But Dagan’s finger running down the back of my arm filled me with a low, deep longing, my body a traitor to my thoughts. Lying with him was getting more and more difficult not to do, but I didn’t want my body to make a promise my brain hadn’t yet decided. Iltani lay with whomever she pleased, and that was fine for her, though I’d begged her repeatedly to be careful. But for me? I knew what it would mean to Dagan. I swallowed as he softly played with the curls hanging down my back.

“My sweet? Will you look at me? You were lost in your thoughts again.”

Outside the tent, Nanaea danced in the center of the crowd, her hair falling down to her waist, bouncing and swaying. She tipped back a flagon of brew, drinking deeply, then spluttered with laughter as a young man spun her around. How happy she could be while my insides were perpetually knotted like a rope. Beyond her, Simti and Ilu danced on the dais, their arms wrapped around one another, lost to the romance of the night.

I turned to look at his earnest, handsome face. A face with lips I’d kissed a thousand times and wanted to kiss a thousand more. I ran my hands over his warm shoulders. “I’m right here.”

He took my hands in his. Kissed each one, then brought his amber eyes to mine. There was longing there. Hope. And at the back end, a little bit of fear.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Pinpricks covered my body. Nerves or excitement? Both?

“Will you let me make you as happy as Simti is this night?” His breath came fast. He licked his lips, his eyes pleading. “Be my bride, Kammani, Healer of Manzazu. Be my wife. And let me spend the rest of my life showing you how much of my heart you really hold.”

My stomach flipped as my heart pounded. “But…what of my healing practice?”

His eyes grew confused. “Your…healing practice?”

“What if you want to go to the north to expand your crop and all of my work is here? I couldn’t leave my patients.”

Understanding filled his eyes. “Ah. Well, we could make an arrangement, could we not?”

“I wouldn’t sacrifice what I’ve built, Dagan.” I ran a finger down his cheek. “My work is too precious to me.”

“But couldn’t you establish a new practice if it meant I could better provide for a family? There is great opportunity in the north.”

“No! I wouldn’t want to do that just for better trade. Not until I’d helped as many people as I could in this city. Or…or…trained an apprentice or something.”

“Well, marriage means we’d have to compromise. At least a little.”

“But what if I don’t want to compromise? By law, you could force me to!”

His brow furrowed. “Do you think I’d ever force you to do anything? You know I would never do that. We could make it work somehow. I swear it.”