Verity’s lips twist into a reluctant frown as she fingers the engagement ring. I lean forward, hands clasped. “Verity, your covenant to me has led us to this moment. Will you marry me?”
“Marry you?” She echoes.
I purse my lips, frustration coiling in my chest. This was not how I envisioned this moment, and my planned speech is useless now. “Yes. Will you marry me?” I repeat stubbornly.
“I knew when I covenanted with you that I had promised something like this,” she murmurs. “I accept the consequences.”
“Consequences,” I chuckle, eyes flashing. “There was a time I imagined things between us much differently.”
“Things have changed,” Verity says coolly. “I have changed. No matter how I much I grew to like you, I never wanted to be engaged so quickly after my last relationship ended. And I- I’m different now. Inside.”
“You aren’t a Bloodbane,” I snap, slamming a fist on the table. “Just because that oath runs in your veins doesn’t mean you need to become like them. If you’re with me, you’ll never be like them. You’ll be safe.”
She purses her lips as if holding back. “Then who will I be? The Curse-Breaker? The almost witch?”
“You’ll be mine,” I whisper, softening. “You’ll be Verity.”
Verity stands, smoothing out the wrinkles in her silk gown. “I don’t know who that is anymore, Altair.”
She sweeps away before I can speak. Her back is stiff and her shoulders straight. She looks like a woman fighting against some internal force or compulsion. She looks like she’s breaking. Half way across the patio, she stumbles, clutching at her gut. I lunge to my feet, ready to run for her, but she pushes through the doors before I get the chance.
I glance across the table to her half-eaten plate. The ring is gone, though I never saw her slip it onto her finger. I clench my fists, anger and shame sweeping through me. I should have knelt. I should have put it on her finger myself. I should have told her everything I planned to say. All the words I carefully wrote about how my heart gradually opened to hers, until it was only her that could fill it will never be voiced. I curse softly under my breath. I’m a fool, and I let my frustration get the best of me on this important night. This night should have been about Verity; about our future together. I rise, my chair clattering to the floor.
I run across the patio, following Verity. The servants and my councilors watch me curiously as I sprint past them, but I ignore them. I take the stairs to Verity’s room two at a time, streaking past Navi. I find Verity just outside her room, breathing hard. My heart squeezes painfully in my chest as I see her. She shouldn’t be walking so much without her cane. But if I mention her reliance on the thin wood, she wouldn’t be pleased. I’ve already done enough damage tonight.
She glances at me over her shoulder and chews her bottom lip. “What do you want, Altair? I’m tired.”
I slip past her and open the door wordlessly. I know that no matter what I say, she’ll find something to stand against. She stares stubbornly at me before taking my hand and letting me lead her to one of the armchairs by the fire. She sinks into it with a sigh and I kneel in front of her, my hands on her knees. Desire floods through me as I stare up at her, taking in her full lips and lovely eyes.
“Verity,” I murmur hoarsely.
A blush creeps to her cheeks at the throaty lust in my voice. “Altair?”
I force my desire back, reminding myself of the brief argument we just had. And reminding myself that Verity doesn’t want me anymore. I’m merely a consequence. I sober quickly. “I came to explain more clearly what your covenant to me means.”
“I know what it means,” she says, brows furrowing.
“I, Verity Chastain, bind my life to yours. I will give you all of me. I will make my vows to you instead of the Dark God,” I say softly, repeating the words she said to me weeks ago as she lay in a pool of her own blood.
“I know what I said.” She blushes.
I rub my thumb over her knee gently. “When the Bloodbane witches become what they are, they marry the Dark God. When Maaz cursed me, she told me that only a Bloodbane that could betray the Dark God could save me. You are the only one, Verity, who was able to do that. Once a Bloodbane covenants with Sadal Melik, she is his for eternity. But you, you had a choice. And you chose me.”
Verity bites her lip and closes her eyes tightly. “Is marriage the only way?”
“It is the best way,” I say softly. “You could sacrifice your life for me through death, or you could bear me children.”
She blanches. “Children or death. You are being merciful indeed offering me marriage instead.”
“It isn’t mercy,” I say fiercely. “I care for you.”
“I know that I’ve grown distant,” Verity stammers. “But nothing between you and I has changed. At least not truly.”
Relief floods through me at her words. “I’m sorry I grew so frustrated at you. That was unacceptable.”
“And your proposal was disappointing.” She smiles tentatively, the first smile I’ve seen from her since we returned from Desmarais after she exhausted herself.
My lips quirk into a grin. “Verity, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
She pulls the engagement ring from her pocket and places it in my outstretched hand. Wordlessly she holds out her thin hand and I slip the ring onto an elegant finger. “I will,” she says, her eyes clouded with some inexplicable emotion.
I lift off of my knees enough to kiss her brow. I feel her stiffen beneath the brief touch, but she doesn’t draw away from me – a good sign. “It looks lovely on you.”
“It’s a beautiful ring,”
