Page 37 (1/2)

It was the “please” that broke her Sloan h the tears in her eyes

“It would be his honor to have you as his queen You will ood at his side Don’t let your past stop you fro a future few of us could drea about being able to be with a person you truly love and who truly loves you back”

Sloan wanted to believe She wanted to stop being so afraid of the unknoith Xan, just as she was unafraid of the unknohen captaining her crew through the uncertainty of space Could I do it? Could I be strong enough to stand beside Xan as his queen?

Chapter 29

The week since Sloan had left included some of the hardest days of his life Not only because Xan wanted her at his side but also because he wasn’t there to protect her He knew she was inclined to take risks, especially when it cahtlya co

It wasn’t until he’d received a delayed deep space co hi theht knot in his chest was no longer as big as it had been as he saw her shuttle depart Xan knew she should be arriving soon

In thea nuisance She insisted on having another ball, for what purpose he didn’t know His mother seemed completely immune to every stateible daughters of various prominent families and council members He was polite and listened when they spoke, but every atteet him alone with a woman was met with a quick and firm “no”

If she wasn’t the Queen Regent and technically still able to keep hi the throne, he would have packed her up and sent her to one of the country estates immediately At this point, Xan didn’t even know if he wanted to take the throne The thought of all this tediurit his teeth and clench his fists

“Xan, do you honestly think Sloan can ever be completely happy here?”

Xan’s shoulders sluht He had seen how excited Sloan hen she’d told hi humans She’d looked the happiest he had seen her since they arrived at the palace Was he selfish to keep her here? To keep her away from her crew?

“Mother, she will be my queen, and I love her”

“I know you love her, son, and I know she loves you, but there are tih It is only a matter of time before she resents you because you’ve taken the life she loves away from her”

“She can do so ood as a queen Sloan doesn’t need to be a captain to do that”

“She doesn’t need to be, but do you think she would want that life?” Xan honestly didn’t have an answer for his mother His hands felt sweaty, and his heart raced at the thought of losing Sloan Losing her when she grew to resent hi captain and with her crew or losing her when she decided she didn’t want to stay on D’Arian with him

“Son, I know you care greatly for this woround Soround can only hurt you both,” she said, laying on his shoulder Xan felt tears prick the back of his eyes, and he blinked hard to push them back