Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,88
better off left unspoken rather than lending false hope.
“Farewell, Kresten.” I smoothed my hand across his forehead again. Then I spun and stalked from the room. I had to leave before it became too hard to force myself to walk away.
Chapter
29
Kresten
the sleep of death was peaceful, even beautiful, and I didn’t want to wake up, didn’t want it to end. It was unlike anything I’d known, almost as though I were residing in a little place of heaven and earth at the same time.
Until the kisses . . .
I wasn’t sure how I’d known Aurora was there, only that I had. When she’d kissed me the first time, I’d seemed to come out of a trance and into the reality that I was in bed and she was standing above me, holding my cheeks and kissing me with every part of her heart.
When she’d finished, I’d tried to lift my hands and grab her back. I’d wanted to pull her down and kiss her again and again. But I hadn’t been able to move and let her know I was aware she was kissing me. That I wasn’t oblivious.
She’d pulled away, and I’d despaired she’d leave before I could try opening my eyes. And then before I’d known what was happening, she was over me again, kissing me and whispering words I’d never believed I would hear again: “You are the only man I have loved and will ever love. You have my heart, soul, and body.”
Why hadn’t I been able to awaken and tell her she was the only woman I have loved and would ever love? That she had my heart, soul, and body?
Frustration had rolled through me and stayed to torment me since those kisses. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I sensed many days, perhaps even weeks, had come and gone.
Then one day I knew I was home in Scania. I felt it in my mother’s touch, her hand upon mine, her soft weeping above me. And still, all I could think about was Aurora’s kisses. They beckoned to me louder every passing day until I began to cry out and thrash in my bed.
I heard the whispers of the servants, heard the concern of the physicians, and realized they believed I was in pain and would soon die. Little did they know it was not my body but my heart that was broken.
My mother’s kind voice and soothing touch had the power to calm me. And surprisingly, so did Vilmar’s and Mikkel’s voices. Through all of the trials we’d experienced during those last days in Warwick, I’d come to realize that somehow I’d earned my brothers’ respect, and that by sacrificing my life, I’d done something they likely wouldn’t have been able to do . . . at least that’s what both of them had whispered to me when they’d sat beside my bed.
I suspected they didn’t know I could hear every word they spoke, or they might have been more careful. But as it was, I’d learned the Lagting had read through all of the scribes’ journals from our Testing. Even though Vilmar and Mikkel had abandoned the Testing and hadn’t finished the prescribed amount of time, they’d earned great esteem for how they’d conducted themselves and the lessons they’d learned during the process.
They’d relayed to me all the Lagting had said about my time in Inglewood Forest. While the first part of my Testing had been uneventful, they believed I’d more than made up for my slow progress when I’d rescued Queen Aurora and brought about the end to the cursed white stone.
My father had come in once, shortly after I’d arrived home. He’d gripped my hand. I’d felt his tears fall upon my face. Then he’d whispered words I’d longed to hear my whole life: “You have made me proud.”
He’d gone, and he hadn’t come back. Vilmar had talked about how hard it was for Father to see me in this state. And I hadn’t begrudged my father his absence, not after the love I’d felt in that moment.
“The Lagting will decide on the morrow whether Mikkel or I shall be the next king,” Vilmar said quietly from my bedside. “I have been thinking long and hard about it, and I’ve always known Mikkel is the best choice.”
Yes, I’d known that too. Mikkel would make a good king. He’d been born to lead, and with Pearl by his side, they would do great things for Scania.