willing to do anything to assure their safety and happiness, even if that means they hate you.”
The tremor in the king’s voice, coupled with his impassioned speech, had her turning around. The two men stood several feet apart, neither taking that final step. Ivar’s mother looked to her, her eyes pleading for help and understanding.
She might never trust the king or become friendly, but she respected that he was willing to do anything for his son. Zaxe simply shrugged, willing to follow her lead.
Getting onto Tortuga and breaking Ivar out of prison was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of his family relationships. If she’d been ejected into space without a suit or breathing pack and dragged back to safety seconds before it was too late, she wouldn’t be any more wiped out.
Ivar strode toward her, tall and sure, his steps picking up speed. She broke, sprinting toward him, and jumped. He caught her and squeezed the breath from her. “Never again,” he whispered. “Let’s go.”
She made the lethal mistake of looking at his family. His mother was sobbing silently. His father seemed to have aged a decade in the past minute.
She cleared her throat. “Ah, why don’t we stay awhile?”
Ivar pulled back. “What?”
Her man might be tough as titansteel, but he had a compassionate side, a kindness that defined him. If he left the rift unhealed, he would regret it. Life was short. People died. Time sometimes ran out.
Keeping her voice low, she pressed her hand over his racing heart. “He loves you. They all do. They thought you dead, even if they never admitted it. Maybe he didn’t go about it the right way, but your father is only trying to protect you. I’m an assassin. He has to worry. You lost your memories.”
“How can you be so fair?” he demanded.
“How can you not?”
The furrows in his brow smoothed out and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Only you could talk me out of my anger.”
“You could use some time with them.”
“Not without you.”
“I agree. They need to see us together. And to be honest, my brother needs to see the same thing.”
“So he doesn’t slit my throat in my sleep?”
“Something like that.” She was only half-kidding. “I’ll be sleeping beside you, just to be safe.”
He kissed the top of her head, smoothing his hand over her curls. “You are one in a billion, Delphi. I thank the gods for the day you came into my life.” With his arm around her, he nodded to his mother. “I guess the family dinner is back on.”
With a glad cry, she ran toward him in a repeat of his arrival. This time, the rest of his family, outside of Spear and Sass, joined in. His father held back. When they’d all greeted him, Ivar led Delphi toward him.
“This is Delphi, the woman I plan to marry. She’ll be sharing my chamber.” It defied the customs of Gravas for an unwed woman to stay with a man not her husband, but on this, she knew he would not budge.
“Then there will be a ceremony after dinner,” the king decreed.
“Wait? What?” Delphi’s mouth dropped. “You want us to get married today?” The abrupt change in the king’s attitude from earlier made her head spin.
Ivar’s lips turned up in a smile. Good thing one of them found this amusing. “We can leave until you’re ready to wed,” he assured her. “We’ll find some way around it.”
“You’re that certain?”
He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and smiled down at her. “Yes, kismara. I want the world to know you’re mine.”
Her stomach fluttered and her heart began to race, but from anticipation, not fear. A slow smile spread across her face. “Let’s do it. Life is too short to wait.”
Beside her, Zaxe growled.
“I will protect her with my life,” Ivar promised. “Once we are wed, she is a princess of Gravas. Anyone who thinks to harm her will face the full force of our fury.”
“I’m not ready to be a princess,” she muttered.
“Only you would consider that a drawback,” he whispered. “But you’ll manage. You can handle anything.”
“With you beside me, I believe I can.” Their kiss sealed their commitment to one another. The ceremony later was only a formality.
Epilogue
“Find out everything he knows before he faces Gravasian justice. Someone drugged Ivar, someone he trusted. That person must pay.”
Kyler el Darkos bowed to King Agman el Gravaso. “It will be done.” The viewing screen went dark, and he was once again