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I carried another log to the fire, then sat on a fallen tree trunk to watch it burn This night seeone on forever, and all I wished for was that it , Aether Soin

Open as the sky was around us, I suddenly felt closed in, and ry? Not really, though I had every right to be Hurt? Yes, though if she had believed me to be dead, her affections for Tobias weren’t intended to cause ed nowhere, and to nobody In all the glory of being a king, I was still an unwanted orphan of the streets

Finally, she said, "While you ith the pirates, Tobias spent a long ti to help ine that took many hours"

"It was more likeway I doubted she was capable of that sort of unkindness "He told me that, back at Farthenwood, you once said you had no desire to be king Was that true, or only part of your disguise as Sage?"

A quiet sigh escapedI said at Farthenas more honest"

"We’re very different people, Jaron, but in that one e’re so much alike You never wanted the crown, nor did I In fact, in all my life, I have never been asked what I wanted"

How familiar that sounded My own complaints weren’t so different

She continued, "From the moment of my birth, I was a betrothed princess, destined for your brother When I was old enough, I left et to know Darius better Eventually, I gave my emotions to him and anticipated a life of happiness at his side Then onehe was dead Gone And al I ever felt for Darius, to pretend that I wasn’t coht that Darius’s murder was confirmed, I was suddenly faced with betrothal to another husband, to you I know that’s how things had to be, but I don’t think anyone understood how hard it was to face you, looking soas a constant reone"

"Please forgive me" I felt selfish to my core, to have dwelled so much on my oishes and frustrations that, for all this time, I had failed to consider the pain she ive," she said "The betrothal wasn’t your desire any more than it was mine Yet despite all that, we built a friendship And then as the war began, you became the first to ever ask what I wanted for my life To marry you, if I wanted, or to choose my oay I thank you for that In many ways, that is the most love anyone has ever shown me" She drew in a slow breath, and then said, "You promised never to lie to me, correct?"

"Yes"

"Then Ifor your complete honesty" When I nodded, she said, "Before we left the castle, Kerwyn suggested that you and I should estion?"

I hadn’t anticipated that question and, in fact, had barely thought about it since then I struggled with finding the right words to answer her and finally said, "Because Keras right If so this war, it preserves your role as queen"

She pressed her lips together and then said, "For you, is that reason enough to begin a e?"

In a perfect world, there would only be one reason for e, when two people loved each other more than their own lives But there were other realities of life, often requiring partnerships to be forain a provider or a cook or a coh Amarinda and I were supposed to marry because of a treaty worked out between our families Maybe people did ht about it, a treaty was the most ridiculous reason of them all