“Monster!”
“Freak!”
“Murderer!”
Josselyn pressed her hands over her ears, her legs trembling beneath her, threatening to collapse under her weight. A scream bubbled up inside her but stuck in her dry throat. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pictured Lily in her mind, sitting by the stream the night they'd shared their secrets with each other. “I'm not a monster,” she whispered, blocking out the voices around her. “I may have killed, but it wasn't for my pleasure. I only did what I had to do.” She removed her hands from her ears, pulling her shoulders back and sticking out her chin. Looking around the dark room, she spoke in a strong, clear voice.
“I am a warrior! And I will not let you keep me from protecting my kingdom.”
Her declaration was met with silence. Then, suddenly, a bright light outlined the curved sides of a large door on the wall, opposite the stairs. Taking a deep breath, Josselyn strode over to it, pulling it open and stepping out into a beautiful garden in full bloom. Looking back, she saw the door she'd passed through was attached to a huge oak tree in the center of the garden. Cherry trees grew in a ring around the outside, still full of delicate white flowers, despite the fact that it was summer, and the blossoms should have fallen off months ago.
“Hello, Joss.”
She gasped at the familiar voice, looking around frantically for its owner. Her eager eyes landed on Edmund, leaning casually against one of the cherry trees, watching her.
“Edmund! But...how? The prince was going to have you thrown in the dungeon.” She moved toward him as if in a trance, afraid to take her eyes off him for fear he would disappear. “I was so worried about you.”
He looked back at her with cold eyes, pushing off the tree as he sauntered towards her. He stopped directly in front of her and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I bet. Really tore you up, wondering what might have happened to me. What was it you said to me when we were training together? That if anything ever happened to me, you wouldn't be able to go on? Or something to that effect, anyway.”
He raised his eyebrows, giving her a derisive look. “And yet, here you are, right as rain.” She took an involuntary step back, shivering under his frosty gaze. He smirked.
“My fiance, or have you already forgotten? Out of sight, out of mind, isn't that right?”
Josselyn felt her face flush with guilt. She had forgotten, at least in the beginning. There'd been so much going on, and her engagement of convenience had been easily overshadowed.
He glared at her, clenching his hands into fists. "Didn't take you long to cozy up to that guard of yours, did it? Letting him put his hands all over you like some kind of whore.” He spat at the ground by her feet.
She bristled, closing the distance between them as she jabbed a finger into his chest.
“I don't know who you think you are, but nobody has the right to call me a whore. Not. Even. You.” She punctuated each word with another sharp jab of the finger, giving him her sternest look. “Which I'm not, by the way. Not that it's any of your business.”
Her face softened and she took both his hands in hers. “I'm sorry about the thing with Alex. There was music and we were dancing and... well, you know how I've always felt about him. It was a mistake, and I'm sorry. It won't happen again.”
“Are you sure about that?”
This time it was Alex's voice that had her head whipping around. He emerged from the other side of the garden, his eyes locking onto hers, stealing her breath away with the heat there, the unbridled desire. He moved to her side and freed one of her hands from Edmund's grasp, turning it over as he raised it to his mouth and placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist.
“You know I'm the one you really want, not just some childhood friend who you've never looked at twice. Not like you look at me.”
Josselyn's mouth fell open but nothing came out. His lips curved into a devilish grin, and he glanced over her head at Edmund, who still held her other hand. “Does he make your heart race like I do, Princess?” He cupped her neck with his free hand, pressing his thumb lightly against her pulse, which jumped at the contact. Chuckling, he lowered his head, his mouth replacing his thumb as his lips traced a fiery path up her neck and his teeth nipped at her earlobe. She shivered as he whispered in her ear.
“I'm the one you're in love with, not him. Choose me, Josselyn. Choose love.”
Josselyn struggled to find her voice, fighting against the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. “I chose you once, but you didn't want me.”
He pressed a kiss against her forehead, then another at her temple. “I want you now,” he whispered, dipping lower and claiming her lips, drawing her in deeper until the rest of the world drifted away, and it was just the two of them.
Yes, this is what I want. It's always been him, will always be him, us... not Edmund...
Josselyn let out a gasp, pulling her hands free and pushing off of Alex's chest. Stumbling backwards, she stared at him with wide, glassy eyes.
“I can't,” she rasped. “I promised. I promised my hand to Edmund, and a queen must always honor her promises.” She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the hurt that colored Alex's face, that surely mirrored her own heartbreak. Turning and squaring her shoulders, she moved to stand by Edmund's side, slipping her hand into his once again, a slight quiver in her lower lip the only indication of the suffering this decision was causing her. She clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm until she had herself under control and could speak with calm resolution.
“I choose honor.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Alex vanished, leaving a dull ache to fill her chest as she blinked against the bright sun. Edmund
