Page 200 of The Crown’s Temptation

He closed his eyes. “You have been gone.”

Dread curled cold in my stomach.

“I have been.”

“And we have two children.”

“We do.”

“But you have a crown. Blood relatives that are alive. Many admirers. And power.”

He drew in a breath. “You have quite literally died and come back to life.”

“Yes, I have. I doubt that negates our marriage.”

He shook his head quietly. “That is not the point of the question.”

“What is the point of the question then?”

“You are here. Alive. Awake. Your power is present and you can go anywhere you would like. Having my children does not mean you have to be forever bound to me.”

“You are giving me a choice,” I said slowly. “To stay married or to reenter our world as an entirely different version of myself that is unattached to anyone or anything. That can choose any man and any life.”

He nodded. His face was calm. “Your uncle and cousin are in Veynar. They could escort you back. Or you could stay here not as my lover but we could… coexist for Fiorakis’s leadership.” He paused. “Or you could leave completely.”

I stood quietly and looked at him. I put on my clothes quickly and silently. And I walked away.

He did not stop me.

The Knife

COLSAR

Colsar had been sitting there for some time, staring at the far wall with no real sense of how long it had been since Asharin walked away. He had known this moment might come, that when given the choice, she might choose a fresh start for herself. He could not blame her. Even if she loved him, perhaps love was not enough to outweigh everything else she had now. Her crown, her family, her power, her second chance at life. This pain was different from the one that had hollowed him out when he believed her dead. This one he could carry if it were her decision. If she were happy on the other side of it.

A sound at the tunnel mouth broke the silence. He looked up, heart lurching, as Asharin stepped through. Another voice followed hers, female and low.

“I am not qualified, truly⁠—”

“But you are.”

Asharin appeared first. Just seeing her made his chest tighten so intensely it almost stopped his breath. Behind her came Fiersa. Colsar recognized her at once.

“You’re Iavis’s sister,” he said.

“Yes,” Fiersa answered with a small smile.

Normally he would wonder why the fuck she was here, in his chamber uninvited, but his mind could only focus on Asharin.

She walked to him slowly, her hands trembling as she held out a black box. “Open it. Pick out the jewelry that suits me best.”

He did not know what sort of strange test this was but obliged all the same.

He lifted the lid. Inside lay rows of jewelry—sapphires, emeralds, diamonds—none of them right for her. None of them looked like something she would wear.

“I do not know,” he said. “None of these⁠—”

She stepped closer, close enough that he could feel the warmth of her. “Exactly. None of them suit me.”