"A king may belong to a kingdom, but a man belongs to the one who holds his heart."
ALARICS POV
The message had come sooner than I wanted. A guard at the door, bowing stiffly, voice careful, saying Marcus required me in the kingdom office. Urgent, he had added, though what in this kingdom was not urgent these days? I should have moved at once. Duty demanded it. The crown demanded it, but when I turned back to Elias, I knew I would not obey immediately.
He stood near the window, firelight and moonlight mingling against his skin, his chest rising and falling as though he had been holding his breath ever since the knock. His eyes met mine, those impossible eyes, storm-tossed and secret, and the thought of leaving him now, even for an hour, wanted to tear me in half. I crossed the room in two strides, my hand finding his wrist before he could retreat into that silence he wore like armor. "Elias," I murmured, the word heavy with everything I could not say aloud.
