Loving a Prince Charming - By Danielle Monsch Page 0,19

her I would not love anyone else, so that she would always be safe from the curse. This poor little girl, and all she wanted was to be safe. How could I not save her? I didn’t realize what I…”

Seth broke off. His eyes locked with hers. They were such a jumbled mass of emotion that Kira couldn’t pull the feelings apart, all except for one thread. Determination. No matter the other emotions, no matter the conflict they inspired in him, his will to see through his decision was highlighted in bright lines.

Whatever fantastical dreams might have been held in the deep, deep recesses of her mind, at that look, they blackened and fell into a waterfall of dark and silent despair.

“I made a promise, and I won’t fail her.”

Chapter Eight

They hadn’t spoken for the last two days, not since the moment Kira turned her back to him after his confession and proceeded to stay that way for the rest of the night.

Seth hadn’t been able to sleep that night. His words had torn through their unspoken agreement to never acknowledge the reality of their lives.

Now the words sat there, staring at him – them – with hard, beady, black eyes that never wavered or gave a moment’s respite. He was going to marry another woman, and she was going to leave him the moment he did.

In the room of the inn they were staying for the night, in the bed he sat upon, Seth brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He rocked upon the scratchy sheets and the too-hard mattress in hopes that somehow, someway, the ache in his chest might loosen just for a moment.

There was a promise to keep, and it didn’t matter that there was no more beautiful sight to him in this world than Kira, smiling at him in the full sunlight, her hair ablaze and her eyes as green as late spring grass. He’d made a promise to a scared little girl who had never seen the sun, and he wouldn’t fail her. He made a promise.

If he failed to keep his word, he wasn’t a man. Not one who deserved a kingdom. Not one who deserved friendship. Not one who deserved love.

Not one who deserved Kira.

The three knocks rang loud in his ears. He rose and opened the door, not expecting the person on the other side. “Kira?”

Her face held resolve. She had come here for something and she wasn’t leaving until it was settled. But her face was also soft and inviting, the intimacy and emotion she only ever let show around him. “May I come in?”

He stood back for her to enter. She looked around as she entered, but it was so quick he chalked it up to her usual habit of studying her surroundings versus any great desire to know what his room looked like.

She walked to his bed and sat on the edge. He waited as she gathered her thoughts, her gaze never wavering from his, those green eyes as clear and as at peace as he had ever known them. Finally, she said, “I love you, Seth. I’m in love with you, and I always have been.”

His body quivered with joy, in instinctive happiness, even as his mind shouted she can’t, she can’t, she can’t. “Kira—”

“No, don’t interrupt me.” Her expression became what he’d always called her serious face, with her mouth a firm line and her chin lifted in the air. “I want my say. I know none of us has a choice in this, but I want my say.”

There was such a vulnerable strength about her, the lines of her body strung taut and her back rail straight, but the sheen of tears reflected in the firelight, and her mouth had the smallest quiver to it.

Humbled before her, he sank to his knees and waited.

She swallowed hard, but her voice was steady when she continued. “You are the best man I have ever known. I love you for your humor, and your goodness. I love you for your intelligence. I love you for the strength of your will. I love you for your compassion.”

Kira’s voice trailed off. In the greatest moment of his life, despair rooted deep and wound around his gut, the crushing force turning him inside out.

Her feet hit the ground, and she was no longer on the bed but kneeling in front of him, her hands on either side of his face. “But Seth, I love you