Book Four: Chapter 200

“That’s fair.” When his gaze swept over the others, it stopped on Naia. She was smiling, and the runes tattooed on her body were glowing fiercely beneath her dress. “I challenged you to a duel, but maybe we can do something more productive, find some common ground to stand on. Come on, Your Majesty. Come inside my home and learn what it means to live, and see what it means to love. See it from our point of view.”

“What trap is this? Are you trying to seduce me, to convince me to join your harem of spiritual concubines?” There was anger in her voice, and he felt her grip tighten like iron. “I would rather fight and lose than indulge in your erotic fantasy.”

“That’s not what this is about. I want you to see what Cecilia sees, what the others see. Learn that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”

“I hate human idioms,” she muttered. “I almost would have preferred live, laugh, and love.”

Despite her protests, when he pulled her towar