“Alex, you’ve already given me a gift tonight.” Her voice, usually so rich and smooth, shook.

“This isn’t a gift. It’s a request, the biggest one I could ask of you. I’ve wanted to ask you before, but it seemed too much to expect.”

Her heart was thudding, but she kept her fingers curled together. “You don’t know what to expect unless you ask.”

He laughed and, taking her hand, spread her fingers open. “You always show me something new. Eve, I’m going to ask you for more than I could ever give. I can only tell you that if you agree, I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

He placed the box in her hand and waited.

First she had to draw a breath, a long one. She was not an aristocrat; she was not of royal blood. Equal terms. She remembered her own demand and realized she had the chance to make it all real.

She opened it and saw a ring with the same design of sapphires and diamonds as the necklace she was wearing. Not a gift, she thought, but a request.

“It was my mother’s. When I told my father I intended to ask you to marry me, he asked that I give you this. It’s more than a ring, Eve. I think you know some of the duties, the expectations that go with it, not just to me, but to the country that would have to be yours, as well. Please, don’t say anything yet.”

There were nerves in his voice, something she’d never heard before. It made her want to reach out and soothe him, but she stayed still.

“There are so many things I would have to ask you to leave behind. Houston would be only a place to visit. Your troupe—there is the theater here and the opportunity to build a new troupe in Cordina, but the rest would be over. There is your writing—perhaps in some ways that would make up for what you would have to leave behind. Your freedom would be limited in a way you can’t imagine. Responsibilities, some of them vital, others incredibly boring. What you do, what you say, will be common knowledge almost before it’s done. And as long as Deboque remains alive, there is a very real danger. We’ve begun something, but it will be a long, long time before Deboque is no longer a threat. These are things you have to know, to consider.”

She looked at him, then at the ring still in its bed of velvet. “It seems you’re trying to convince me to refuse.”

“I only want you to know what I’m asking of you.”