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“By faith, by rite, by blood. Let my word and yours no longer be two. Let our lips speak as one, and our hearts pulse in time. I offer you soul and self, unto death. I. Am. Yours. Will you give yourself to me?”

A strange, strangled cry rose behind him. I didn’t understand—it wasn’t the same vow Breckon had offered, or that Lady Ashford had described. But Voski stood, staring at me, his countenance casual, while the bond pulsed with hope and fear and the tender fragility I’d come to recognize as his fear fighting vulnerability.

“Yes,” I breathed, then I remembered his instruction—to mirror him. I stumbled once or twice, but he gave me the words through the link where I’d forgotten.

“My Lord Vane Xavier Ashford—”

The nobles gasped and his mother swore. The king’s brows shot up, and Breckon snarled. But I plowed on, hurrying in case they tried to stop us. “My word is my blood, and I offer both to you. Everything that is mine, I make yours. Mind, body, and soul. By faith, by rite, by blood. Let my word and yours no longer be two. Let our lips speak as one, and our hearts pulse in time. I offer you soul and self, unto death. I am yours. Will you give yourself to me?”

Voski’s nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply, as if bracing against a jolt of pain. But he smiled. ‘Yes, beautiful. Yes.’

I gasped as the bond sang. Something hot and bright zipped along the cord between us. My heartbeat began to race as the light and heat pinged back and forth, from my heart to his, igniting my blood, and making my skin hum.

‘What is that?’

‘The binding of a marriage vow, my beautiful wife,’ he sent, and his smile grew.

As we stared at each other, I felt him in the link and knew the vow was real, no matter what came out of his mouth. He nodded, and beamed.

‘It is, and always will be yes between us, Grace. But now… hold on, because this is where the Heir makes himself Apparent,’ he murmured in the bond. And, to the watching royals, his eyes glittered, and his smile turned predatory as, in answer to my vowed question—Will you give yourself to me?—instead of the affirmation he’d given me in the bond, they heard him hiss, “There’s no need. You’re already mine.”

Then he descended on me. And all hell broke loose.

A Public Display

~ VOSKI ~

The court shrieked with scandal and protest. The royals were on their feet. The guards around the room glanced uneasily at the furor rising around them.

Meanwhile, I kissed Grace fervently.

My mother trembled with fury at my back. I could feel the heat of her disapproval and frustrated rage behind me. But the eruption of the court around us was a distraction that gave me a moment to breathe—and thank God that Grace had trusted me.

This was where things grew very tricky. Yet, I couldn’t let Grace see ahead. She was surrounded by deft liars. Her responses had to be natural.

At least she was safe now. Tied to me in their eyes—and perhaps more importantly, I was tied to her. Though, I’d confused them. From their perspectives, I’d offered the root of a truly binding vow—not a vow to move together to gain power, but one that put my power in her service. And she had first offered herself in return. But then, they believed, I’d never closed the loop. I’d taken her acceptance, and never locked into my tie to her.

They didn’t know that I had—and gladly. Within the link between us, I’d completed that vow. I was her slave if she so wanted. And I had received her vow in return through our link. We had given ourselves to each other without equivocation.

Yet, because they never heard the words, in their minds it was unclear. I hadn’t closed the loop. Now, they protested because they couldn’t decide if we were both tied, or Grace alone was under my thrall.

I had only a short window to convince them that I’d just made a deft power play, and Grace was fully mine, while I’d retained some of my own power.

God, help me.

“What is the meaning of this!” the king barked.

The room quieted, but the murmurs and whispers remained.

I straightened, pulling Grace upright once more, and touching her face once, making them all wait before I replied to the king—a power play of its own that would piss him off greatly. But the man was a wart. I would not dance the line of respect with him any longer.

Locking eyes with him over Grace’s golden head, I dropped the smile. “I have no further patience for your self-protection and bumbling.” As Burk’s eyes widened with offense, I turned to swing the accusation to the watching court. “That goes for any of you. The old blood is alive.”

“What the fuck are you up to, Ava?” the king snarled.

Mother stiffened as she stepped forward, but she couldn’t allow them to see her unease. I’d pinned her.

Because she’d never willingly make herself vulnerable to another human being, she hadn’t believed I’d hand myself over to Grace. Hadn’t believed I’d trust my power in anyone else’s hands—which allowed her a gateway to continue to wrestle it from me. Just as she’d done when I was fifteen and held the Dominus mark.