Neither of us will.’
‘Then give me your ring.’
Without hesitation, Vasili handed his gold wedding band to Helia, who gave him hers.
Taking his hand, she said, ‘Vasili, I promise to love you every day. I promise to remind you to love yourself when you forget, and to love you harder when you can’t. I promise to be the friend you deserve and the partner you can count on. I promise to always be honest with you, and I promise I will never be taken from you.’
She watched his eyes glisten as she slid his ring back onto his finger. These vows were so different from those they’d made last time. There were no secret messages or hidden feelings. These words felt sacred. This union was divine.
‘Helia, I have a lot to work on, and I promise to work on being better, on being the man you deserve. It might take a while...’ he smiled when she laughed ‘...but we will get there.’ He twirled the ring in the sunlight. ‘Maybe I always knew it would be you. Maybe I was fighting a truth that already existed. You and I—we’re inevitable. And here is your proof.’
Helia looked down at the ring he held, noticing for the first time the Latin phrase engraved on the inside of the thin band.
‘It meansMy salvation...my eternal.’
‘Vasili...’ Helia breathed.
Tears ran down her cheeks and he brushed them away with the backs of his fingers.
‘That’s what you are, and I promise to show you as much every single day.’
Vasili slid the ring onto her finger and then, in a crash of limbs and bodies and lips, they kissed. They kissed without restraint. They kissed as if they had been reunited after an eternity apart. And they kissed as if this was their start.
‘Well, then, Your Majesty,’ Helia said as she pushed the envelope back to him. ‘I believe this should go to the orphanage. The Queen has little need of it.’
‘As you wish.’ He smiled. Bright and glorious. ‘Let’s go home.’
And it felt right. As if a part of her soul had healed. For Helia had found her home. It was here, in the arms of her husband. A man she loved so much. And now that love didn’t make her feel alone—instead it made her stronger and more hopeful and blissfully happy.
EPILOGUE
Six years later
VASILISTOODBETWEENthe two little beds and as quietly and gently as he could tucked the covers around one little girl and then the other.
His daughters. Neither of whom resembled him nor Helia.
