"Why won’t you accept any of my gifts? Are they not to your liking? What do you want? If it’s not in the palace, I can have it brought from elsewhere. There must be something that…" Azura stood up from his seat and began walking toward her.

As much as he wanted to be angry, her mere presence made him breathe with satisfaction.

"I don’t want jewelry, dresses, fabric, gold, or silver. Don’t bring me anything else because I won’t accept it," Aysling declared firmly, standing in the middle of the office with her hands on her hips, staring him down.

"Then what do you want? Tell me, Aysling, because I don’t know what else I can do. I’ve already explained what happened. I punished the culprits, even those women who dared to humiliate you in the street. I found out everything, and you have no idea how furious I was."

"I would never do that to you. I didn’t mean to leave you like that. It was an emergency. I thought if I left and came back quickly, nothing would happen…"

"An apology, Azura. Al