Lily tried to calm her racing heart. They’d both get to speak. He wasn’t going to be sent away if she had any say in it.
The Queen looked at her son with thinned lips. “Do you have any claims to make for this female? And if not, would you like to say anything for the council to take into consideration while deciding on the severity of my ruling?”
Lily shot her panicked eyes to meet his. Tell them! Show them your marks!
Verakko remained silent for a moment, his brows drawn. He gazed down at the floor and licked a fang. Then he looked back up at her and smiled weakly.
Verakko raised his head to his mother and squared his shoulders. “I do not.”
Lily stared at him, and a surge of love heated her insides. He was trying to keep his word to not force her into anything. He was allowing himself to be sent away for who knew how long, even knowing she’d be forced to marry other men. All because he thought she needed more time. The balloon of emotion always expanding in her chest finally burst, and she released a throaty sob.
She quickly tried to school her features, but their audience had noticed. Verakko took a step toward her, his hands flexing, but stopped when the guard behind him cleared his throat, reminding him he wasn’t really free.
“Do you not wish to claim her as your mivassi?” asked Ziritha suddenly.
All eyes turned toward her. Lily saw the briefest flash of surprise pass over the Queen’s face as she looked at her protégé. She then turned to a scowling Verakko with brows raised.
Verakko lifted his chin, the resolution to do what he thought Lily wanted clearer than it had been before. “I do not wish to make such a claim.”
The Queen’s apathetic mask faded, and she looked between Lily, Verakko, and Ziritha with narrowed eyes. Her gaze finally settled on Lily. “Do you have anything you’d like to say to the council on behalf of Verakko?”
Another strangled sob broke free, and she nodded.
“Lily, it’ll be alright. It won’t feel like long,” Verakko rasped from his place near the council.
Another tear slid free, and she grinned. She raised her head to the Queen and in a strong, sure voice, declared, “Verakko is my mate. He’ll be staying here with me.”
A frenzied murmuring broke out in the room, echoing off the walls. Excited and disbelieving glances shot from Lily to Verakko. A few of the guards frowned down at his covered wrists and shook their heads in disapproval.
All Lily could do was watch Verakko’s wide-eyed face. He held her gaze with such a defeated, worried look that she knew he must be thinking she’d revealed their bond out of guilt or pity.
“He covered his marks,” she continued, “because I asked him to. I was uncomfortable with the idea of matehood. If you take the paint off, you’ll see.”
“Hute, fetch remover, now!” Ziri shouted excitedly to a guard, who scurried away. Lily could see the restrained joy in the woman’s masked expression.
“When did the marks appear?” the Queen asked.
Lily peered at Verakko, his head hung low. Her skin tingled, needing to get to him and explain that this was what she wanted. That she’d been an idiot for thinking differently and she was so sorry for putting him in this position. “Just before we arrived in the city.” Lily paused, unsure what to call the woman. “Majesty,” she tried.
“And you’ve made him hide the bond since then? Why are you suddenly revealing it now?” She saw a flare of anger in the Queen’s eyes and could’ve sworn it was outrage on Verakko’s behalf.
Verakko’s head raised as well, his worried eyes begging for an explanation.
“I didn’t fully understand what it meant or what was at stake. We don’t have matehood on Earth, and I was scared. I started having feelings for him after only a few days, and when he told me he was under contract with another woman, I didn’t know how to handle it. But none of that matters anymore.” Lily had to stop, her throat clogging with emotion. Another tear slipped free. She held Verakko’s gaze, hoping he took the words she said to heart. “I love him. I love how impatient and snarky and intelligent he is. And how he softens when he’s around me. I’ve been traveling the world since I was young, and I’ve never felt like I fit anywhere.” Verakko’s brows relaxed, and his chest expanded. Lily sniffed. “But I fit with him. And I don’t want to be anywhere he isn’t.”
Verakko shuddered out a breath and beamed at her. His loud, rattling purr reverberated around the room as the guard who’d left to find remover rushed over to Verakko’s extended hands with a cloth. They held each other’s grinning gazes as if no one else existed.
Small gasps broke out around the room again when Verakko’s marks were finally revealed. Everyone’s eyes fell on the Queen. Lily held her breath.
With a small, almost undetectable smile, she said, “The contract is void.”
Lily’s stomach somersaulted as Verakko dashed toward her at a preternatural speed. Vaulting into his arms, she twined her hands through his hair and kissed him. Tearing away, she whispered, “I’m so sorry it took me this long to see it.”
“That you love me?” Verakko said, grinning.
“Yes.” Lily chuckled, keeping her voice low.
Verakko blew a breath out through his nose
