Page 30 of Romancing the Throne
Silrisar hummed under his breath, then said, “Maybe he didn’t say anything because you were so determined to marry the prince, hmm?”
My heart fluttered as I considered it. Ihadbeen very single-minded in my pursuit of Prince Aldian, and Elowin had respected that, just like he’d respected all of my wishes.
“Perhaps,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter now. He won’t want me after the spectacle I just made of myself.”
“Well,” Silrisar said, a grin splitting his face, “for someone who isn’t interested, he seems very intent on finding you. Look.”
He pointed, and I saw a figure I recognized instantly striding determinedly along the path, looking from side to side. When Elowin spotted me, he started to run.
“Sparow!” he called, and he didn’t sound angry that he’d had to chase me. If anything, he sounded relieved. He quickly closed the distance between us. “Are you alright?”
My throat ached as I shook my head.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Are you really the prince’s cousin?” I asked.
He nodded. “On my mother’s side. My name is Elowin Haewen-Fyreham.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s never mattered to me,” he said, “and because I thought it wouldn’t make any difference to you. You came here to marry Aldian, Sparrow.”
I blinked back fresh tears. “Yes. But then my magic didn’t work and everyone laughed.”
Elowin sighed. “And is that all that’s preventing you, then?”
“Well, he doesn’twantme,” I said and then added, in almost a whisper, “and maybe I don’t want him either.”
Elowin’s mouth twitched. “Say it again.”
I glanced at Silrisar, and he smiled and nudged me with his elbow. I said, “Maybe I don’t want him either.” My lip wobbled. “But I’m the Fyreham Lathian! I’m supposed to want him!”
Elowin snorted. “Why? So your parents can afford to hire a maid?”
“My mother really hates making cheese,” I said in a small voice. “She’s terrible at it, Elowin.”
“I know,” he said. “Your parents gave me refreshments when I met you.” He shrugged. “I’m the prince’s cousin, Sparrow. I can afford to hire your parents a maid. Marry me?”
My jaw dropped and the blood pounded in my ears. It was the perfect solution! My parents might be disappointed I wasn’t marrying the prince, but if Elowin granted them enough money to hire a maid, and possibly even a gardener, then they would at last be restored to the manner the Cranhawc-Hazelthorns, in their gentility, deserved. Elowin wasn’t a prince, but he was a noble elf, and I liked him. Ilovedhim. And perhaps he loved me too, and not only for the length of my hair or my impeccable manners. He loved me in taverns, when I was drunk and playing the lute. He loved me in the woods, when I was tangled in a bush. He loved me on hot air balloons, when I told him about birds to distract him from being sick.
Marriage to Elowin was the perfect solution becausehewas perfect.
I should have said yes.
Instead, I said, “But.”
“But what?” Elowin asked me, and my answer tumbled out before I even knew what it was going to be.
“But maybe I don’t want to get married at all,” I said, dizzy as I heard the words and realized that I meant them. “Maybe I want to do the things you said I could do, like play the lute, or work with Rowan, or buy a horse and travel the continent. Or maybe I want to do different things to that.”
Elowin smiled. “Then that’s fine too. But would it be alright if I wanted to do those things with you?”
“Oh yes,” I said, relieved and delighted. “Yes! That would be wonderful!”
Elowin reached out and touched my knee, and I leaned forward into his kiss. I closed my eyes, reveling in the touch of his lips, the way his hands found a resting place on my hips, and the bubbles that burst in my bloodstream just from kissing and being kissed by Elowin.
“Well, would you look at that?” Silrisar murmured.
