She should look away, but she couldn't help but stare. Before she knew it, he was less than a few inches from her, and she jerked her head up to face him.

"Would you like a moment to compose yourself?" she asked, hating her voice for shaking slightly as she did so.

Theo smiled darkly. "No, princess. You are the one who invited yourself in. If my indecency offends you, you are welcome to leave at any point." He paused and when she didn't move to leave, continued, closing the final distance between them by drawing her close with an arm around the small of her back as he did so.

"First of all, let us get one thing straight here. If you think you are the only one who has been worrying this week, let me clarify that for you. I have spent all week wracking my brain for a solution to this mess of a country that doesn't endanger you, marry you off or ship you away. I've stayed up to the darkest hours of the morning, just before dawn, searching for a way to keep you here." He lifted a hand to play with a loose curl of her brown wig. "Right here, Addie. Just as we are right now, that is where I want you."

Addie couldn't help but lean into him, pushing her clothed body into his bare one. The heat of his skin burning through her clothes to scorch the very core of her. Her mouth ran dry, and she wet her lips. His eyes darted to her mouth, and she leaned in further, daring him to kiss her. Addie was sure he would when he swiftly tore himself away and walked to the other side of the room. By the time Addie circled around to follow him with her eyes, he was already wrapping a dressing robe around his lean, taut body.

Addie found herself twinge with disappointment. And by the smirk on Theo's face, he knew it. Addie was just grateful he kept his mouth shut.

"You've been avoiding me," she said, the statement coming out as an accusation.

Theo walked to the wash basin and busied himself with washing his face and scrubbing away the sleep. Addie couldn't help but watch as the muscles in his back and shoulders altered against the fabric of his dressing robe as he bent ever-so-slightly over the basin. In a man as fit as him, even the smallest movement changed everything.

Despite her awe, Addie shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. This was really no time for analyzing muscles.

"I have," came Theo's deep timbre in response.

"Why?" Addie started, surprised he admitted it.

He turned to face her now, toweling off his face and hands, catching the little water droplets that were making their own path down his chest where his robe gaped open. He stepped toward her, directly into the light of the sun streaming through the curtains, and Addie instantly understood why women swooned.

He was positively god-like. No, he was Apollo himself, god of light, braced against the backdrop of a harsh, mortal world. His blonde hair mussed and his green eyes bright. He radiated heat toward her.

And he had no idea. Confusion filtered through his expression.

"I thought we are supposed to be avoiding each other. You are still a princess in disguise, are you not?"

"Yes," Addie said, unsure of what else to say. He was right, after all. This was what they had agreed upon. Really, she had been foolish to expect anything else.

Theo leaned against the bedpost, still draped in the light of the sun. Addie took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I would have come to you if I had found another option. But I couldn't face you simply to say that I have no plan, no alternative, nothing helpful at all. I am failing to protect you from this."

He bared his palms to show that he had nothing to give, perhaps willing for something to appear in his empty hands. So he wasn't a god, after all, Addie thought. At least this was evidence of his humanity, of his lack of perfection.

Addie shook her head. "I was never expecting that from you, Theo. Even before the marriage was proposed, exposing myself as alive was always going to be a risk. We knew this. I knew this when I made the decision to go along with our plan."

Theo dragged his hand down the sharp curves of his face. "I am aware. But I suppose I thought that in the end, I could still keep you close. Keep you safe."

"Was I to stay here forever? Maid by day, princess by night?"

"No, of course not, Addie," he replied.

"Then what?" she asked, perhaps with a hint of hope.

But he just shook his head and said, "I do not know."

Then he stood straight and walked over to gather his previously discarded clothes that had been scattered across the floor, speaking as he did.

"In two days, we are to meet with King Ernest and Prince George to discuss the terms of the marriage. Andrew and I will escort you."

"You will?" Addie asked breathlessly.

"Yes." He looked at her, his eyes direct and meaningful, before continuing to gather his clothing. "Afterward, you will not be able to come back here. You will stay with Lord Trotten, as his guest. Emilia will go with you. Lord Trotten feels quite confident that his residence is the last place that the royal family would ever search for you, but should anyone come by, it will appear that you are Emilia's companion. They won't question her presence, not with their history."

