Page 81 of Shadow Mark

“It is difficult to say. Some are common, like summoning wings, but abilities are unique to the individual, and they develop on their own schedule,” Baris said.

He reached up and plucked a strand of still-green vine. He reached for her hand, clasping her wrist, binding them with the vine, and pressing his bleeding palm to hers.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

LENORE

“What are you doing?” Lenore tugged her hand away, which only tightened the vine. He was bleeding, smearing blood everywhere, including her injured thumb. Bloodborne pathogens aside, it was gross. “This is so unhygienic. You’ll get an infection.”

“Remain still,” he said, not releasing his hold on her. “My feelings for you have not changed since my first confession of love. Quite the opposite, I find that I have grown ever more devoted to you. I adore you. You are my last thought before sleep and my first thought on waking. I love you more than is reasonable. More than is advisable.”

His words made her pause. Love. That was a dangerous word for a king.

She felt his love. It was in the way he sought her out in every room, like she was the brightest star in the sky. She felt treasured. He had such patience for her endless questions, answering them thoughtfully. He gave her so much, not just gifts or strong-arming her way into the Royal Academy, but time, a resource more valuable than all the jewels in the crown.

He continued, “My initial proposal was worded poorly.”

“It was insulting.”

He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I have always known that I was destined to wear the crown. From my earliest days, I was shaped and prepared for this. The needs of the kingdom are greater than my own. I was made to lead but also made to be sacrificed.” He paused, searching for the correct words. “I am not seeking pity. I only wish to clarify. I have always placed the needs of the crown above my own. I have never chosen for myself.”

She couldn’t tell where he was going with this. “I’m listening.”

He clasped his other hand over their joined hands. “You are the first thing I have chosen for myself, just for Baris Shadowmark, and I will always choose you.”

“Those flaws you mentioned before, they haven’t changed. I’m still unconnected, no money, and all that. I’m as bad of a choice now as I was then.” Probably worse. “I’m not diplomatic at all.”

“I do not need my queen for diplomacy. I have an entire office of trained diplomats.”

“I don’t know much about your culture. I’ll make blunders and cause, I don’t know, a diplomatic incident.”

“No more than I. We’ll keep the public relations team busy. It was time they earned their keep.” He grinned. When she didn’t return the smile, his expression grew serious. “If this is unwanted, I apologize. I will respect your decision and never mention it again.”

“I…I don’t know,” she said, which sounded so tepid and indifferent that she was angry with herself on his behalf. “I do care for you. Tremendously.”

“But you do not love me.” His shoulders slumped.

“I didn’t say that,” she said quickly. This was horrible, like kicking a puppy. “I guess I haven’t allowed myself to consider it. You’re a king, for crying out loud. We’re from two different worlds, and I can’t even believe I’m about to say this, literally. Literally two different worlds. Everyone assumes I was your plaything, and I assumed that too.”

His grip tightened and he brought his forehead to hers. His eyes fluttered shut. “Never.”

“Why me? I don’t understand that.” She wasn’t fishing for compliments; her self-esteem was robust enough to verge on egotistical. She wanted to know his reasoning for ignoring his duty and all the expectations placed upon him.

“You trust me,” he said simply. “You should not, but you do. Even when we could not communicate, when I found you in the jungle, you trusted me.”

“Of course I trust you,” Lenore said, remembering their first encounter. “You wore silk in a jungle. You were so out of place, and you clearly didn’t want to be there. I thought, stick with that guy; he knows how to get hot water and clean clothes.”

He huffed with amusement. “You did not.”

“Prove it,” she said. For a moment, the seriousness of the conversation was forgotten, turning to banter between friends.

Foreheads still together, his eyes opened. Vivid blue eyes bore down on her. He said, “The day we met, I was fresh from the funeral of my first queen.”

“I didn’t realize.” She knew he was a widower but did not know the timing of it. Now, her quip seemed crude and insensitive. “Did you love her?”

“No. I did not know her, and I did not grieve for her. That day, the day fate gave you to me, I slaughtered her family.”

Lenore pulled away, stepping back as far as she could with their hands tied. “What?”

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