The Broken Kingdoms of Osvolta (Kingdoms of Osvolta #1)

66. Say Yes

Chapter sixty-six

Say Yes

S olveig wandered the halls of the library, searching for distraction from the wayward journey her thoughts had taken. She cleared the first floor, wandering up and up, looking for all the world as though she were searching for a particular book. Yet the names etched on cracked and aged spines didn’t register. She hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings at all as she walked straight into a tall figure. Their broad back was draped with a fine silk blend jacket, the blue so dark it was almost black.

“Sorry, I wasn’t…” she began as her eyes raised in the same moment the figure turned to her and she looked up into the blue-eyed gaze of the prince.

“By all means, continue that train of thought. It’ll be twice in one day you’ve apologised to me.” He smirked. Solveig continued to stare up at him for a moment, before thinking better of what she was about to say and moving to walk by him instead.

“Excuse me,” she muttered.

But Emmerich was no fool. He’d spent the last month watching her every move, down to the twitch of her fingers, when she became aggravated. The woman before him, though, was as close to a ghost as he thought he would ever see. Without a second thought, he reached out gently to grab her arms, the familiar tingling warmth spreading through his fingers; along his palm and up his arm.

“What is it?” he whispered, as though she were a creature that was easy to startle as he gently tugged on her hand, pulling her toward him.

Solveig stared down at their joined hands, desperately trying to hide the reaction he wrought upon her.

“Don’t insult me by pretending you care,” she rushed, trying to tug her hand free.

His eyes darkened at her words, “when did I ever give you the impression that I didn’t care,” he seethed, growing tired of dancing around what he felt for her. Tired of her throwing accusations at him based solely on his reputation and not the man she knew. He wanted her to see him, as he had grown to see her. All the dark, gnarly, twisted roots that made her who she was. He hadn’t turned away. Yet she continued to hold him back with every step.

Still, she would not meet his gaze, had no answer to voice, as he waited minute after minute, staring down at that maddeningly beautiful face. Her skin tinged with a soft glow from days spent in the Farrenhold sun, her dark as night hair had a few lighter strands running through it. On the outside, she was more approachable, and yet somehow, despite everything that had happened, she was more closed off than ever.

As time wore on, an exasperated growl ripped from his throat, jaw clenching. He gripped her hand tighter, pulling her deeper into the dark alcoves of the library for privacy, heartened at least because she hadn’t objected.

Solveig followed his every step without fumble or hesitation. Once they were hidden away, he crowded her against the stacks; his arms raising to frame either side of her head, his body so close it stole all her senses.

That inexplicable pull thrummed between them, leaving Solveig no choice but to look up into his shadowed face, meeting his scorching gaze head on. Here in the dark, where she felt safest, he looked for all the world as if he could be any ordinary man, and she desperately wanted him to be. How was it fair that she had loved and lost in such a cruel and catastrophic way, only for her next chance to be forever out of reach?

“Talk to me,” he whispered, lowering his mouth close to her ear. His breath against the side of her neck sent waves of gooseflesh across her skin.

“It’s nothing,” she gritted out. “I’m tired.”

Emmerich brought one hand down to grip her waist, the other still shielding her face from view.

“Lean on me. I can handle it.”

“Why? In the end, it would all be for nought.”

“Stop fighting.”

“It’s not that simple. Fight is all I have done every day for the last four years.”

“Then I’ll teach you.”

“You don’t have that kind of time,” she laughed, as a voice in her head whispered, neither do you .

“I’m a prince.” He smiled. “I have all the time I want.”

“You’re a prince who has already been away from his kingdom for far too long.”

“So, come sailing with me then. Let me show you the far reaches of Osvolta that I know you’ve longed to see.”

She stared at him, eyes wide, mouth agape. “How did you?” Her words died on her tongue as he placed a soft, warm kiss, feather light against the spot on her neck where her pulse raced beneath her skin.

“I watched you when you thought no one was. In the darkest and quietest moments, searching the distant horizon. Staring out beyond the mountains and oceans. I’ve sailed the seas enough to know longing when I see it.” He pressed another kiss, just below her ear this time; the tip of his nose grazing her cheek. “I can show you the pieces of Osvolta you’re missing. From the towering black of the Ignis Mountains, to the treacherous passage of the Dead Strait, all the way to the glimmering beacon of my home shore.” His head rose, so he could look her in the eyes once more, and she found only sincerity lying there. “If you’d let me, I’d take you to the edge of the known world and beyond.”

A small, frustrated moan found its way out of the princess’s lips as she immediately missed the warmth of his mouth on her neck.

“Say yes.”

She longed to see the distant shores of Osvolta. But more than anything else, she wanted to see them with him, and that was a dangerous notion, a fool’s hope. Her head fell back against the stacks he had her crowded up against, desperately trying to figure out a way through. She was at a crossroads, return to Torrelin and hope the answers to her plight lay there or see more of the world before nature called her home.

“I—” Emmerich brought one long finger up against her lips, halting her words, his eyes burning with mischievous fire. “Before you tell me no again, and wound my ego further, I have a proposition for you.” He paused, waiting for her to object. Only continuing when she showed no signs of doing so.

“Spend the day with me tomorrow, no researching, no commitments, no titles, just Emmerich and Solveig. Two ordinary people enjoying the Harvest Festival and then you can decide.” He stepped closer again. “Let me show you that you can lean on me.”

Solveig stared into the endless depths of his eyes, emotion and sense warring within her. She wanted more than anything to throw caution to the wind and march straight onto his ship with him, sail away and never return.

“I’ll go to the festival with you.” A grin spread wide and bright across the prince’s handsome face, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him, at the quiet joy she beheld in his gaze.

“My dear Princess, one day you’re going to realise that I will happily take whatever crumbs you deign to give me.” His face drew closer to hers. Solveig’s breathing hitched as she craved his lips on hers.

“Emmerich!” He froze, his mouth achingly close.

“Fuck,” he whispered, bringing his forehead against hers instead, savouring the last few seconds of her touch, her scent, of her.

“Tomorrow,” he whispered, eyes alight.

“Tomorrow,” she whispered, and he tore himself away from her, heading back toward Wrenn. Solveig, dazed and breathless, found her way back down to the ground floor where Adira was waiting for her, worry marring their brow.

“Where have you been?”

“I think I agreed to go on a date,” Solveig whispered. Adira’s jaw practically hit the floor.

“With whom?”

“Emmerich,” she forced out. “Tomorrow.”