Someone like him could swallow me whole, and I couldn’t be with him when I was still so lost. I didn’t know what it was to be Amihanna anymore, and to have all that added pressure of being…

Horror crashed over me.

I couldn’t be the crown princess. The Aunare would never accept a halfer as a ruler. I’d be hunted for the rest of my life. I’d never be safe again, and I’d already done all the pretending I could handle. I didn’t have anything left to give.

“It happened a long time ago, when—”

“A long time ago?” Was he insane? I pressed my fist into my stomach to quiet the fluttering inside. “I was six when I saw you the last time. How could you tie me to someone at that age? How could you ask—?”

“I’m doing this poorly.” He took a breath. “This is not my first choice of a conversation with my daughter. I want to hold you, but I sense you don’t want that. Not from me. I want to tell you about how I’ve missed you. How I’ve worried and prayed for you. That the Lady would hold you in her light. That the di Aetes line would be strong.”

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “And the Gods take it all, you are everything I dreamed and imagined. And so beautiful. You’ve got your mother’s eyes and her kindness. Teaching those kids on Earth. That’s her I see in you.” He let out a breath. “But I have to warn you of the weight that’s coming. You’re not some everyday waitress here, and outside of this door, people are waiting and pushing and crowding to see who you really are. To test what mettle you’re made of. I won’t see you fail. I won’t see you harmed again. So I have to prepare you. That is my job as your father, even if you hate me for it.”

“I… I don’t know how to be the Amihanna di Aetes that you want me to be, and I don’t know if I want to be her. The only thing I ever wanted was to live my own life. To be free. And now I’ve woken up to a whole new nightmare.”

His face paled. “You are free.”

“Not if I’m betrothed to a stranger!” I tried to calm down, I really did. I stood up and paced around the room. “Not if I’m supposed to be someone I’m not. I can’t be his wife. I can’t be a princess.”

“The future queen.”

I hissed as I spun to face him. “That’s even worse! I can’t pretend anymore. I don’t have any pretending left in me. The last of it burned away on Abaddon.”