The world freezes around us. There’s nothing left.
I’m shaking my head, wiping my eyes, and my mind is spiraling. “I thought…”
How could I have been so blind to not see this coming? Of course he’d have to marry—I should have seen this. But in truth, it never once occurred to me that I’d lose Ahren. In my mind, we were secure and the problem was related to something else. I’m such a fucking idiot!
“If things were different,” he begins, but I can’t do this. I can’t be in his presence.
“Don’t.”
The heartache in his eyes when he looks at me buckles my knees. My gaze lingers on him a bit longer, tracing every bit of him—his sharp cheekbones, the fullness of his tempting lips, the strong line of his jaw. But the longer I look at him, the more my body is ready to collapse, but I refuse to cry desperately in front of him.
I turn and run across the balcony and through the door. I don’t stop moving as I race down the stairs. Tears drench my cheeks while on the inside I feel pathetic.
Stupid.
Naïve.
Foolish.
My lips feel bruised from his rough kiss. It’s a reminder of something we can never have again. Here I assumed we were making up, that I’d given him a gift of his wings and in exchange he’d take me back. But that was just me being desperate, wasn’t it?
Our time together was nothing more than a farewell.
Chapter 11
Guendolyn
Shock rattles me, digging its claws into me as I rush down the stairs from the balcony. I want to vanish from this whole damn kingdom. Shoving the bottom door open, I burst into the hallway and swing toward my room to be away from everyone. Especially Ahren.
I hate him for making me feel like shit, for rejecting me. And what I loathe even more is that in the back of my mind, I partly understand why he’s doing it. That doesn’t help me in the slightest. I want to detest him and remove him from my thoughts and memories as if we’d never met.
I wipe my eyes as the tears keep flowing. His decision cleaves my heart in half. How could I not have seen this coming? I’ve made a fool of myself.
There’s no way I can live here and see him with someone else every day.
Thinking about the marriage about it makes me feel sick.
I stumble forward, sobs wracking through me, and I bump into the wall where I cry in my hands. My chest burns at the thought of seeing another woman in his arms. He is meant to be mine… and he knows it. I felt it in his kiss.
How did this become such a fucking mess? Do I really belong here anyway? Luther proposed to me, and I haven’t even spoken to Deimos about it yet. But now that earlier joy is stained by Ahren’s news. I twirl the ring around my finger, not sure what I’m supposed to do.
After everything I’ve gone through with the princes, I fell in love with them. With each one of them.
Luther.
Deimos.
Ahren.
Except Ahren has broken my heart, and I’m not sure I can recover if I’m reminded daily of what I lost.
I pull out the ruby from the inside of my corset and roll it over my fingers. There's still so much about myself I haven't uncovered, and the plan wasn't for me to fall for three princes.
The more I stare at the stone, the more I contemplate using it to just vanish out of here and return home to Earth. Just to think things through, to feel normal and blend into society like a nobody. I never thought I'd actually crave such a thing. I keep thinking how most of my life was a lie, and that pattern seems to be following me here too. Ahren’s secret has ruined me, and I’m not sure how to get over it.
One minute, I'm ecstatic; the next, I want to run away. I'm growing tired of the drama and danger at every turn.
Footfalls resonate behind me, and my stomach clenches as my thoughts fly to Ahren.
I turn to find someone right in my face, and it's not the prince.
“Jasion!” His name rolls off my tongue with a gasp.
I stumble backward, and his gaze falls to my hand as I curl my fingers around the ruby stone.
“What's in your hand?” he demands, towering over me, his mouth in a sneer.
The bastard hates me, and the feeling's mutual.
“Leave me alone.” I pivot away from him, my skin crawling in his presence.
Strong fingers snatch my wrist, and he tugs me backward. “I asked you a question.”
Everything is getting to be too much for me. I just want to collapse and cry, to try to process what happened with Ahren and not deal with this idiotic mage.
“It's nothing.” I wrench my arm from him, but he's not letting me go.
His nostrils flare as he glares down at me like I'm nothing. Arrogant asshole.
“You stole the king's ruby.” He spits the words, saliva splashing onto my face, and I cringe.
I wipe my face with the sleeve of my dress. “Gross, keep it in your mouth.”
His grip squeezes harder, making me wince.
“I thought I saw you playing with a red stone the other day, and then when I checked the throne and found the ruby gone.”
Ice fills my veins that he was able to catch me with the ruby. I’ve been too careless with it, and now I reprimand myself for not being smarter about hiding it.
“I asked a few questions, and it seems the ruby went missing about a week before our king was brutally murdered.”
A cold shiver runs down my spine at his accusation, but there's no way I'm telling a mage of all people that a fairy took the stone.
“Give it to me!” he growls, leaning in closer.
The hatred in his voice triggers something in me. I've had enough of everyone. I'm trembling with anger.
“Fuck you!”
He snatches my jaw
