Steel Rose

Chapter 43

Isabelle Pov

Glistening diamonds and elegant white dresses filled my dreams the following weeks. Each ends with seeing Ptolemus there, in his stunning black and silver. Smiling at me.

I find myself thinking of the future. A future we could have. A happy marriage, and long nights that lead to silver haired, dark eyes children. It's a fantasy so strong, I wake up in the night half expecting to see a crib beside our bed filled with our creation. My thumb runs over my empty ring finger mindlessly.

It's a fool's dream, I know. He's still engaged to Elane. She will be the one to bear his children one day. We'll love each other from afar, separated for many months if not years. Perhaps I won't last that long if Maven believes I know something, and have me killed just in spite.

Ptolemus looks at me as if I might fall apart any moment, when my imagination gets the best of me in front of him. His face pulls into guilt as if he knows what I'm thinking about.

"I shouldn't have said anything," he says one night as we eat dinner together the night before Maven's wedding. But we've both hardly touched our food, and Ptolemus avoids is favorite liquor to keep a clear head.

"What do you mean?" I ask fiddling with my fork.

"You're thinking about what I asked you. About marriage," he states and a dry grin lifts at the corner of his mouth. "I shouldn't have said anything."

I drop my fork and take his hand resting on the table in my own. My hand is hardly half his size. He smiles and flips it over so his hand swallows mine.

"I'm fine," I tell him. I smile playfully in the hope to brighten the mood. "I'm glad you told me. I'm happy that now I know the true extent of your feeling for me so I can use them to my advantage."

Ptolemus laughs loudly before his eyes darken, "You wish to take advantage of me, Isabelle?"

I lean across the table looking him in the eye, "Always."

Ptolemus POV

My fantasies of Isabelle as my partner began earlier than she is aware. Those nights when I awoke to find her still sprawled beside me, purring in her sleep. The times she used to babysit Garette, seeing her with children of our own.

I think of all the moments we spent together. Her giggle. The lightness of her voice. Watching her prepare for the day with a sunlit smile. It's something I'm not ready to give up. It's something her brother and father wish to preserve.

House Nornus's special child. The jewel of the house, especially since most of her house if made up of a majority of males. An only daughter of four sons.

It is never far from my thoughts what I plan to do, as I kiss her. Her body pressing hotly against mine. But I don't have much a choice.

I pull away from her and watch her face twist in displeasure at the sudden gap between us. I stroke her golden locks back from her face and she leans into my touch. The action alone spurs my next vow.

"No matter what," I whisper to her, "I will always love you. More than anything, Isabelle."

She kisses my lips softly. And I've never known anything so sweet.

"My sweet Isabelle."

Isabelle Pov

Mother runs her fingers over the pearls circling my arms and she sighs. "This is exquisite, dear. That seamstress of yours is a miracle worker."

I smile softly at her as I swallow around the pearls at my neck. I turn to face her, the sun from the window catching my glittered boots reflecting stars across the wall. The room is lit with the morning sun, a door thrown open to let fresh air in making the pale curtains flow in the dance of the wind.