Bodin sat quietly across from me. Glaring at me so furiously that I couldn't say he'd blinked since we left.

So mad I was sure that he'd finished whipping me, where he'd left off if I lunged for that door.

I lifted a curtain to peer out at the scenery. Annoyed to see that the woman, Ena, rode next to the carriage.

I was sure if I could see the otherside, I'd find the Fey King there.

"Who is she?" I asked him sullenly.

"Similar to a sister to me. She's my guard."

"Guard?"

"I'm the son of the Fey King."

"What about James?"

"James is a true Charters."

He said that with a hint of pain in his voice.

Somewhat sad that his father hadn't truly been his.

"So, should James me the real Lord Charters?"

"He doesn't want it."

"What if he does one day?"

He could petition for the Title to be legally reviewed.

"Then I will give it to him. He's the true heir. I'm teaching him what to do at the docks and how to run the house. The rest is up to him."

***

I was faintly surprised that Bodin was so willing to give up the Charters Title.

"What about you?"

He stared down his nose at me. "I can have either world, if I wish it."

Fey or human.

I was being escorted back.

To Charters House or to the Fey Castle? I swallowed.

Eying Bodin who was now dead silent.

And Bodin was clearly disinclined to talk to me further.

Or somewhere.

I was beginning to fear that the threat of being taken to the Fey Castle was about to become very real.

"Where were you going?" He asked me flatly.

"To my Aunt Susan. Which you know full well."

He grunted grudgingly but said nothing more.

"You knew that was where I'd head."

"If you left."

"You couldn't have known I would." I argued.

"I hoped you wouldn't." His tone was that usual unreadable calm. Though his presence seemed to fully consume the carriage. Seeming larger than life, in his ire.

He sighed and leaned forward. Looking at me levelly. "What's it going to take to move past everything, Belle."

"I don't even know for certain that you didn't kill my father." I said quietly. Even though I no longer believed he had. It was the quickest thing to grasp on to.

He winced. "Do you honestly think I could do something like that?"

"I don't know you at all." I said acidly.

He grunted. "The hell you don't. You've always known me."

"I thought you were quiet. I thought you were shy. I thought you didn't know how to play chess. I thought you were kind."

"I am quiet. I speak when there is a need. I am perhaps shy when with you. I wanted your time. You are correct in your mistake in the last." He looked out the window. "I am not kind."

I stared at his profile. Suddenly sensing his pain. Something I'd rarely felt from him before. Perhaps not paying enough attention to notice.

His profile was handsome. Outlined in the overcast afternoon light. A straight nose. Dark hair and dark sideburns. A full mouth which was clamped closed as he stared thoughtfully out the window.

"What are you pondering?" I blurted. My curiosity overcoming me.

I regretted the question the moment those amber eyes set on me again. Still ominous in how unreadable they presented.

"Why are you so against wedding me when I'm fine enough to bed?" He said bluntly.

Catching me off-guard enough I reared back.

"Because no one commands me."

"Because I told you, you were marrying me."

"Yes. You don't own me."

"I know I do not, Belle. I wouldn't wish to. I'd have you in my life. My partner in all things."

***

I paused. Chewing my cheek as I assessed his motives. "Are you playing chess with me again."

"Not in the least. I'm speaking to you frankly and hoping for the same in return."

I was still. Feeling like a doe in the sights of an arrow.

"What if I were to ask you, Belle?"

"You've not asked me since before all this started."

"And you told me 'no'."

"I was innocent."

"Yes." He acknowledged. Sighing as he sat back. Deflating some. "You were."

Something he was responsible for changing.

"I didn't know you then." I murmured.

"Would you say you do now?"

"Far more than I did before." I admitted.

"I am no poet."

"No. But-" I found myself fighting the urge to defend his good traits but caught myself.

Bodin was still. Leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Yes?"

I blew a long breath. "You're fierce. A rock to weather a storm in the ocean. Unmoved by railing and fighting. Calm and logical. Things I appreciate because I feel everything. I'm never calm."

"No." He agreed. "You're pure passion. Good and bad."

I smiled faintly.

Pure passion. I liked the sound of that far better than being accused of being an emotional wreck.

"There are many things about you, Bodin that are quite remarkable."

"Being a Fey Prince?" He queried with a roguish grin.

I laughed. Covering my mouth as I caught myself.

He reached up and lightly lowered my hand. "I like your smile, Belle. It lightens my heart."

Being a Fey Prince. He'd said.

"Among other things, Bodin."

"Well, I'm asking you now, Belle." He caught the hand he'd pushed from covering my face. Holding it lightly between his and massaging the back in a seductive motion. Which had my defenses melting. "Would you marry me. Be my wife whether it is as Lady Charters or the wife of a wharf worker or a Fey Prince."

I looked around the carriage. "Well, I'm going to need you to elect to be just one of those."

I lifted my finger pointedly.

He chuckled. "Lady Demetrius then."

"Lady Demetrius?" I squawked. "What of Cousin Randy."

Bodin gave me a long look that told me he'd not answer me, and I didn't want to ask.

"Did you kill him?" I breathed. "For killing father?"

"He did not kill your father, but he did arrange it. I did not kill him." He reassured. Not explaining further and giving me a meaningful look that told me not ask further questions.

I was appalled at first but recalled what Randy had gone to my chamber intent on doing.

Ravishing me.

Stealing Demetrius House in-case it was found out the estate was ill-gotten. I hated that thought. Imagining that someone from my own family would've killed my good-natured father whom he'd grown up knowing.

***

"Bodin..." I reached out and caressed his cheek. Seeing the hint of a shadow along his face.

From getting up so early and spending most of the morn chasing me.

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

"More than my own life."

I stared at him in shock.

He'd said it so quickly and sounded so sincere.

I thoughtfully considered the future with some lovely poet I'd imagined and instead considered a life with this strange, enigmatic man. Whether in the comfort of Charter House or by a warm fire in a small house, relying on him, I knew he would always be there to look after me.

Always take care of me.

I remembered the two nights he'd sat on the otherside of my bedroom door because he knew I was upset. Even I knew that was something uncommon.

He'd done it to support me while I suffered.

He's always been there.