At Any Cost by Kate Sparkes Page B

to him, standing by the door, waiting. Quiet calm filled her. His gaze had seemed so frighteningly cold the first time they’d met, while his eyes had burned as he’d admired her body at their last encounter. The way he looked at her now was neither hot not cold, but warm. Filled with longing and regret. Not the eyes of a selfish man looking on his treasure, but someone about to make a great sacrifice for a loved one’s freedom.
    Loved.
    “What’s this one?” She pointed to a tapestry depicting people dancing outside of a white building. She asked more to distract herself than out of real curiosity, but found as she looked closer that the image was quite compelling.
    “A small place of worship dedicated to the Goddess. It’s just outside.”
    “May I see it before I go?”
    He nodded. “There’s a back way.”
    They cut through the garden, but instead of turning toward the front of the palace, Ulric took her hand and led her through the rose garden and into a hedge maze dotted with stone fountains. He cut through the maze quickly and waved off a guard who stood next to a tiny gate.
    They passed through. The temple stood empty before them, beautiful and silent.
    “We don’t use it much,” Ulric said. “The priests employed here see more visitors from the provinces than they do nobles or my own family, but there still aren’t many who come by.”
    Maggie stepped closer. The building, constructed of twisting branches of white wood knit together into a single, steep tower, seemed out of place in this city of stone and hard angles. She stepped through a doorless archway and drew a sharp breath. Inside, the white wood grew thick green leaves covered the ceiling and emitted a soft glow that lit the otherwise empty space.
    “It’s incredible,” she whispered. The sound echoed, repeated back by the leaves overhead.
    A white-robed figure appeared, though Maggie couldn’t tell from where. “The king himself seeks sanctuary,” commented a lilting voice. Thin hands reached up to adjust the hood, but kept it up so the shadows hid the face beneath.
    “I’m afraid not,” he said quietly. “My visitor wished to see the temple.”
    “The Goddess is pleased to see you both,” the figure said. “Take your time.”
    And then she was gone.
    Maggie let the peaceful silence of the place fill her. The Goddess of Tyrea wasn’t a deity she had ever worshipped, but she felt the peaceful solemnity of the place, and something more. Something larger. It set her in her place, made her feel her own insignificance when compared with the vastness of time and the depth of history. She turned to Ulric, who watched her with eyes that revealed deep sadness.
    And what will our place be in our small slice of history?
    “Do you believe in fate?” she asked.
    “No.”
    She nodded, satisfied at the expected answer. “Neither do I. I believe we choose our paths, make our decisions, and reap whatever results. If I believed in fate, I might think it led us to each other. And I might stay because of it.”
    He smiled bitterly. “Then it’s a good thing for you that you don’t.”
    She took a deep breath of the sweet, fresh air. Ice pooled in her stomach as she made her decision. “The priest wasn’t wrong. You are seeking sanctuary. Just not here.” Her mouth went dry. “It’s not fate. It is my choice, and I choose to be your sanctuary. If you marry me, that is, and if you promise in turn to shelter me from this world that holds you captive.”
    “Magdalena.” His eyebrows gathered in a deep frown. “You can’t.”
    She stood up straighter. “This is my purpose, as I choose it. To love a man I’m told is unlovable. To strengthen him, even if he believes love is weakness. To comfort a king so that he can rule his land. And so he can remain at peace with the land I leave behind.”
    Ulric opened his mouth to speak—to object, Maggie thought—then closed it. He seemed to be struggling within himself. He bowed slightly.