It takes me two days to learn Perri is safe with the Savi. They are a long way from the capital. I do not like to think about how long Perri had been gone without my notice.

Casca tells me she has Perri, and she swears my beloved is being kept safe. In her message, she says I must be patient. Perri is young and has gone through dark times. I bristle at the notion I have not been able to protect my wife, but she is not wrong. Perri’s treatment in the capital has been poor. No matter what I tell her, she has no reason to believe things will change for the better.

Casca tells me to wait a week before I come out so Perri can have some time to herself. I rail against the advice, but in truth, I have no choice. The nation still needs my attention, and I throw myself into work. In the end, I manage to give Perri the week that Casca asked for, but only one week. After that, I am at the gate of the Savi fortress. If they will not give me my wife, kinship ties or not, I am willing to batter down their door.

They let me into the keep, and I am barely past the gate when I see her. She stands in the sunlight, wearing sturdy riding clothes like many of the women on the edge of the cities wear. Her arms are full of dark blue flowers. She looks whole and healthy in the sunlight. Casca was right in one respect. I cannot keep her caged if I want her happy.

Perri sees me and the flowers fall to the ground. I think she is going to run toward me and throw herself into my arms. She runs, all right, but it is away from me. I am so stunned that I do not react at first. With a roar, I give chase. Casca tries to stop me, but I shake her off with a growl.

She may be right that Perri needed time to heal, but now that I have seen my wife, I will not let anything keep us apart. My body hungers for her, but that is not the entire story. Seeing her heals a wound inside me that I didn’t know was bleeding. I need her, and I will not be without her any longer.

As small as she is, Perri is fast. She makes it out to the kashak paddocks before I catch up with her. In one final leap, I catch her in my arms, bringing her close to my body so she cannot flee. She feels so good against me that I cannot help myself. I spin her around and capture her lips with mine, drinking in her taste and smell.

When she grabs on to me and returns the kiss, I cry in triumph. I want to take her right then and there, damn whoever is watching us, but she breaks free of me, staggering back a few paces. I brace myself in case she tries to run again, but she just stares at me. The look in her eyes is painful.

“You shouldn’t have come. I gave you your mother’s jewelry back. I wrote down everything. Why are you here?”

I show her the note, crumpling it and then dropping it on the ground.

“What you wrote doesn’t make sense. You are married to me, and you are my queen. I do not under any circumstances accept what you are doing. You will return to the capital. I will accept no other answer.”

To my shock, she laughs at me, shaking her head. In a way, it is stunning. There is no one else on the planet who would laugh at me right now, especially not after the report of my battle with Crucis. Too much of the world fears me, and the ones who do not are looking to court me as an ally. A simple Earth girl laughing at me is astounding.

If I were not already in love with her before, I would be now.

“Are you going to come here and start ordering me around? That’s never worked well for anyone.”

“You have a good point. But you shouldn’t stay here like some farm girl.”

“I dare you to call Miruska a farm girl to her face.”

“We are not talking about Miruska now. I do not accept your abdication!”

“Abdication? That’s a pretty big word for someone who was never a queen!”

“You became a queen the moment I became king. There is nothing more than needs to be said.”

“What about the fact that you need an Arietan queen? Rasulus, no matter what we feel for each other, there is no way I am the queen you need.”

The words coming out of her mouth are so ridiculous that I can only stare at her for a moment, glowering.

“I don’t understand. You faced down your fear of kashaks to bring me a message overland. You didn’t flinch from my brother when he was trying to terrorize you. You are on a new planet where everything is strange and foreign, and yet you do not feel like you are ready to be my queen?”

“No! I don’t! I heard some women talking. They said you would need a real queen, someone chosen from the ranks of the Arietan nobility, a Savi or an Avarii. And I understand that I do! It can’t be me.”

“Wait a minute.”

“Don’t tell me you want to keep me as a second wife or a mistress. I know your alien ways are different from what I am used to, but I have enough time to think about what I can tolerate. I will not share you with anyone.”

“Fantastic. I have no intention of being shared by anyone.”

She looks at me, and I can see our future together in her magnificent eyes. TerraMates knew what they were doing when they put us together, even though our marriage was my brother’s idea of a sick joke. Even now, looking at her, I feel a pang of desire and a pure sliver of sweetness right through my soul.

I try a different approach. “Will you come over here and sit with me?”

There is a bench close to the paddock fence. A pair of kashak dams and their chicks watch us for a moment before strutting away. I can remember a time when the birds would have frightened Perri. Today they are a part of the world we share together.

She moves near me, but she will not come too close. Perri watches me with a sort of wariness. As unhappy as she must be right now, I cannot help but feel hopeful at the sign. She is not completely convinced. If there is any doubt in her, it is something I can work with.

