She studied him a long moment before she whispered, “Are you mad?”

“I am not. I am Prince Regent. I will be king. But for you, most importantly, I will be husband.”

Elena was still whispering when she said, “You are mad.”

Cassius didn’t deign to respond.

He was marrying a Nadirii.

He knew that.

But she was marrying an Airenzian.

She knew that too.

They would make compromises in their life together.

However, these would not be among them.

Her voice was vibrating with fury when she declared, “You need to leave now.”

“No True,” he stated. “And you will hang up your bow unless you use it for parade or to teach our daughters how to string theirs for interest and the fullness of their education. That is all. But in the now, you will kit yourself out, however that needs to be, while I wait, and we will walk together to join the procession.”

“Get out,” she demanded.

“Get sorted,” he returned.

“Get out or I’ll force you out.”

“You couldn’t manage that,” he scoffed.

Her voice was chilling when she replied, “You do not wish to try that.”

Cassius held his arms out to the side. “Again, you cannot know that.”

She didn’t hesitate.

She attacked.

Her attack was a surprise, even if it was not.

What was truly a surprise was that, in no time, she had him down on a knee and almost had his arm up his back in a way it would be difficult, and painful, to extricate himself.

And might even break a bone.

Or at the very least dislocate his shoulder.

Therefore, he had no choice but to use her hold on him to swing her around.

This took her off her feet, but before she hit ground, he surged up and caught her in his arms.

He then tossed her to the bed.

She bounced up instantly with grace borne of knowing every inch of her body and how to use it. She thus gained her feet on the mattress and launched herself back at him, front to front.

He caught her again, and she used her arms and legs around his torso to wrench him into a painful twist.

Thus, he was forced to move with the rotation, and he did. After, he backed toward her bed, dropped to it, and rolled onto her.

“Enough,” he clipped when he’d subdued her.

She bucked under him at the same time she tried to find purchase on his hair.

And this meant he had to catch both her wrists and hold them to the bed over her head.

Gods bloody damn it, she felt good under him.

And her smell…

“Enough,” he barked in her face. “You cannot possibly win hand to hand which is my bloody point.”