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“I know.” I spread my fingers in my lap, looking down at the skin that seems to have betrayed my will. “But there’s no point in sugarcoating it. This little affliction of mine is an inconvenience. We agreed not to be intimate, but we can work together on appearing like a normal couple in public.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call it that.” He frowns.
“What?”
“An affliction,” he says. “We’re all bound to our past in one way or another, whether it be physical or mental. There’s nothing abnormal about it. If you want to change it, I’ll help you. But you’re not an inconvenience. Not to me.”
“You seem wise for your age,” I tell him, not knowing what else to say, even if his words meant the world to me. “You’re right, of course. But still, if I want to do well as a queen, being physically present is just as necessary as history lessons and understanding your people.”
“Wise for my age?” One blue brow cocks up in amusement. “Like I said, we’re bound to our past… I had to grow up quickly.”
“We can share all our bumps and bruises with each other in due time,” I say. “Not being intimate doesn’t mean we can’t be close, right?”
“I agree completely,” he says, eyes sparkling over the top of his glass as he takes a swig. “Just be careful of what I told you. I won’t be held responsible when you fall in love with me.”
“If,” I correct him. “I guess you didn’t take time to consider anything at all since our last conversation?”
“I considered many things. Very seriously,” he says. “I considered what you might wear on the day we dance the mating dance all painted in blue and red. I considered which of your many lovely features our heirs might receive—you did mention we’re having more than one in the paperwork, I recall. I’d hope they might have your brown eyes.”
I nearly choke on my sip of water when he brings up the heirs again. I’m trying to figure out what I could possibly reply, when I hear the outer entrance doors sweep open. A glance up reveals that it’s Havi, Mak’s secretary, rushing toward us from the lobby.
“You’ll excuse my interruption, but I assumed you would want to have this completed as soon as possible.” He holds out a large tablet and a stylus. “It’s all been sorted as requested, including the prenuptial agreement, which I’ve integrated into this contract. With your signatures, I’ll submit it to all the necessary administrative databases.”
“Are you ready?” Mak asks me. “After this, you’ll have to divorce me to be rid of me.”
The attendant wrinkles his nose but says nothing.
“I’ll teach you a fun human phrase. It goes, ‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’” I wiggle my eyebrows at him.
He snaps up the stylus and gets to signing his extremely long name in the swirling Kar’Kali script.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he repeats, flourishing the final character before handing the stylus to me. “It sounds applicable to many things.”
I stare at the box where I must enter my information and sign my name next to his.
“This might be one of the crazier things I’ve done,” I sigh as I tap in my Alliance identification code.
“This is nothing. Have you ever made a pact with someone you thought should be your mortal enemy?” His light, teasing smile cannot hide the sheer thrill twinkling in his eyes as he watches me.
My hands are surprisingly steady as I loop through my signature and hand the stylus back to the advisor.
“That’s it?” I ask, but he’s already rushing out of the room clutching the tablet against his chest.
“After all that, I guess I should give him tomorrow off…” Mak muses, tapping his forefinger to his chin.
“So, we’re married?”
The king nods, not bothering to hide his triumphant smile.
“You are my mate now,” he says, reclining back against the base of the lounge seating. “What’s the word in your language?”
“Husband.” I point to him. “Wife.” I point to myself. In the interest of cultural exchange and politeness, I try out the Kar’Kali word he used.
“Ti kori,” I say, hoping my pronunciation isn’t embarrassingly bad. I’ve heard both Kaye and Raina’s mates use the phrase before. “How’s that sound?”
Mak’s eyes flare, and for a moment, I think I’m imagining the change in him. But sure enough, the blacks of his eyes are expanding. They grow so large that they threaten to snuff out the bright ring of teal that makes his gaze so striking.
Then, as quickly as the strange reaction began, it stops. The black contracts back to a normal size.
