Beyond the Pale: A Thin Veil Novella (The Thin Veil Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

off-guard by his request. As he leaned in toward her, her heart sped up and her breath quickened. “Um…yes, I suppose,” she stuttered, kicking herself for being so graceless.
    His lips were soft and hungry, but he did not linger. Once they broke apart, he stood, still grinning. Then he bowed to her. “I know you have mixed feelings about tomorrow, Kier. Just remember—it’s my job to take care of you now. If you need anything at all, I will be there for you.”
    She watched him disappear into the dark, and raised her fingers to her lips. What a kiss… Then she thought of Lorcan, and guilt stabbed into her like a knife.
    Quietly, she got to her feet and crept through the darkness toward Lorcan’s home. If he refused again to see her, that would be her answer. She stepped inside the stones and, to her surprise, started to spin.
    He was waiting for her in his living room, and her heart sank when she saw the hope in his eyes. Was she just wounding him more? “Have you changed your mind?” he asked breathlessly.
    “No,” she whispered, looking imploringly into his eyes. “But I believe there is a way we can be together.” She told him of Brogan’s strange words. “I think he was telling me that we can still be with the people we love…as long as we are discreet.”
    She was unable to read the expression on his face, but it was not one of joy. “Do you know me so little?” he said. “You think I want to be your occasional lover, whenever you grow tired of the king’s attentions?”
    “No, I just thought…it was better than nothing,” she said, her words sounding foolish to her own ears.
    “You thought I would want to share the woman I love with another man? To be the thankful recipient of his leftovers?” He grabbed her face in his hands and gave her a piercing stare. “Do you love me at all, Kier? Or was I just an entertaining diversion for you?”
    “Of course I love you!” Kier cried. “That hasn’t changed. I must marry Brogan, but I don’t want to lose you.”
    “Then you have made your choice!” he snarled, letting go of her face so fast her head snapped back. “You have no idea what it means to love someone. You think I am just a toy to be brought to the Hall with you, like another one of your trinkets. You act like this is all being forced upon you, but you are the one who’s getting married tomorrow.” Then his voice softened. “I can give you a good life, Kier. Greater than you could imagine. Let me make you happy. Not him.”
    Kier had never before felt so wretched. She had thought her news would gladden him, but she knew now how wrong she had been. He was right. He had loved her before she had ever noticed him. And as soon as she had started to love him back, she had been taken from him…or had left. He was too proud, and loved her too much, to settle for anything less than all of her. He would not share her with anyone, not even the king.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say.
    “You will be,” he answered.
     
    * * *
     
    The next day, she was staring at her gold-spun gossamer wedding gown in a looking glass when her parents entered the room.
    “You look radiant,” her mother said, and even her father looked proud. He cleared his throat.
    “The Departing will take place immediately after the binding ceremony,” he said. “So we will say our goodbyes now.”
    Kier nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She clasped hands with both of them and kissed them on both cheeks. “May the Four Cities welcome you, and may they be as beautiful as you remember,” she said.
    “May your life be long and blessed, Queen Kier,” her mother replied.
    “You will bring our family great honor,” her father said. “Now, come. It is time.”
    The wedding was simpler than she had expected. They stood on the dais of the courtyard of the Hall, where all public assemblies of note were held. The courtyard was crowded with the noblest of their people, but Kier’s back was