I waited, just in case he felt like revealing that last part was a joke.

He didn’t.

I couldn’t fault him for his honesty, but the confession felt awkward. Intimate and also ugly. Like finding out you’d been so drunk, you’d done something you didn’t remember. Even if I had been willing at the time, the idea I couldn’t remember the choices I’d made or the reasoning behind them left me with a blank, heavy feeling in my stomach.

“I suppose it was a romance for the ages,” I said at last, because I didn’t know what else to say.

“No,” he said, his voice ragged. “No, not in the least. I treated you horribly, I didn’t deserve you, and by the time I realized, I couldn’t make it right.” His voice was smooth and dark and dripped, dripped, dripped with the deepest regret. “When I met you—”

“Don’t,” I said.

“I just want you to know—”

I put my hand to his mouth. “Shut up.”

He stared at me.

“I don’t care,” I said, which I tried to make myself believe was true. “Some other woman who shares my soul married some other man who shared yours.” I lifted my hand away from his mouth. “Are you still Atrin Kandor?”

He laughed. “No.”

“And I’m not her. How could I be? What was she? A princess? Some duke’s daughter?”

“No,” he said. “No. She was nobody.” He winced. “I mean, a musician. Played the harp—” His eyes went wide. “Oh gods. I have a type.”

“See, if that’s your type, then I don’t qualify. I don’t know how to play any instrument but slaughter. I don’t even know how to sing. I like to dance and dress up for parties, although not quite as much as I love to win. I’m no man’s wife, although I cannot promise someone won’t be my wife or husband or both. I may not limit myself to just one.”

He gave me a stunned look, but he didn’t seem upset. “Will you marry me?”

“Given our history, I don’t think we should ask that question until we know each other much better. I would wager you had no clue of your wife’s favorite color or food or what personal goals she carried in her heart. I doubt marrying you capped her life’s ambitions.”

Teraeth pulled me into his arms. “That is all very true, but I still think you’re amazing.”

“That’s a good start.” I tucked myself against his side and waited.

He waited too.

I whispered into his ear. “This is the part where you ask me what goals I carry in my heart.”

“Oh! Uh, I—” He didn’t let me go, but the awkwardness returned.

I leaned back to look at him. “Let’s start with something easy. My favorite color is turquoise.”