“But you’ll always beMy Queen.” He pauses. His voice drops lower. “My wife. My love.”
We come to a stop under a towering oak tree, its canopy bursting with life. Alden pivots me around so I’m facing him properly. I feel like an actress in a movie — trying to muster up emotions that do not belong to me for the sake of someone else.
What’s my line?
“Emilia,” he says, quite seriously.
“Yes?”
“I know for you, this wedding — this marriage — was born from a sense of duty. But… for me… it is about something quite different.” His hazel eyes are brimming with emotion. “Since we first met, I have admired you. Your strength, your courage. Your beauty. Your determination.”
“Alden—”
“Allow me to finish. Please.”
I bite my lip to contain my objections.
“Tomorrow, when I become your husband… I want you to know, I do it not out of duty or obligation, but as a man deeply under your spell.” His fingers lace with mine, tightening gently to underscore his declaration. “I am in love with you, Emilia.”
I feel my mouth gape open, shock reverberating through me like I’ve been electrocuted. “Alden, I… I don’t know what to say…”
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know. Before we take our vows before God and our countrymen. Before we move into this castle as man and wife. Before we consummate this marriage… I do love you. And I will be here, loving you, until your heart is ready to reciprocate.”
I look into his eyes, wishing I could offer him assurance of my affections without it being a fabrication. Wishing I was capable of returning the feelings he so eloquently expressed.
But I will not lie to him.
And, the truth is, my heart… it is no longer mine to give away. Not when it already beats for someone else.
It will forever beat for someone else.
Pulse pounding, I reach up and lay one hand against Alden’s cheek. “Thank you for telling me. I value your honesty and your friendship more than you will ever know.”
Something flashes in his eyes when I say the wordfriendship, but he hides it away too quickly for me to decipher. Clearing his throat, he forces a bright smile.
“They say when a woman gets married, she needs something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a slim velvet box. Inside, there’s a stunning sapphire bracelet. It glitters like starlight as he pulls it from the bed of satin and clasps it around my wrist. “Here is yoursomething blue, my dear.”
“Oh, Alden,” I murmur. “This is too generous.”
“Nonsense.”
“It must’ve cost a fortune.”
“Don’t you know by now that there is nothing I would not give you?” he whispers ardently, leaning in until our faces are a hairsbreadth apart. “That there is nothing I would not do for you? If you asked, I would die for you. I would kill for you. I would protect you from anyone who seeks to hurt you. What else must I do to prove that?”
For the love of God…
What’s my damn line?
But there is no one there to tell me what to say and I have no words of my own to offer him. So there, beneath a three-hundred-year-old oak tree, in the fading light of a perfect August day, I arch my head back and allow my future husband to kiss me for the first time.
His lips move over mine — a light, lovely exploration. And it’s undoubtedly nice. Unquestionably pleasant.
The perfect kiss from the perfect man at the perfect moment.
If only my broken heart agreed.
* * *