No Comparison

If you like music while you read, try "Will I Make it Out Alive?" by Tommee Profitt and Jessie Early.

*****

~ DAVID ~

It was beyond morning. Almost lunchtime. And yet I found myself still standing in the sitting room of my chambers, staring out of the window into the gardens below.

Conclave had been a success. My wife-to-be unanimously acknowledged. And in less than twelve hours—a record, I believed.

Of course, I'd sold my soul to make it happen. It had seemed necessary at the time. A requirement. Perhaps a penance? I wasn't sure, but I'd been… driven.

Now… now it was a relief to know that soon all of these foreign souls would leave the Palace. Yet, for that to happen, I would first stand before Arinel—her people, her allies, and even her enemies—and speak the vows that would tie me forever to Lizbeth. She was, perhaps, the kindest and most compassionate soul I'd ever met.

And scared of her own shadow.