Kingdom of Ash

Outside, the wind howled.
And when they kneeled before each other,
bare from the waist up, that crown of stars
still atop her head, Manon said softly, “We
could make an alliance. Between Adarlan, and
the Crochans. And any Ironteeth who might
follow me.”
It was her answer, he realized. To his
request for a convincing reason to remain.
She took his hand, and interlaced their
fingers.
It was more intimate than anything they’d
shared, more vulnerable than she’d ever
allowed herself to be. “An alliance,” she said,
throat bobbing, “between you and me.”
Her golden eyes lifted to his, the offer
gleaming there.
To marry. To unite their peoples in the
strongest, most unbreakable of terms.
“You don’t want that,” he said with equal