Addie sucked in a deep breath, the air filling her with anger.

"Does Emilia know of this?"

"No," Theo replied simply. "Not yet."

Addie marched toward him, grabbing his arm and halting his movements. "You cannot simply make decisions for us, Theo."

At that, he ripped his arm from her grasp and twisted toward her, grabbing her arm instead. Apollo in all his raging glory. His face contorted from anguish Addie couldn't begin to understand.

"From the moment my parents passed away, nay, before that, when my mother was a mere shadow of herself, I have been responsible for my sister. I've told you this, Addie. I have been responsible for keeping her safe and keeping her from harm. I have barely been able to uphold that responsibility, and I will not allow her to get caught in the crosshairs of a treasonous conspiracy. Have you considered that when Andrew and I expose ourselves as your allies, we could be arrested? Even dukes get led to the gallows for acts of treason."

Addie was shaken to her core, a terrible dread falling over her. She barely had a chance to process what he was saying before he continued and said the words that tore her down completely.

"And you. Since the moment I picked you up off the streets, I have been responsible for you as well. Not just for my selfish reasons of loving the bewitching way you speak or the way you hold me close with your eyes, but because you are the future of this goddamn country. So I will fight for you, but I will also insist that you and Emilia stay safe. Because I am not going to prison only to see you both killed in the middle of the night."

In the wake of his speech, Addie's knees gave way. The harsh reality dawned on her. Everything he was saying was true. And she couldn't let it be. She grasped his arm right back, desperate.

"You and Andrew mustn't come with me. You are right; you cannot expose yourselves," she said, shaking her head vigorously, unable to stop the frantic movements.

"Addie, no, that is not what you were supposed to get from that." Theo tried to grab her face to stay her shaking, but she wouldn't allow it.

"My God, Theo!" Addie exclaimed. "How selfish of me that I had not even considered this. Of course you cannot come with me!"

Addie moved away from him, pacing around the room. Theo tried to follow her, but she brushed him off, her mind moving faster than her body, her body seeking an equilibrium. Theo finally caught her and held her tight with one single word. "No." He held her from behind, her back pressed up against his hard chest.

Addie struggled, but he held on. "Addie, stop. Please, listen." Addie relaxed ever-so-slightly in his grip, the steadiness of his voice and the pressure of his arms finding a way to calm her.

"This is Andrew's fight as much as it is yours. He is going, and you cannot stop him. He is the Duke of Weston, and he isn't afraid of the king. Though he likely should be. But you need him there on your side. He is the brightest mind in England."

"Fine," Addie replied, her mind beginning to slow once more. "Andrew can come. You cannot."

"Ah," Theo said with a smile in his voice, pulling her closer to him in his arms. "Andrew will be so busy defending the rights of this country that I need to be there to defend your rights, my princess."

Addie frowned. "I can defend my own rights."

"No," Theo disagreed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last five minutes. "You cannot. Because despite what you've just said, you are incredibly unselfish. And I cannot, in fact, trust you to take care of yourself in this situation."

When Addie didn't say anything in response, Theo added, "It is alright to let someone take care of you every once and awhile, Addie."

Although Addie was weakening to his argument, she still found it in her to protest once more. "We might all be going just to be made an example of. They might take us and throw us all in prison the minute we step foot in the open, simply to show the public that King Ernest should not be threatened. They might lie and say it isn't me, Princess Adelaide, whom they met. They might force me out of the country. They might—"

Theo's breath brushed against her ear as he cut her off. "At least then I wouldn't have to watch you marry that godforsaken man," he whispered, chuckling.

Addie swatted his arm playfully. "You shouldn't joke, Theo."

"I do not know what else to do right now, when we might get thrown in prison or worse. When I might lose you in a matter of days."

Addie twisted around in his arms, her heart swelling. She peered up at him, and his graceful mouth kicked up in a devilish grin.

"Oh, right," he said, leaning forward. Theo cupped her face and breathed, "I should be doing this."