Alaric glanced at her, and something passed across his features before he lifted a hand and gently held her chin. "Hush now, my dear," he said softly as he looked into her misty eyes.
She seemed to believe that she had made such a grave mistake, that she had unknowingly shared a bed with the Crown Prince of Eryndor while she was nothing more than a common village girl.
"You did nothing wrong, and you won't be punished," he assured her gently, wanting to ease the fear that had suddenly overtaken her.
Once he had calmed Rebecca enough for her breathing to steady, he took her hand in his and looked at her again. "I'm telling you this because I plan to return to the palace," he explained. "I will settle things there, and once I have done that, I will come back for you so that you can live with me and have a better life than this."
"You're going to leave me?" Rebecca asked, and her eyes immediately filled with tears.
