I huffed a laugh and grumbled, “I don’t saunter.”

Cair didn’t seem convinced, but said nothing.

The beat of silence stretched for a moment, my mind whirring as I stared down at the amber jam oozing from the tart. I even gently squeezed the pastry to watch more burst out—a mindless distraction.

“I’m not trying to make this about me,” I said. “But I never imagined an existence among royalty. I wouldn’t change meeting you for the world, and I’ll stand by you forever, in any capacity, but this life does make me anxious sometimes.” I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Okay, a lot of the time. And the thought of being on the throne beside you—even if it is thousands of years from now and I have time to prepare—fills me with dread.” I lifted my gaze to Cair, smiling sympathetically. “And I’ve only had to worry about it for a year. I can’t begin to imagine how you’ve felt your entire life. I don’t blame you for wanting some semblance of peace from it.”

“You know I would never make you do anything you were uncomfortable with.”

“I know,” I assured him, already confident that he had absolutely zero expectations. “That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I mated with you, content with whatever path my future may take, and I don’t regret a thing. I love it here, in this realm, surrounded by nature and magic, but I’m just saying—badly—that if you don’t feel the same, I understand, and I would do anything to help you get out of it.”

His grateful smile warmed my entire soul. “I appreciate the sentiment, pet. Though there is only one way out, which involves losing, and I am not of that prospect.”

He meant war. If the king and his forces managed to beat him, Cair would be imprisoned for treason. Or worse, depending on his father’s mood that day, which in all honesty never really changed, so there was a high probability that Cair would be tortured every day and made an example of.

The ward protecting the royal line would deprive his father of the satisfaction of killing him outright, but even if he decided to utilize the loophole and hire an outsider to carry out the execution, I doubted the king would be so merciful. He wasn’t known for it, and for those reasons alone, I wholeheartedly understood Cair’s reservations. War was not on my agenda either, regardless of whether the outcome leaned into my mate’s favor. That was a last resort, but knowing Cair wasn’t fully content with his life here made me determined to find another way.

Whatever it took.