Serge did not share my dark levity at the potential permanency of the situation. "I do not want you to spend your entire life as my thrall," he said.

"I was only speaking of worse case scenarios," I said quickly, trying to reassure him. "I think it will work."

He frowned. "I think we've both seen enough to understand that life is no fairy tale, Elise."

Fear rushed through me, urging me to agree and to back away from him. "It's not, but good fairy tales have some truth them. I don't know if love can break this, but I can tell you..."

I trailed off, trying to find a way to say the embarrassing words.

"What?" he asked.

I inhaled. "Being close to you makes it better. Like that time when you ordered me in the kitchen, or like just now when we..."

At least my embarrassment seemed to slightly counteract my fear.

I regrouped. "And the c-curse hates the idea, so there's a good chance it could work."

He smiled again. "Are you sure about what you want?" he asked.

I swallowed. "I, um, probably could have fallen for y-you anyway if we met a normal way."

"I wish I had met you before that battle," he told me in a low, harsh voice. "I would never have forgotten you. I would not have done what I did if I had recognized you."

I smiled. "I know."

He paused. "I still don't understand what I was thinking in that moment, Elise. I knew I did not want to kill you, but what if there was something darker, something subconscious? What if... What if I just saw you and instinctively wanted you and this was how I ensnared you? Can you live with me knowing that could be what had occurred? That some part of me might have gone to such lengths to trap you?"

His heart was pounding and mine quickened in response. Could that be true? The curse tried to convince me, but I was unsure.

"Do you think y-you wanted me so badly that's possible?" I whispered the question. The magic assaulted me for not cowering once more.

"The more I've come to know you the more I've wanted you for myself, Elise. It's possible I was that disgusting, that evil." The self-recrimination was strong in his voice. "If you really do go through with this, you might truly be doing little more than rewarding my vice."

I thought about everything I had come to know about Serge. I had trouble believing him to be so corrupt. All I had seen was his self-sacrifice, his concern. Even his violence was directed towards protecting his people.

Even the way he had held me, light enough that I could have broken away easily.

And even if I was wrong, he was clearly sorry for his crime.

I made myself meet his eyes. "I don't believe that, S-Serge, but if it is true, I'm not rewarding your one mistake. I trust you."

"You're sure?" he asked me. "You, Elise, not the curse?"

The curse launched itself at me again, assaulting every cell in my body. "Y-yes," I stuttered.

"You don't sound sure," he said gravely.

I inhaled and focused. "I already told y-you. That's because it doesn't want me to agree."

He was watching me carefully.

I pushed forward, "And if this c-curse doesn't want me to be doing something, then that's exactly what I should do. And you're what it doesn't want me to do, so..."

He smiled. "You amaze me."

Warmth at from his words form a maelstrom with the chills from the curse. "Thanks," I said lightly. I kept my head up instead of cowering like the curse required.

He was studying my face and I had to fight not to turn away. "And it really helps to be near?" he asked.

"Well, um, y-your heat seems to..." I trailed off. I turned my head then, but it was because of my own embarrassment.  "Seems to help with the cold of the curse," I muttered the end of my thought.

I heard him moving and he grasped my hand, firmly but not too hard. I could have pulled away, but it was not like before. His touch still burned me, but it was no longer like frost bite. Now the burn was all warmth.

He pulled me along to my spot on the living room couch and sat down, inviting me to sit beside him. I did. He pulled me up against him and wrapped me in his arms.

The shivers of the curse receded into his warmth.

"Is that better?" he asked me.

"It is," I agreed.

"So, if you really are prepared to marry me, Elise, then what do you want?"

"I don't know," I said. "But I'd like to do it soon."

He seemed to be thinking over what I said. "I agree, sooner is better."

I nodded. "I have to tell my father and Moramay and Sean of course. And I need to talk to Matthias." My stomach plunged at the thought of refusing his offer and probably breaking his heart in the process.

