Elizabeth’s challenge burned in Rafael’s thoughts for the days before the wedding. Afraid. It was an astonishing word to have associated with himself, and yet there was a resonance in her charge that hinted at truth.
AfraidLove made the king vulnerable. There was the root of the matter. A man who prized any possession, be it wife, child or holding, could have his prize stripped from him. Worse, it could be used against him. Wives were captured, children tormented, holdings stolen. Rafael had seen many a man broken by such a loss and had resolved long ago that it would not happen to him.
Love made the king vulnerable.What would be your legacy? There was the most potent truth of it. Rafael did not want those souls in Hell to be his legacy. As ever, Elizabeth had found a way to make him rec