I do not dare to think about what might happen if I fail.

“First, we are married. It’s not something taken lightly on Arietus. Despite my brother’s farcical idea of a marriage ceremony, it was legal and binding. In time, I would like to have a real ceremony, something we can show to the world. For now, we are still legitimate.”

“Are you trying to tell me there’s no such thing as a divorce on this planet?”

“I know what the word means, but it’s complicated. We would need to have reasons why we are unsuited for each other.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Really? Enlighten me, Perri. What’s wrong about our relationship?”

She pauses, staring at me for a long moment before shrugging.

“I’m not the wife you need. You should be matched with someone who knows this planet, who can be the queen the world sees, and who will rule with you. That’s not me.”

“When you came to me, did you see any other women by my side?”

“I heard about plenty of them.”

“What you heard were rumors I spread so I would have the time to build a rebellion against my brother. There were no other women. I haven’t had a lover in a long time because I was devoted to my cause. And there was another reason as well.”

“What was that?”

“No woman in her right mind would have stood next to me.”

She gives me a skeptical look, and I know I must explain further. “It must have occurred to you by now that being of royal blood under Crucis’ reign was dangerous. My brother took away his favor as easily as he doled it out. He had no compunctions against punishing people in the most brutal and violent way possible.”

Perri shivers, and I know she understands my point.

“I was as safe as anyone could be, but only while he didn’t see me as a threat. I was a risk for any wealthy family that wanted a connection to power. No one saw through my act except you.”

She watches me closely. I take her hand without her noticing and bring it to my lips for a soft kiss.

“Perri, no one in this world would have dared to be with me when Crucis was king. Now that he is gone, and I rule in his place, I don’t want anyone other than you. I need you by my side. If you tell me no, I will not take anyone else.”

Perri gasps. “You can’t be serious!”

“I can adopt if I need an heir. I will not end our marriage, and I will not take a second wife. If I have to wait for you to make up your mind, I will wait.”

I pause for a moment, looking at her face. She is gorgeous. For all my hot-headed words before, I know that there are some things I can’t do. I will not force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do, but I hope I have changed her mind.

“You’re insane.”

“Probably. But you love me.” I hesitate. “You must always do as you please. That is what I want, freedom and happiness for you. But you wrote certain words in the note you left me. Right now, if you can, I want you to say them.”

She does not hesitate, and it heals something in me that has been broken.

“Oh god, Rasulus, I love you, oh, I love you, I love you—”

Perri throws herself into my arms, hanging on to me with a strength that tells me how much she has missed me and how hard our separation has been on her. I hold her, relishing the feel of her against me.

“Love, are you ready to come home with me?”

I see her give the question her full consideration, and a soft pride warms me. She thinks about the consequences of her actions as much as she rushes headlong into action. How could this woman think she could be less than a queen? When she speaks, there is something certain in her voice that was missing before.

“Yes. And if I know you, you have something for me.”

She’s right. From a small bag, I pull out the jewelry she has left behind. Holding it in my hands makes me think about what was happening the last time I put it on her. We are a long way from that night, and all I can see in front of me is a future so bright it is nearly blinding. She hesitates, touching it with one finger.

“I feel like I should wait. You should give it to me later. Maybe at the wedding you were speaking of.”

I can hear the wistfulness in her voice, and I smile. If she wants a wedding, I will give her one that they will sing about for the next hundred years.

“But I’m not sure I want to wait to wear it.”

“Then don’t. Let me put this on you. It links you to my past and the people who came before us. On our real wedding day, I will give you a set of gems that will be new, something only shared by the two of us. But Perri, you must be clear.”

She looks at me, a shade of apprehension in her eyes. “About what?”

“If you let me put this on you now, if you allow me to recognize you as my wife, my soulmate, the mistress of my house and my heart, I will not let you go again. Do you understand?”

The smile that she gives me is like the rising sun. “Yes. I love you. I will never run away from you again.”

I feel like laughing and crying and taking her at once. With shaking hands, I fasten the necklace around her throat, and she touches the gems, pleased to have them back where they belong. I cannot help myself, and I pull her into my arms. She feels perfect, mine and no one else’s. I stand up with my wife and my queen in my arms.

“Rasulus, what are you doing?”

“I am taking you to the bedroom. Right now. Unless you want me to take you here in the paddock.”

I can tell that Perri is considering it before she throws her arms around my neck, burying her face in my chest.

“Take me to my room. Keep me there until we have to rejoin the world. I want to be with you and only you, far away from everything else.”

I smile and kiss her as we walk. I’ll never have to be apart from her again.