Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
I turn before Bronwyn can curse me.
Curse me or not. She will be alive at the end of the day.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Bronwyn
I approach Lach with no small amount of trepidation. Shim walks behind me, his boots shuffling along the ground. Shim didn’t argue, didn’t say much at all. He simply watched Lach walk away after ordering Duffy to not go past the river.
The gnome looked up with a sad expression on his face until Gillian took his hand and asked him to sit with her while she healed Charlie.
A curious excitement flows through me, but it’s tempered with sadness. I have one more play to make and then it will be over.
I’ll lose my kingdom or my men.
“Please don’t be angry with him.” Shim reaches out and grasps my hand.
Funny. His hand feels right tangling with mine, as though all these years it was waiting to be entwined with his. I was only physically with them for a few days and already I know I want them forever. I’m happy just being around them, but happiness isn’t the only thing important in life.
I respect the fact that they will one day rule a kingdom. They owe their people. Can’t they understand that I owe mine, too?
“I’m not angry. I’m sad.”
His eyes turn down, watching the place where our fingers meet. “I can feel it. It’s worse than mad. Please, Bron. Can’t you understand?”
“I can’t. Don’t you love your people? Wouldn’t you do anything to keep them safe? You will rule over them one day.” I remember my father’s words. “A king is only good to his people if he is useful.”
It is a lesson my uncle hasn’t learned.
“After Lach was burned and I was weak, I think my father decided we would never be fit to rule. Bron, we weren’t brought up to lead. We were hidden away because my father feared we would either be killed or judged as too weak to rule. So we concentrated on the one thing we had.”
“Me.” I understand that much. They loved me. I accept it. Over the last days, they treated me with an affection that goes far beyond courtesy. They seem to anticipate my needs. When we stopped in a village, they brought me my favorite cheese and bread and fruit. When my feet hurt from walking, Lach dropped down, removed my boots, and rubbed the soles of my aching feet until I was purring.
I never felt so loved and taken care of. They hold me at night, passing me between them. Lach holds me with a possessive strength that makes me feel safe, and Shim with such delicacy that I feel adored.
Why can’t they see to my soul? I suppose I can answer that question. Because I’m too afraid to show them.
That ends tonight, and I’ll either have them on my side or I’ll have a decision to make—one I fear I already made.
“Shim, I am sorry for how your father handled your illness and Lach’s injury, but you have to see that I can win this war.”
He uses his free hand to touch my face. “I see that you can die. Gods, Bron, a handful of days wasn’t enough.”
I’m going to have to show him. I can’t tell him what I’m going to do. They’ll shut down. But I know them. I know what they long for. I’ll make love with them and when they reach out for the true bond, I’ll take it, give them my soul.
And I’ll have my answer.
There’s no more point in talking. I go to my tiptoes. Shim is so tall. He makes me feel small and delicate, though years of hard work have proven how sturdy I am. I brush my lips to his. It’s good to feel feminine. They remind me of all that should have been mine.
I should have been a fragile thing, a sweet princess who waved at her people from the palace walls as her husbands made the decisions. I should have laughed with my maids as my mother had. My whole world would have been wrapped up in children and love and making things beautiful.
But I know too much. I can’t go back. I’m not that dainty girl.
I’m a warrior. I have to fight.
And, in this case, the battle will be a sweet one.
“Bron, you’re killing me.” Shim kisses me again, his tongue playing along the seam of my lips. “We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I run my hands up his chest, reveling in the feel of his ripped stomach. For all his previous weakness, he’s a muscular man. Every inch of him is lean and hard. I let my hands drift to his tight waist and pull his hips to mine. It isn’t something I can get away with when making love with Lach. He would turn me over his knee and smack my ass if I think about taking over, but Shim likes it when I get aggressive. I can feel how much it makes him feel wanted.