Page 43 of Delphine's Dilemma

…If I could summon my crossbow.

She didn’t know that the domain had been destroyed though. So, I kept my hand up and open as if I were weighing my options. With my other hand, I touched my raw throat. It would bruise, but I was alive.

“I have survived the fall of courts. I have survived everything that has been thrown at me. If you think you are significant enough to take me, I will happily prove you wrong. It will be the last thought you ever have. Are you ready to lose this fight?”

She gaped up at me, her pink eyes too wide with fear. I should have felt bad, but she was still alive. If she pissed herself, we were already in a bathroom.

I left her to clean up and went back to Arven on the showroom floor. He stood over a velvet couch, his hand on his chin like this was the most important decision of his life. When we locked eyes, he immediately noticed the mark around my neck. Red flared hot in his eyes.

His gaze flicked past me, towards the bathroom. The fae woman had stepped out. For a moment, it looked as though she’d returned to seek her vengeance. Then she saw Arven and me standing together. Almost immediately, I could see the gears turning as she reconsidered her entire life.

If she came after me again, I would kill her. The truth should have stung. I should have felt bad about killing someone I considered an equal. We had no real contention between the two of us. She was just doing a job.

And I was just trying to survive.

Arven reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of bills, and marched over to the woman so he could slap it into her hand.

When he returned, I asked, “Did you just pay her for trying to kill me?”

Arven paid me no mind. He tucked a thumb under my chin and tilted my head back gently so he could inspect the damage to my neck. I scowled at him, but his touch felt nice, and I didn’t want to push him away yet.

When Arven was finished, he let his hand glide down the side of my neck ever so lightly. When his fingers grazed the garrote bruise, I held back my flinch. The pain stung, but it wasn’t enough to make me wince. I refused.

That seemed like something I would have to unpack later. Right now, I put my hand over Arven’s and asked him again if he paid a woman for trying to kill me.

A sly smile reached the corners of his mouth. Red light winked in the depths of his eyes. “I don’t want her to lose the money she’s trying to make just because you’re better than her. This way, she no longer has an incentive to hunt you. I see it as a win twice over for her. Not only does she escape with her life, but now she can pay off her debts as well.”

“How do you know she has debts?” I tilted my head into his hand that still lingered near my shoulder.

“Why else would anyone take you on? Desperation is the only reason anyone would attack you.”

Despite the pain in my neck, I bit my lip and grinned. Self-satisfaction flooded my body and left me warmer than ever. I stepped into the embrace of Arven’s arms and marveled at how much had changed in my life.

Arvensawme. He’d witnessed who I’d become and, instead of trying to fix me, he praised me. He knew exactly who I wanted to be now. There was no going back to the shy princess that I’d been. I’d acquired a taste for blood and violence, and Arven wasn’t the kind of man to hold me back.

But as we approached the next couch on the show room floor, I stared blankly at the chenille fabric and wondered if he would put me to work for his armies now. The man had a kingdom to defend. There was still a crown upon his head, and he would have to go back to his throne eventually.

Where would that leave me? I knew that he loved me and understood me, but I didn’t want to get pulled into elven politics ever again. I wasn’t a frontline fighter with hopes and dreams to protect. I was just a woman doing her best, and nothing more.

I pulled away from Arven before we could move on to the next couch. When I caught myself wringing my hands like I was a nervous teenager all over again, I forced them down to my sides.

Arven looked back with open concern. The man never bothered to hide anything from me, though I knew he couldn’t hide anything fromanyone.

I plopped down onto the chenille couch and put my elbows on my knees. Staring at the scuffed floor of the showroom, I tried to gather my thoughts and put this in a way that wouldn’t insult his entire reason for being. I, on the other hand, wasn’t a pawn in anyone’s game.

Not even his.

Fucking wars.

“Listen,” I began. “I know you’re going to have to go back to your throne—”

“I won’t.”

My head snapped up. The din of chatter from other shoppers around us made me think that I’d misheard him for a moment.

I threw myself into what I was saying without hesitation. “When you go back, I can’t fight for you. There is no force in this world that I would kneel to. Not even you and your crown.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. He extended a hand towards me, an offer to help me up. “I’m not going back. I gave the crown to my brother. He wanted it anyway, so I have faith it’s in good hands for now.”

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