The Love of a Wielder (Book Two of The Wielders Trilogy)

Chapter Sixteen

Donovan was optimistic when he knocked on the door of Maren's sitting room. He knew he had the best possible plan and was relieved that both Alec and the Duke thought so too. He hoped Maren would agree.

"Who is it?" her voice called from the other side of the door.

He took a deep breath.

"It's me," he called back. "Can we talk? Please?"

There was a brief pause while his heart pounded before she called, "All right, you can come in."

Not an enthusiastic greeting, but it was the best he could have hoped for under the circumstances.

He opened the door and stepped inside. She was sitting in an armchair, wearing one of her blue day dresses. Her day dresses seemed to all be blue or green, but the colors suited her. Her hair was braided simply. She looked very much like she did the day he'd met her, and only marginally less terrified.

She was still the best thing he'd ever seen. Only a few days ago, he had thought he'd never see her again. He wanted to rush at her and hold her in his arms, but knew that was not what she wanted. He was still oath-bound never to touch her against her will, and he would honor it.

She gestured for him to sit on a sofa beside her, and he did. He felt many conflicting emotions. He was nervous and excited and happy and worried all at the same time.

Donovan tried to focus on what needed to be done, though. Letting his emotions reign over him was what got him in trouble the last time. He needed to be calm. He knew she needed him to be calm. So, he would be calm.

"Thank you for seeing me," he said in a quiet voice.

She nodded.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm all right," she said.

She didn't look all right. She looked pale and overtired, but he wanted to avoid pressing her.

It had been a very long time since their conversation had felt so stilted and awkward. Donovan didn't like it, but he knew he needed to press on.

"I am so sorry for what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

She took a deep breath. "No, you shouldn't have. But I think I should have been more prepared to actually talk to you."

He still felt guilty, but was glad to hear she didn't hate him for it.

"Well," he said with a smile, "You can blame Alec for that."

He was glad to see her smile back, even if it was a small one.

"Or perhaps what I can only imagine was very reckless driving on your part," she said with a wry smile.

The truth was he had driven like a madman. He stopped only as needed to change the batteries and sleep for a few hours. He drove entirely too fast and too late into the night. It was something of a miracle he had arrived in one piece.

"Possibly," he admitted.

There was an awkward silence while he tried to collect his thoughts for what he had to say next.

"Maren, I hope you'll believe me when I say I want to marry you. To be honest, it seemed so obvious to me that I would that I assumed you would be sitting here waiting for me with a magistrate."

She made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a snort. He smiled at the thought too, but continued.

"That wasn't fair to you, though," he said. "And I'm sorry I wasn't more thoughtful. Now, I have a plan, and it isn't perfect, but I think it will work. But if you've already made up your mind to...have Alec handle it... I won't stop you, and you don't have to listen to the plan."