With a flash of speed, he was by her side, just as she knew he would be, a darker shadow against the inky blackness of the sky. The taste and feel of his chakra swarmed the air, and she knew he did nothing to check the emotions rioting through him.
“You hurt as I do,” she whispered.
A beat of silence settled vibrating with unspoken emotions.
“You’ve left the council stunned,” he murmured.
“Have I?”
“You announced you were not pure. Princess, I—”
“Yes, I know,” she said with a soft mocking laugh, tilting her face to his. "Princesses are supposed to be pure on their wedding nights. I will do my duty, but I will not sacrifice a night of happiness…of pleasure for myself for a man whom I met fifteen minutes ago. For a man who only cares I am a body which houses the power they want to control.”
“I will only offer this once,” he said, his voice almost a snarl.
She pressed her hand against his chest. “Offer me what?”
“Run away with me.”
The world shattered at her feet when she saw how much it cost him—his honor, his loyalty to her brother, and his dedication to his realm and protection of his people. Damnable tears slipped down her cheeks. “You would do that for me?”
Grief darkened his eyes. “Yes.”
“There is a place inside of me that wants to run away. A small place…but it is there.”
The need for his touch was sharper and more tormenting than she could remember.
His arms came around her. “And there is a similar place within me that would run…with you, away from duty…away from war. Where would we go?” he murmured gruffly.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and he dragged her into the protective shelter of his embrace. “Do not cry, Xian.”
“Where do you think we could go Gavyn?”
“Earth…Ceres…Titan…”
And she felt the pain and tension in him at the very idea of leaving their people behind to face such a monster as the empire alone.
“I heard that it is beautiful on Earth,” she whispered, burying her face into the solid wall of his chest. “And the portals to that realm is easily accessible. We could…just leave it all behind.”
“But we will not,” he murmured, kissing atop her head.
“ Ajali always carried the burden of Nuria on his shoulders. He has sacrificed much for our kingdom, for our family. It is my turn, and it is an honor to do so," Xian said hoarsely, moving out of his arms, and leaning against the balcony railing.
His eyes glittered with something she couldn't read, something frightening.
Her heart leaped, stuttered, and then began to pound. Xian took a steady breath. “I’ve spent the last three hours with the harem masters.”
He made no sound, but the air shifted, and a hum of energy wild and primal raced across her skin before it was ruthlessly contained.
“They tried to educate me on the pleasures I would eventually bestow upon the man I marry…and the delights he would inflict on my body.”
He slammed his eyes shut. “No more.”
Something warm and tender shifted inside her chest. “I cannot marry the prince…until I have taken something for myself. The world…my life…has taken much. My liberty, my choices in where I travel and whom I love. I will have you tonight as my consort, Gavyn.”
Heat washed through the room, and the ground pitched beneath her feet.
A long, tension-filled silence stretched between them.