Taroc's stare immediately went intense. “Why would that give you hope? You say that I treat you like a slave and you can't trust me. So why would you want to be with me forever?”
“I don't know if I do, but I'd like to have the option. No one ever knows where a relationship will go when it begins, but beginning one while knowing that at some point, inevitably, it will end, is disheartening, to say the least. If you know it's not going to last, you can't possibly give your all to it. But if there is a chance for more, you can be vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable?”
“Emotionally, Taroc. And stop giving me shit for not trusting you when our relationship has just begun. It's perfectly normal for trust to take time to develop. Just because we're fucking, it doesn't make you automatically trustworthy.”
“According to you, it makes me the opposite.”
“All right, now you're being deliberately obtuse. Fine, Taroc. I understand now that I can't expect anything real or lasting from you, even if it might be an option.”
The King opened his mouth to speak, but the carriage stopped, and I was too angry to listen. I jumped out and held the door open for him. He shot me a heavy look as he passed, but I ignored it along with the ache in my chest.