Promise

The question dinged in my head like an alarm or a reminder. I couldn't grasp at the thought trying to come forward from the back of my mind.

'You're wrong,' Tristan said.

'Oh, I don't think so. They let ya have a little taste of royalty arse here—' Ian flicked his hand toward me again '— they get what they want and ya get to walk free. Nice little assignment, ya lucky bastard.'

'Lies, Alexis, remember what I told you,' Tristan warned me. Instead, I remembered that thought I had tried to grasp…Tristan saying something about an assignment he had when we first met. Is that what Ian's talking about?

'Ha!' the ogre barked. 'I was there, there when all the plans were made. Remember? Lil' Alexis, just a babe then, and they had it all planned for ya.'

'Remember, Alexis, he's a deceiver.' Tristan's voice had that steely undertone to it.

'No, this is the truth, lassie.' Ian looked at me with glee in his eyes. 'You were just a tiny bundle when the Amadis planned everything. You and Tristan here…'

'Shut the hell up, Ian!' Tristan nearly jumped out of his seat. Several people glanced over at us again.

My throat closed in and my stomach knotted as I realized what Ian said. Is it true? I tried to believe what Tristan had told me, repeating it to myself. Deception is his most powerful weapon. Ian carried on in a mocking tone and it was too hard to block out.

'Oh, yes…Princess Alexis and King Tristan, the perfect combination, making the most powerful Amadis baby ever.' Ian bounced in his seat with excitement as he watched my reaction.

' What ?' I choked.

' Don't listen ,' Tristan whispered. 'He's just trying to take advantage of the situation, turning things around.'

He stood up and leaned threateningly over the table toward Ian. His voice was low, but no longer a whisper. 'If you don't shut the fuck up, I will make it so you can never talk again. Witnesses or not.'

'You two got a problem, take it outta here,' the bartender called over in our direction.

Tristan held his hand out to me. 'Come on, Alexis, we're done here.'

I started to move.

'Ah, so ya don't know yet,' Ian said to me, stopping me, somehow mesmerizing me with his voice. Or maybe it was those pale blue eyes, like shallow pools of water, just deep enough to pull me under. 'Looks like Seth's the one who's been doing the deceiving. What'd he do? Pretend to fall in love with you? He's the best liar, I'm sure ya believed every last word…every kiss. Did he feed ya the Amadis lie ? Did he tell ya that you're meant to be together when he don't even believe it?'

The air caught in my throat as I tried to breathe. My chest squeezed and my pulse throbbed in my ears. I looked up at Tristan, my eyes wide and burning. With no air, my voice was small. 'Tristan?'

He turned stiffly to look at me. Muscles in his neck bulged and his fists clenched, veins popping out.

'I'm sorry you had to find out this way,' he said flatly. Then he turned back to Ian, his eyes hard as marbles, his voice cold as ice. 'She means nothing to me. Leave her alone and deal with me .'

The air I'd been holding in my lungs came out in a whoosh. I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes.

'So you did lie to her. Back to your old ways, huh?'

Too fast to even see, Tristan had Ian pinned face down on the table, his arm twisted sickly behind him. 'GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW !'

I trembled on the rickety wooden chair as everything inside me plummeted to the darkness of hell. It is true. Tristan's been lying. I heard a choking sound and thought it was Ian but realized it was me, my chest heaving, my throat squeezing. He doesn't really love me . Tristan. Doesn't. Love. Me .

Ian rolled his eyes up to me, drinking in my reaction.

'Looks like my work is done here anyway,' he said with a smirk. 'Ya know you'll be welcomed back where ya belong, Seth…if the Amadis don't kill ya.'

Several people surrounded our table by then, including Owen and the blonde. I couldn't focus on everything going on as I tried to simply breathe .

'Vanessa, I swear to God, if you touch her, I'll come after you myself,' I heard Tristan say from what seemed like far away.

'So now you're swearing to God , huh?' a musical voice responded, sounding just as distant.

There was a lot of commotion and then I heard Ian's cackling and a chiming laugh fade toward the door. I vaguely heard Tristan say we were leaving, too, but I couldn't move. I was frozen, lost within myself.

Tristan doesn't love me. He never did. It was all just a lie. His words echoed in my head. She means nothing to me . I wrapped my arms around myself, clutching at my abdomen, my chest still heaving. My heart felt like it had been squeezed until it ruptured and now just sat in my chest, limp and lifeless, a burst balloon. I'm just an assignment to him. Nothing else.

Tristan came over to me and I shrank away from him.

'Alexis, we need to go.' He reached out for my hand and I jumped off the chair, knocking it over. 'Let me take you home and explain.'

' Don't you touch me!' I screamed, not caring who surrounded us.

He grabbed my wrists with one hand and pulled me close to him, holding my chin firmly with his other hand to make me look up at him. He was too strong for me to break loose. 'You have to listen to me because you can not believe him.'

'But you even said…,' I choked out.

'I told you I'd have to say things I didn't mean. You have to believe me that I really love you, Alexis. Please believe that. Please trust me.'

No, he said he would have to say things he didn't want to say . There was a difference. He even lied to me now. The tears disappeared as anger enveloped me. I broke away from him, yanking my hands out of his. My voice rose in volume and octaves so I didn't even sound like myself.

' Trust you? After all this, you expect me to trust you? This whole thing has been nothing but a lie! You are a liar! You are the deceiver! And you are so good at it because that is what you are made to do!'

I glared at him as if he were a monster. I didn't even know who he was. His eyes—his whole face—filled with pain. And I was glad. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to hurt like hell. Because he had done the ultimate pain job on me.

'Go back to wherever you came from, Tristan, because you don't belong with me !' I ran through the pub, out the door and across the street to the beach.

Although the sand made it difficult, following the beach was the quickest way home. I ran for a while, not noticing the rain, not caring how dark it was, with only the light of the moon reflecting on the water. Someone came out of the darkness and grabbed me by the waist. I kicked and screamed.

'It's not safe for you out here,' Tristan growled.

'I don't care!' I yelled, still kicking and thrashing my arms. 'I'd rather be dead!'

'Alexis, please don't say that,' he murmured in my ear.

'You've already ripped me into pieces. I'm as good as dead, anyway!'

'Lexi, please …'

'Let me take her, Tristan.' Mom's voice came from the darkness. I saw her small frame step out of the black trees and shrubs lining the top of the beach. 'I've got her now.'

I squirmed and Tristan let me go. I ran into Mom's arms and fell against her, my body racking with sobs.

She held me and stroked my hair while I cried, the rain pouring on us almost as fast as my tears. 'Let's go home, now.'

We left Tristan on the beach, standing alone in the rain. The last image burned on my eyes was his beautiful face contorted with agony.

Chapter 16