A lifetime ago I would have loathed the girl who hurt my friend, but now in this strange twist of fate it seemed I was she.

Serge's warmth was against my side. I had made the right choice, even if no one else would agree with it. My father would be full of horrified fury. I only hoped Moramay would see my side of it and calm him down. I could not even guess what Sean might do. My stomach tightened with anxiety.

"I'll take you there."

"Th-thanks," I told him.

"Do you want to go now?" he asked.

"Now?" I asked. I certainly did not feel ready to do that yet.

"I thought you would want to get it over with," he said.

I considered. Putting it off would not make it easier. He was right. "Okay, just let me get ready," I said.

He nodded and I forced myself up, but before I scurried off to my room I dared to brush his lips with a kiss. His smile was reward enough to offset the fear rushing through my veins as I hurried off to my room.

I opened the closet and looked inside. I had no idea what to wear. What was the appropriate garb for breaking a best friend's heart and enraging one's father?

I finally settled on jeans and a white tank top. I zipped up my favourite hoodie over top. It was not yet warm enough to ditch the layers and I was glad because I kind of wanted to hide under piles of cloth.

When I emerged, Serge was waiting for me. He was wearing black pants and a shirt. He looked good and I realized I had probably dressed too casually.

"Maybe I should change," I muttered.

"You look fine," he assured me. "It's probably better if you look like yourself for this, anyway."

His words did not make me feel better. "I do have nicer clothing," I pointed out.

"I'm sure you do, but you look beautiful regardless."

Well, I did like the sound of that, even if the curse did not want to let me. I ignored the ice in the scruff of my neck as I walked with him to the door. He opened it and let me precede him.

"And if you act different than you usually do, it will likely make your father suspicious," he said.

As I headed for his black truck, I glanced back at him. "Are y-you nervous?"

He did not answer as we walked down to his vehicle.

Instead he pulled open the passenger side and I climbed inside. He shut the door and went around to take his place behind the wheel. He put the truck into gear and we began to drive.

I had almost forgotten my own question, when he responded. "Nervous? More like on edge. We're going to tell the man whose daughter I cursed that I'm going to marry her. I don't want to upset you more, but this won't be pretty."

"I know. I'm nervous, too, and for once it's how I really feel." I did not tell him that it was compounded by the magic of the curse, because that would only make him feel guilty over something neither of us could change through regret.

I tried to think through what I would say, but everything I imagined ended with either Matthias or my father going for Serge's throat. I did not need the curse's claws on my skin to know I did not want that.

"Um, so, y-you should probably be on guard in case someone loses their temper," I warned.

"I thought you've seen that I can handle myself," he said, a slight grin on his mouth. He looked even more attractive when he was not completely dour. There was something deeply appealing about his rare cocky demonstrations.

And I did remember him taking down his challenger like it was burned into my brain. I also remembered him almost dying.

"I know you can handle yourself," I said, although I was also terribly aware he was not invulnerable.

"I promise I won't hurt your people."

I ignored the tremors the curse produced as I pushed my point forward. "I know that, but that also means y-you're at a disadvantage in a fight. Because, I think maybe some people might not be as ready to make that promise about you in return."

"Your father won't attack me. If he were going to lose his temper, he would have done it the moment he realized I made you my thrall. But nothing has changed, we still need each other alive."

I nodded and hoped he was right. Somehow I thought the premeditated nature of this latest decision might make my father more furious than a horrible mistake during the heat of battle.

"Maybe I should tell them by myself?"

Serge grasped my hand with his own. Warmth flooded through me from the contact. "I need to speak with your father, Elise. Avoiding him will only make the situation worse. I don't want what I did or what we might do to come between you and your family. But I do agree you should speak to Matthias by yourself. I'll wait for you in the truck and you can call if you need me."

I nodded slowly.

He took his eyes off the road in front of him to glance at me quickly. "Who do you want to see first?" he asked.

I knew who I should see first, though the thought made my heart leap into my throat in dread.

"Matthias."