Page 85 of The King's Sword
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
“You may be fine, but I won’t.”
“He’ll never find out about the kidnapping. I promise.” She would make Rainer understand that Evander kept her alive from an assassin Lottie had sent after her.
He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.” He leaned his elbows on his thighs. “Sabine, I care for you. I don’t know how I’m going to live knowing you’re sharing another man’s bed.” His voice came out gruff. “The mere thought makes me sick. I want to ram my dagger straight into his heart.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. “Evander…”
“Don’t say anything. I know you’re married, and I can respect that. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
His jealousy surprised her. She didn’t think him capable of such an emotion. Putting herself in his shoes, she imagined him marrying Lottie and sharing her bed. The thought of him touching Lottie, putting his hands on her, and kissing her, seemed vile. Repulsive. Especially since he’d never be friends with someone like Lottie—they were too different and had nothing in common. Lottie didn’t deserve him.
“Sabine?”
She understood what he’d meant by not being fine.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She shook her head. Suddenly, everything felt different. It was hard to breathe. Sadness filled her. If felt like she’d been tossed into a dark lake, boulders tied to her feet. She sunk, unable to free herself. Unable to change her fate.
And then she remembered the plan she’d been considering. “Evander, do you want to be with me?” Or was he simply attracted to her like she was to Rainer? She thought they shared a connection, but she needed to be absolutely certain.
“What I want is irrelevant.”
She understood, all too well. “What if I told you I have an idea? And if it works, we could be together?” She was curious to hear his response, knowing his parents probably wouldn’t support the match.
“What is this idea of yours?” he asked, moving to sit beside her on the bench seat.
More than once, she’d thought about telling him what she had in mind. If anything, he could help her come up with a solid plan on how to enact it. And she could trust him—he wouldn’t tell anyone. But her gut told her no one could know, not even Evander. In order for this to work, she had to do it all on her own, and no one could see it coming. “I can’t tell you.”
He took her hand, drawing circles with this finger on her palm. “Avoni has a plan as well.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you.” He smiled wryly, still drawing circles on her palm. “What if we worked together?”
She shook her head. “I have to do mine alone.” It was the only way.
“Please tell me you don’t intend to commit treason because if you do, you can be killed.”
“I will not break any laws,” she said. Quite the opposite. She would live by the law. “If my plan works, if I pull it off, we could potentially be together.” Although she wasn’t going to do it for that reason. She was doing it for all the kingdoms.
She looked into his eyes, wondering how her view of him had changed so much over the course of the past couple of weeks.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “I’m trying to keep myself from tearing your clothes off.”
“Then you shouldn’t be so close. Your eyes, your smile, and even your smell make me want to devour you.”
The corners of his lips rose even more. “One day.”
She nodded, knowing nothing ever went according to plan. While she would do her best to end Rainer’s reign, being with Evander had to be secondary.
* * *
When Sabine awoke the next morning, she found herself tucked on the floor of the boat, her head resting on Evander’s folded cloak. Sitting up, she saw him on the rear bench seat, scanning the water around them.
“Is everything all right?” she asked.
