L'istra decided she could laugh now.
By the time she could stagger, breathless, to Nona's doorway, her nurse sat upright and the swollen knot on the side of her head had decreased by half. Adon was very handy to have around, she decided. Nona declared she was hungry, now that her bed wasn't trying to dump her on the floor, and demanded they both leave her room so she could get dressed.
"Celebration, hmm?” Adon said, when he and L'istra had settled down by the lily pond and she filled in the missing pieces of what had happened while he was gone. He kicked at the torn remains of the parchment lantern. “Does that mean she approves?” He grimaced, which made her laugh again. “I suppose she does approve, since she didn't geld me before I woke up."
"What's more important is that my father approves."
"You told the Emperor.... “Adon rested his head in his hands. “I would have been happy keeping it our little secret, letting the rest of the world think I was merely your slave."
"Would you?” She caught hold of his hands and drew them down so she could see his face. “You're a strong man, a proud man, and this slavery has galled you, no matter how gently you landed. You would be willing to stay a slave, for me?"
He gave her that crooked grin she had come to love. “I think the Unseen had to kick me off my feet, as my father said, to teach me humility and to value the treasures given me.” He twisted his hands around in her grasp, so he now held her by her wrists. Adon lifted both her hands to his mouth and kissed her palms. “Besides, I think you need me. Soldier and healer, at the very least."
"You—” She sputtered, trying not to laugh, and wriggled a little when his kisses trailed up to her fingertips. How could her fingertips be so ticklish?
"There's always a price to pay for what you want most.” He kept hold of her hands, but folded them up within his and held them under his chin. The lover's gesture took her breath away, and L'istra wondered how she could have grown soft and sentimental so quickly. “I will gladly wear the collar of a slave if it means I can see you every day, work with you, serve you, and guard your dreaming,” he added, dropping to a whisper.
"Would you wear a different collar for me?” she blurted, knowing she had to say it before she lost her nerve. Facing screaming enemy hordes was easier, L'istra knew, than doing what she had to do now. She could have used her authority and ordered him, but she didn't want that uncertainty, the suspicion that he didn't want her as much as she wanted him.
"How different?” Adon pretended to resist when she tugged her hands free.
L'istra's legs shook a little when she hurried to her room. Nona hadn't emerged from her room yet, and she suspected her nurse had lied to send them away to be alone together. L'istra tried to think of a present for her nurse that could express her love for the old woman. Her mind remained blank, as she scooped up the marriage neckbands and brought them out to Adon.
He frowned at them. L'istra thought she knew him well enough to know it wasn't rejection, but an inability to accept what they implied.
"Will you wear this for me, Adon? Show all the world that you are mine ... just as much as I am yours?” She suspected it was ridiculous, but she wanted to curl up on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him until he agreed.
"I have nothing to give you.” A tiny snort of laughter escaped him, but he looked inexplicably weary now. L'istra contemplated bludgeoning all her brothers for harming Adon, even if it was allegedly done to protect her. “Nothing,” Adon repeated, “because everything I have, everything I am, is already yours. I have nothing worthy of a princess."
"Oh, I think something can be arranged,” she murmured, and wondered if he would laugh when she told him about the ten valley kingdoms that would be theirs when they were married.
A flicker of laughter or maybe even mischief lit his eyes. Adon snorted again, and took the thicker marriage band from her hands. He gently twisted the soft metal until it could slide around his neck, then back into shape.
"There. Safely your slave once again. What is your first command?” He went down on one knee before her.
"Tell me the truth.” Her mouth went dry. That cynical voice in the back of her head shouted for her to shut up and leave things be. “Do you love me—as much as I love you?"
Adon whooped, his face lighting up, and he leaped to his feet, sweeping her up in his arms. L'istra wrapped her arms around his neck in self-defense, and that put his mouth dangerously close to hers. What else was there to do? She kissed him, and all the sweet fire they had shared the night before flared through her once again.
"I suppose that was a yes?” she whispered when he drew back enough to let them both breathe.
Adon laughed. “Yes, Princess.” He pressed a kiss against each corner of her mouth. “I will spend the rest of my life answering yes. I am your slave forever."
"No, not slave. The healer of my soul."
THE END
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The Sword and the Slave Page 11