Page 89 of Blood and Fate
His thumb ran gently over her chin. “I’m very sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to presume anything, and then I just didn’t think about it. Because we don’t.” He gestured toward where the men had disappeared. “We don’t recognize the royal titles among the men. And in the village, I’ve finally gotten them to stop referring to me as the Prince. I’m just Kais, and I just want to be Kais. That isn’t to say that I won’t take on my responsibility when the time comes, but I like to be out among the people. I want to know them, not just rule over them.”
Satori’s eyes found his. “You’re a prince.”
He pulled his lip between his teeth, slowly pushing it out. “There’s more.”
“More?” How could there be more? Wasn’t that enough of a shock for one day?
“As you’re aware, parents of royals, no matter how old, are often eager to marry their children off.”
Satori’s heart sank. He was engaged. Or at least spoken for. Promised to someone else. Her stomach twisted inside, and she couldn’t help the soft whoosh of air that left her lips.
A small, almost sad, smile passed over Kais’ lips. “It’s not what you think.”
“What do I think?”
Annoyance was beginning to rise in her, and she really didn’t even know why. All he’d said had made sense. She didn’t believe he’d been trying to deceive her. So why was she feeling this way?
“You’re thinking that I’ve been promised to someone else?” He said the words as though they could be a question or a statement.
Of course he knew what she was thinking, what else would she be thinking after what had happened in the pool?
She shrugged helplessly. “Aren’t you?”
Unexpectedly, he reached over and covered her hand with his own. “I told you, it’s not what you think.”
“What then?” She shook her head, trying to think of what it might be.
“After we attended your festival, I reported back to my father. He immediately decided it would be in the best interest of everyone if he wrote to your father and bargained for your hand, aligning our countries. You could make us stronger and we could help your people.”
What?
“Your father wants to marry me?” The thought twisted her stomach.
Kais chuckled. “No, Satori. Not for him.” He glanced down and then looked up, meeting her gaze, something burning in his eyes. “For me.”
Satori’s head spun. “Your father wrote to my father to propose an alliance between our two countries through a marriage between you and I?”
“An alliance and an integration, of sorts.”
Something seemed to buzz in Satori’s limbs as his words sunk in. She could sit still no longer. She stood and began pacing back and forth in front of the stone on which Kais still sat. He watched her silently, waiting.
“But how did I not know about this? My father presents all offers to me.”
“My father’s proposal likely arrived after you were already taken.”
She stopped pacing, turning her gaze on him. She felt like she was in a dream, like everything she’d been told was wrong. There’s no way the things he was saying could be real. Kais. Kais?
“You’re a prince?”
He smiled. “Yes, I am.”
“And your father is seeking my hand for you?”
His voice grew quieter. “Yes, he is.”
It was a joke, it had to be. It was too easy. “Truly?”
Kais stood and came to stand before her, taking both her hands in his. “Truly, Satori. I told you Shala and Miram wouldn’t do this to us only to tear us apart. They seemed to have worked it all out.”