“You didn’t let him flog me,” Zev whispered. “He wanted to, and yet…”
“Never,” Gideon replied, affronted. “But you would have taken any punishment he handed down, out of your ridiculous sense of duty, serving him instead of allowing me even a moment of your company.”
Zev tried to lean back, but Gideon held him fast. Remembering how immovable Gideon’s hold was, how powerful, I opened my mouth to say something.
“No,” Gideon pleaded, pressing his face between the bars. “Please. This is the last I… the king—you’re my last request.”
Zev froze. “I hadn’t been told.”
Gideon’s face infused with light, and he looked so young in that moment, all his rage, his brutal machinations falling away as he stared into the face of the man he so clearly loved. “I thought that was why you were here.”
“No.”
“Then you came with Jason and then allowed me to touch… of your own free will?”
“It seems I still have a––” He huffed out a breath. “––weakness for you.”
Gideon looked past Zev to me. “May I have a quick word?”
“Of course,” I told him.
He took a breath. “I am sorry that our paths put us at odds, Jason, for I do, in all sincerity, find you extraordinary. I also believe you will always be in danger if you remain at the prince’s side, because others will see, as I have, that you are his weakness, and the only way to make him stronger is to separate that which poses a danger to him.”
“You don’t understand anything about love.”
His smile was bittersweet. “I do, though, more than you know. But this is no longer my fight. I’ve reached the end of my long life.”
And it hurt to hear, even though he more than deserved what was coming to him.
“I do have one favor,” he confessed, his dark gaze leveled on me.
“Yes?”
“If you’re able, please keep Zev safe. He’s terribly reckless with his life.”
“I’ll be very careful with him,” I promised, feeling suddenly overwrought, realizing all at once how tired I was, how sad, how vulnerable. Did I want to be vigilant for the rest of my life?
“Since he made his choice, the house of Maedoc over me, I have taken no one else to my bed, nor have I drunk blood from any but a goblet.” He turned his head so he was looking at Zev. “I could not. I would not.”
“If it was such a sacrifice, you should have––”
“I just wanted Jason to know why I didn’t drink his blood the other night when it was offered to me. It’s not that I found him unclean; I simply took only yours.”
Zev nodded. “We seem to be of the same mind in this regard.”
Gideon looked like the other man had struck him. “You lie. Your conquests have been––”
“Exaggerated,” Zev told him, leaning in close so Gideon could now easily reach him. “Taste the truth on me if you don’t believe my words.”
Gideon didn’t hesitate, but pounced, taking his mouth, kissing him hard, falling into the kiss that seemed, to me, like what he needed to breathe.
I felt foolish standing there watching them devour one another, Gideon’s hands over Zev’s on the bars, holding tight. But at the same time, it gave me hope that still, even now, I had not so misjudged Gideon. He was a horror. He’d placed Nerilla on the path to her death, he’d put me in peril again and again and conspired and murdered, and the list was tragic and long, and yet he was also capable of love. Strangely, it gave me hope.
When Zev broke the kiss, he turned his head and gave a nod, and the lights, bright, institutional and cold, made a snapping sound as they dimmed in an instant. The door behind me buzzed, and a second later, Gideon’s cell door rolled to the side.
“My consort,” Zev addressed me, “Eris and Brenna are just outside to return you to your quarters. I’ll join you in the morning so we can drive to the villa.”
“Yes,” I agreed, watching him as he turned his back on me and then stepped sideways to stand at the opening of Gideon’s cell.
“You can either try and get around me to attack Jason or…,” he murmured, and tipped his head at Gideon, “choose another path.”
Taking a step forward, Gideon reached a trembling hand out to Zev, placing it on his cheek. “You were all I asked for.”
“Then,” Zev whispered, taking a step closer so that Gideon’s other hand joined the first, “have me.”
Gideon’s keening moan was loud as I slipped through the door and closed it behind me.
I noticed, as I stepped out, that one of the king’s guards moved in front of the door. The men who had been monitoring Gideon’s room were no longer there, replaced by the king’s guards, who had powered off the equipment.
I cleared my throat, and a man wearing a different jacket than the other four in the room put his hand over his heart and bowed to me.
“My consort, how may I be of service?”
“Is that room locked now until the morning?”
“Yes.”
“And no one will watch.”
“That is forbidden. The last requests of enemies of the king are granted by His Majesty and are considered sacred.”
That was good to hear.
There were several checkpoints to get out of the prison, but the last one, that opened into the atrium, was where I found Eris and Brenna. As we began our walk back to the loft, I asked if either of them had known that Gideon loved Zev.
“No one knew,” Eris said sadly.
“I worry that Gideon will hurt him or kill him, and he’ll die in that room.”
Brenna shook her head. “Zev is very powerful, and more importantly, when a prisoner is damned, they are given a last request. I have never heard of a request that was not a last night with a beloved.”
“So you’re telling me not to worry.”
“Yes,” she assured me. “Don’t worry.”
And I didn’t, because I had no control over life and death anyway. I’d learned that lesson well.
Later that night, I was in the roof gardens again, this time with Eris on one end, gazing out at the city, and Brenna near the stairs, when strong arms slid around my waist.
“I should caution you,” I whispered, leaning back against him, tilting my head to the left so his lips had better access to the side of my neck. “The prince is quite possessive.”
“Well, he can’t be that possessive if he isn’t going to marry you tomorrow.”
I turned in his arms and took his face in my hands. “You’ve been buried under official duties, and Jesus Christ, Varic, you’re executing Gideon tomorrow. We can hold off on our wedding plans since you’re in absolute hell at the moment.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t what I wanted.”
“I know,” I soothed him, dropping my hands so I could wrap my arms around him and hug him tight. It felt like he needed that more than anything. “It’s not what anyone wanted, but you have to be the Prince of the Noreia right now, not solely my prince.”
“I’ll always be yours first.”