Page 56 of Crimson Kingdom
His churning gray eyes were fixated firmly on mine as he nodded, a single, reluctant dip of his head.
“Whatdoeslemmikki mean?” My voice was barely a whisper.
He swallowed, something like a warning entering his gaze. “It, loosely translated, can meanpet, as Korhonan said at the Summit.”
There it was again. He didn’t lie, but he didn’t tell the truth, either. And this time, I wanted the whole truth. Needed it.
“And a better translation?” I pushed. “Tell me, Evander, what does it mean whenyousay it?”
He held my stare for what felt like an eternity. I didn’t know if he was breathing, but I sure as stars wasn’t. Tension stretched between us, a fraying thread pulled just before its breaking point.
Finally, he spoke, his low voice shattering the silence as surely as that water glass had shattered on the floor the night at the cabin.
“It means...darling.”
My heart stuttered in my chest, though I had half been expecting the answer ever since Theo’s strange look.
Pet, Theo had said. A literal translation in a tense moment from a man for whom the Common Tongue was his second language.
Notapet. Notmypet. Pet.Darling.
All the times I had assumed Evander was merely reminding me that I belonged to him...
In hindsight, I could hear the thinly veiled panic in his tone as he searched me for injuries the first day we were attacked by the Unclanned.Darling, where is it?
The casual, playful way he had taken to calling me by that name.Darling, do you think you will leave bed today?
And the growl in his voice after I bit his lower lip that night at the cabin.Two can play at that game, Darling.
Even Mila’s raised eyebrow...right after he called melemmikki. Not offense. Not outrage. Intrigue, and a bit of amusement.
Maybe Theo was right. Maybe I had been lying to myself for longer than I wanted to admit.
But I certainly wasn’t the only one.
I shook my head, letting out a short, disbelieving breath. “So let me get this straight. You take me. You call me your darling. You kiss me like I’m the other half of yoursoul--”
Something dangerous crossed his features, but I went on.
“--and say it can never happen again. Then you tell me we were only ever temporary, and send me away when I know,I knowthat you saw that I was willing to stay.” My heart raced with the admission, but there was only so much we could reasonably hide from, and I needed to know about that day.
“And how would that have worked, Rowan?” Though his features were still neutral, his rare use of my name belied his frustration. “You didn’t know what you wanted. You had been in love with Korhonan five minutes before that.”
Anger coursed through my veins. “I didn’t know whatIwanted? What about what you want, Evander? Do you even want to marry me, or do you just want to make sure that no one else can have what you already think is yours?”
“If I didn’t want to marry you,” he growled, “I wouldn’t have proposed.”
Another non-answer.
“Then why the hell did it take someone else getting there first?” My voice was stronger now. “When you left Bear, were you even planning on offering this betrothal?”
The hesitation on his face was answer enough, even before he spoke the word that cleaved my chest in half.
“No.”
I looked away, taking a moment to compose myself before I outright scoffed. “Yet you have the nerve to accuse me of indecisiveness?”
His eyes blazed with fury.