“Bright always beats the dark,” she stated fiercely. “Do you not think one day Domitia will walk down those stairs, see flowers where they had never been before, know her torment is over, and this will not make her heart light?”

“Elena—”

“Do you not think our daughters, the ones we already have, the ones we will make, and our sons, will not play amongst the wisteria one day, having no idea that this place was once a nightmare? All they will know is it awash with blooms and life. And they will laugh at their father telling them tales of their mother arranging flowers and arguing with the steward over red cushions.”

It was a pretty picture, but one that he could not quite bring into focus.

“It is too simple a solution for a magnitude of problems.”

“Why does a difficult problem have to have a convoluted solution?” she asked.

He had no answer to that.

“Sometimes, the solution is missed, for those who search for it are looking for something grander, when what they need is right within reach.”

“I will make an example with the dragons, Elena,” he shared his simple solution. “If I hear aught of this continuing in my realm, I will rain fiery hell on the transgressors and cow them into submission if I have to.”

“And I will champion that decision, not because the oppressors should be forced to understand how it feels to be cowed, but because that will be your decision, and I will stand by you.”

He stared down upon her.

With his head in her hands, she now gave that a gentle shake.

“We will do what we must, Cass, together.”

Gods, he loved her.

His shining warrior.

His magnificent princess.

He loved her to his bones.

Precisely where the terror lay.

The terror of losing her.

“Do not leave me abed alone in the mornings,” he whispered.

“If that is where you wish me, that is where I will be,” she whispered in return.

His head dropped so he could press his forehead to hers.

“I saw my mother like that,” he told her.

She slid her hands over his hair and linked them at the back of his head, holding him close. “I know.”

“It will be a spectacle, a king tried for rape.”

“It will be a message that cannot be missed.”

I would not know what to do if I lost you, he thought but did not say.

“Come inside. Come see Domitia.” When he visibly balked, she held on and encouraged, “Just share she is in your thoughts, and if she needs anything, you will get it for her. Then you can leave. We will have wine. We will go to bed. We will close our eyes and sleep and this day will be done.”

“And more flowers will be arranged in the foyer upon the new.”

“And perhaps the Great Hall will be cleared, for I might have commissioned a number of settees in a rather smashing silver brocade that will work wonders in brightening the space, and I hope, make it rather warm and welcoming for visitors.”