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“Yes,” Arphaxad said. “Luckily, it was the same conclusion I was coming to on my own, but they . . . helped move me along.”
Cassandra’s pulse hammered in her throat. She couldn’t allow herself to hope that he was about to say what she thought he was.
“It would be good for Medira and Rendra if there was a marriage alliance,” he plowed on. “And since I was the previous candidate with Ineti, it seemed like a good idea if I were again, but with Rendra.” He absently reached for the daggers that weren’t there on his belt, then stopped when he realized what he was doing. “And I would come to live here and help with your information network. I already have someone primed as my successor in Medira. And you know how I feel about working for my king anyway.”
Cassandra stared at him, trying to push her brain to catch up with the words that were coming out of his mouth. An alliance. He was offering an alliance.
“Damn it,” he said, turning away from her and pacing to the wall. “I’m not saying this very well.”
“You’re—you’re doing fine,” Cassandra said. “I—don’t stop now.”
He turned back to face her, his eyes glowing. “What I’m trying to say, Cass,” he continued, “is that I love you.” For once, he sounded unsure of himself—not unsure of the words, but unsure of her response. “I have for a long time. I can't get you out of my head. Every time I thought I might run into you on a mission, I went for it. Damn it, I was hoping I would find you at the enclave and I did.” His mouth tilted. “You’re witty and intelligent and beautiful and you drive me absolutely insane, but I love every part of it. Of you.”
Cassandra couldn’t look away, couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.
“I tried so hard to forget you,” he said. “And then there you were, doing your best to snark your way through an entire enclave of chanters and rogue Inetians. And I was completely lost.”
He took a step toward her, energy snapping between them. Her mind was a blank, her emotions whirling in a heightened twister of want and elation and disbelief. He was in love with her. After everything. He wanted her, just as much as she wanted him.
“Cass,” he said. “I—will you marry me?”
Cassandra’s pulse thundered in her ears, and she opened her mouth, but he hurried on. “Please don’t say yes out of obligation to the queen. I only want you to say yes if it’s what you actually want.”
“Yes,” she said, almost before he had stopped speaking.
“Yes?” He looked as stunned as she felt.
“Yes,” she said. She didn’t know what to do with her hands or her feet or her body. What had she been doing with them all this time anyway?
“You’re sure?” he said, taking another step toward her, his face lighting up like a puppy’s.
“Yes, you dimwit,” she snapped, but she couldn’t keep a stupid grin from sliding across her face.
Now Arphaxad was grinning too. He reached out his hand, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. His thumb slid along her jaw just as it had that evening in the forest above the enclave. Cassandra’s breath hitched sharply. “This is where we left off, wasn’t it?” he said, his voice rough.
“I think so,” Cassandra whispered. Tension vibrated in every sinew of her body. “What was it you were planning to do next?”
“I had a few thoughts.” He grinned, his fingers sliding along her jaw and moving to cup the back of her neck.
“I love you,” she said, because she realized she hadn’t said it yet.
His breath hitched, and then he was kissing her, pulling her body flush against him, and her hands twined around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair, just like she’d pretended she hadn’t thought about doing every time she’d ever seen him, and he was tracing along her back with his fingers, and she never wanted it to end.
This. This was everything she had ever dreamed of. The thing she’d thought was impossible. And now he was here, and he was hers, and she couldn’t understand how it had happened. Just that morning, she had been mired in the wall of malaise, trying her best to forget him and to move on.
Her heart soared. There were still so many things to talk through, to iron out, between politics and roles and what Medira would get and what Rendra wanted and her ridiculous, wonderful, amazing sister and her schemes, but this, here, with him, this was what mattered.
“We should probably go tell the queen,” Cassandra said after a time—she wasn’t sure how long—pulling back so she could look up at him.
“Not right now we aren’t.” He spread his hand against the small of her back and pressed her closer against him. “I’m not planning on letting go of you anytime soon.”
She had no desire to argue. She leaned up and kissed him again. He laughed against her mouth, a sound of pure joy, as he deepened the kiss, his hands sliding up her back and into her hair.
This was joy and love and belonging. There was an alliance to build and an emperor to placate and an enclave to find a home for, but they would face them in time, together. For now, the other things could wait.
Epilogue
The wedding was a spectacle.
