CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
“May I have a word?” Thanos asked Cosmas in the library, his hands shaking like leaves caught in a storm.
Cosmas looked up from reading a scroll, his expression worried, but loving.
“Of course.”
They walked together out into the palace gardens and sat on a bench in front of the marble fountain, beneath a cloudy sky.
“What can I help you with, son?” Cosmas asked.
Thanos huffed.
“The king and queen commanded Ceres and I to be wed to restore the peace in the land,” he said.
“So I heard.”
“She rejected me.”
“Ah, that, too, I heard.”
Thanos took a deep cleansing breath.
“I have fallen in love with Ceres, but she believes I only proposed because I was commanded to.”
Cosmas nodded, paused, and brought a hand to his chin.
“Have you spoken to her, opened your hear
