Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,106

playing in my mind. “I don’t know if I should say yes, and chance it, or take my chances fighting. I’m not weak. Not by any means, and you know that. You want my forever, but you don’t even like me. Sometimes I think you hate me, and other times I think maybe you like me, but that it hurts because of the past. I’m afraid to say yes and end up broken by you, Knox. My heart is still soft and wouldn’t survive if I fell in love with you, and you didn’t love me back.”

“I don’t hate you, Aria. I’ve tried, but you’re a hard woman to hate. I push you away because I don’t want you to get cut too deeply on my jagged edges, which, as you mentioned, are sharp. Marrying you would be easy, as would being faithful to you, considering how hot we burn together. I will even agree to save other witches who aren’t influenced by dark magic, but like you, they’ll belong to me and the army I am continually building.”

“You’re good at this king thing, aren’t you? You make it sound so easy. I don’t even feel like I am offering my soul to my enemy right now, but I know I am. My husband won’t love me, and I won’t hold my child in my arms. I will be nothing to no one, other than a tool to be used and someone who warms your bed. I am what you want and what’s needed to gain access to the Throne of Witches, and once you have it and have won this war, what happens to me? Do you lock me up? Chain me to a wall in a dark dungeon? Remove my head?”

“You’d remain my wife, Aria,” Knox moved to stand between my legs, running his fingertips over the outside of my thighs. “Even if you weren’t the strongest Hecate witch, I’d still have come for you and claimed you. Even if you weren’t the key to the throne, I’d still want this deal.” He swallowed hard as if I should understand the gravity of what that meant.

“I won’t help you catch my family. I won’t fight them, ever. I will take my life before I am ever pitted against my sisters or my aunt for you. If I marry you, I want the illusion that you’re only mine. If you take another because you tire of me, I’d want you to do it silently. Sex would be a mutual understanding and agreement between us. It wouldn’t be promised, Knox. We would both need to agree to the act. I will have heat cycles, and you’d need to soothe that ache. Since my body would never reach its goal of creating life, I may have more than most, and you’d need to handle them so I can uphold my end of this agreement. You will treat me with respect and tender hands. I deserve that from you. I deserve to be respected by my husband.”

“What are you saying, Aria?”

“I’ll marry you, King Karnavious. I will give up my life to protect those I love more than I love myself. You will protect them from harm, from your lords, the other kings, queens, and the High Queen of Witches. I’m not an idiot, Knox. You don’t really want me; you just want the throne. I am just your key to unlocking the kingdom for you to ascend as King of Vãkya. When you’ve won the war, and there is no longer a need for us to be together, you will either remove my head or set me free.” Leaning forward, I kissed him with trembling hands, and tears ran from my eyes while he watched me in silence. “You’re carnal sin and the beast of my dreams. I’m not your beauty, though. You had your perfect mate, and we took her away from you. How ironic that my dream guy is the one that can never want or love me back,” I said through the swelling in my throat.

Wiping away the tears, I stood, forcing him to do the same. I grabbed my pack, pulled out the thin lace panties, nylons, and garter, changing into them. My dress was a dark shade of midnight blue, but the closest thing to black I owned. The long skirt touched the top of my feet, and silently I stepped into it, securing the swooping neckline behind my throat. Reaching into the bag, I withdrew