CHAPTER FIVE
“FOOLISHNESS!” SHESAID, without even thinking. “I cannot marry you.”
“And why not?”
“You said you didn’t want power,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “A lie. You are making the ultimate power grab now that you are here.”
“You brought me here—you can hardly accuse me of engineering it. But think about it. What stronger stance will you take as a Queen than having a King beside you? And I can protect you, truly protect you. I can be in your chamber at night.”
Heat crackled up her spine. “You said you did not want my body.”
“I do not. But this is a traditional country. Do you think you won’t create rumors by bringing me here? Me? With my reputation?”
Her eyes went narrow and bright. “Okay. I see. But...but to what end?”
“Any end. The end that makes the most sense.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
“The good I can do commanding an army outstrips what I can do alone. Don’t you think?”
“For how long?” she asked, her chest squeezing tight. “How long would we have to...?”
“For life. A royal marriage cannot be anything else, but we can live separate lives.”
“And...and children?” she asked, her throat dry as sandpaper.
“There will have to be children. For your kingdom.” His words were like stone. “But no need to concern ourselves with them for now, don’t you think?”
She shook her head, her ears buzzing like they were filled with bees. “Years.”
“Years,” he agreed.
“I am angry with you,” she said, her heart thundering hard. “Because this is not stupid. Not foolish. But I do not want it.”
“I didn’t want to come here in the first place, but you brought me. If you bring a lion into your house, you cannot be angry when he goes on the hunt, can you?”
She sat there, her scalp and cheeks burning with shame.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Sex,” she responded.
“A topic you seem invested in.”
Her face was like fire now. “Well, you asked me for marriage, and that means it matters. Is what they say about you true?”
“Who, and what?”
“The papers. They say you’re very wicked. That you...that you have an insatiable appetite for women. In a sexual sense.”
“I understood what you meant.”
“Well, I find that I’m curious. If it is true.”
“No.”
Her stomach felt something strange. It was a lot like disappointment, though it shouldn’t have been. “Oh.”