These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows, #2)(89)

“Why? I thought that was why you brought me. As long as the power of the throne is with you, she’ll agree to an audience.”

“She can’t refuse the power of the crown—not without risking the wrath of Mab and having the very magic of her position turn on her. But she could make it difficult or refuse to let me stand by your side. To spite me.”

“Why?”

“Remember when I told you that I blame this whole mess on myself for not stepping up when my father was in the mortal realm?”

How could I forget? Finn’s guilt is so heavy. That night in the stables at Juliana’s estate, I finally understood a piece of why that is. “I remember,” I say softly.

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. I’d been rebelling against my father for years—ever since I fell in love with Isabel and decided to make her my bride. My father didn’t care that I was involved with a changeling—many of the nobility have affairs with humans. But when he found out that I planned to marry her, all hell broke loose. I was to be king and needed a proper queen by my side.”

He focuses on the path ahead, but I know that if I could see his eyes, there’d be pain there. “I wanted to spend my life with Isabel. To rule beside her.” Finn sighs. “My father forbade it, but I was young and in love, and I didn’t care. My stubbornness cost me in so many ways—with him, with my court, and with the High Priestess.”

“Why did the High Priestess care?” I ask.

“Because I was supposed to marry her daughter.”

I frown. Isn’t the priestess’s daughter— “Juliana?”

“The one and only. She’s the one my father picked for me to marry. We practically grew up together, and our parents were thrilled when we became good friends. I knew I was lucky. In a world like ours and in positions like ours, friendship in marriage is more than most get. Sometimes it’s built over time, but too often . . .”

I watch him, waiting, and his jaw ticks. “Too often what?”

He sighs. “Too often, the hate ruling couples feel for their spouses rivals what they feel for their kingdom’s enemies. I saw it in my grandparents, and Pretha will tell you the same about hers. But after I met Isabel, I knew I couldn’t marry Juliana. I couldn’t do that to either of them.”

“You loved Isabel from the first moment you saw her?” I ask.

He takes my hand and helps me up over a rocky ledge, and when I’m on level ground with him again, he’s smiling. “I think lusted might be a better word. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

Finn doesn’t release my hand as we start walking again. Instead, he laces his fingers with mine.

“You’d never seen a human before?” I ask.

He laughs. “Oh, I’d seen plenty of humans, and I’d met plenty of changelings, but I’d never met any like her. Attraction is strange like that. It’s like we don’t even get a say in it. Just— boom. It didn’t hurt that she looked at me like I was a god. Her own personal salvation.”

“Hero worship does it for you, huh?” I ask, arching my brow.

“Apparently not anymore,” he says, winking at me.

I nudge him with my elbow. “I’m sorry I don’t stroke your ego to your liking.”

He rakes his gaze over me. “It seems I find you irresistible nonetheless.”

My cheeks burn, and I bow my head. “So you loved Isabel enough to rebel against your father?” I prod because apparently I am really bad at taking compliments.

He blows out a breath. “I was young and stubborn and probably a little spoiled too. My entire life I’d gotten everything I wanted, and when I wanted Isabel, I didn’t see why that should be any different.”

When a small cottage appears over the next rise, I’m breathing hard and my slippers are soaked from the dewy grass.

“We made it,” Finn says, flashing me a smile as he pulls open the front door.

“What is this place?”

“This is what I wanted to show you,” he says. “Or part of it at least.”

The cottage is dark and a little musty, as if it’s sat empty for a long time, but when Finn casts a ball of light in the corner, I see that it’s lovely. Warm and cozy, with a fireplace and the kind of furniture that invites you to curl up and spend the day reading.

“That was not a short walk,” I argue as I follow Finn up the stairs. “For future reference.”

He opens the door at the top of the stairs and takes me by the hand to pull me out onto a rooftop terrace. “But it was worth it, wasn’t it?” He drops my hand and turns his palms up. “Just look.”

I turn a slow circle, taking in the view. It’s lovely up here. In one direction, I can see Staraelia, the lights of the lanterns burning on the cobblestone streets. And then, closer, the lights of the party.

Opposite the party, the deep forest rolls into the hills and valleys beyond. “It’s stunning.”

Finn places two fingers beneath my chin and meets my eyes. “Look up, Princess.”

I don’t want to. I want to keep looking into those hypnotizing silver eyes. I want to step closer and revel in this connection between us that never seems to dissipate but always seems amplified in the moonlight.