Queen Sized - Jessa Kane Page 0,27
no question I would best this man in any physical contest. I’m almost impressed he had the balls to call me out. But I’ve learned a lot in my short time of knowing and observing the woman I love—and I’m not going to let those lessons be for nothing. “No,” I say, unsheathing my sword and throwing it down. “Her fate is in her hands alone. No one else’s. She does not have to prove her worth with any more contests. Nor will she be treated like a prize to be won. The choice is hers to make.”
I step closer, close enough to see the sunset reflected in the sheen of her tears.
My love for her swells so impossibly large, I have to suck in a breath.
“But when she makes her choice, I ask that she please take into account how much I love her. How my heart tried to tell me all along, but I was looking through the wrong lens. She offered me a new one, though. One of beauty and hope and a brighter future. I see her through that one now and she’s even more extraordinary.” I take the crown off my head and place it on hers, bringing forth a sizeable gasp from the growing crowd, then I take a knee in front of her. “You deserve to wear it more than me, Gwen. If you do me the honor of marrying me and being my queen, I’ll lay my kingdom at your feet. My heart is already there,” I finish, my voice crackling. “Forgive a foolish man. Please. I love you.”
The longest moments of my life pass as Gwen considers me. “Honestly,” she whispers with a quiver in her voice. “It took you an entire day to realize it?”
Cautiously, I stand, not daring to take a breath.
She exhales in a rush. “I love you, too,” she says, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I’ll be your queen. And you’ll be my king. Our story starts here.”
Her words bring me back from the edge of certain death, my lungs beginning to function again with one giant wheeze of air, my heart rapping in my ears. Love and relief and gratitude rocking me to the core, I scoop her up, spinning her in a circle as the hillside erupts in applause.
When two little girls run over, their faces wreathed in smiles, I lift them into the fold of our arms and our newly formed family holds on to one another, our laughter carrying over the loch…
Epilogue
Gwen
Six years later
My eyes are on the contest in front of me, but I feel a tingle on the side of my face.
I glance left and find my husband studying my profile.
Although he’s been caught staring, he doesn’t bother to look away, and the gravity in his blue-gray eyes causes my breath to stutter. The words I planned to use to tease him over his hopeless infatuation with me die a quick death and now I’m staring back, emotion rising like a tide in my throat. It’s like this between us every day, the poignant ache for each other plain on our faces, never to be hidden again, but our devotion overflows at the Joining every two years. It’s here, in this valley, where we remember the first time we met and it all comes rushing back.
Corbet is no longer a new king, fresh from the battlefield. He is still fierce with a blade and there isn’t a single soldier in our army that can best him, but he’s settled into his role as a wise and capable ruler, though he will tell anyone who asks that his queen is responsible.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask him now, letting my gaze roam over his chiseled lips and beard. Down his broad chest and thighs, taking my time meeting his eyes again.
“Based on your straying eye, woman,” he rumbles, “I’d say we’re thinking exactly the same thing.”
My lips twitch. “We have to observe the competition. After all, it’s your creation.”
“So it is.” He skims a lookover the lively proceedings. “A much needed improvement.”
It’s difficult not to feel a little smug watching warriors run up the hillside carrying full buckets of water on their shoulders while the eligible females judge them, deciding who is worthy to take on as a husband. Especially from the comfort of my throne. But smugness doesn’t become a queen, so I settle for sending Corbet a secret smile that says it all.
“You know,” I muse, reaching over to