“And if he rises, we shall find a temple, wed immediately and join the others. Cassius and Elena can do the same. We do not need parades and grandeur and spectacle. All we need is you and me.”

All we need is you and me.

He was right.

But I wished it was that simple.

And that was what he truly wanted, a him and me.

“This is true,” I murmured.

“In Wodell, it’s my understanding a woman dreams about the man she’ll marry and her wedding day from the time she’s wee. As she grows older, she plans and hopes and says prayers to the gods to bring her the man who’ll make those dreams come true, and a wedding that will represent the start of a life filled with joy. Do girls think of these things in Firenze?”

I nodded.

“Did you?” he asked.

I pressed my lips together, for I did.

I’d wanted a man like King Ares.

A man who was handsome and tall and strong. A man who was wise. A man who was not afraid to show affection. A man who loved his wife and son above all, but his country and his people held a powerful place in his heart. A man who did not concern himself with what others thought of him, if he believed what he was doing was right, that was all he needed.

A man like True.

His gorgeous green eyes watched me bite my lip, and he said, “You did.”

I fought squirming and started, “True—”

His gaze came again to mine. “Sadly, I cannot give you the wedding of your dreams. I could not wrest the planning of this wedding from my mother if I had a thousand oxen. It will be the spectacle she set her secretaries to organizing with lists on scrolls three stories tall before we left for Firenze.”

“Three stories tall?” I asked with big eyes.

He grinned again and moved his hand so his knuckles were stroking my jaw.

“I exaggerate, sweetling. Though I’ll warn you, in matters such as this, my mother does not think small.”

“In matters such as this, matters that involve her son who will be king.”

“Precisely. Therefore, I do believe she will not demur should I say we need more time, for that gives her more time to make something grand into something ostentatious.”

I wrinkled my nose.

He chuckled and said, “We will survive it. But before we have to do that, we will do something else. Something for us. I cannot give you the wedding of your dreams, but I can give you that.”

He could give me that.

Gnomes and lights in the sky and chocolate custard swirls.

It sounded amazing.

“Thank you, True,” I whispered.

“It will be my pleasure, darling,” he whispered in reply.

I slid up a bit and asked, “Do you think your people will take to me?”