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Understanding colored his handsome face, and he padded toward me, perching at my side, but when he went to take my hand, I pulled back. “I can’t stay here like this.”
Baffled, he looked around, as if expecting to see the walls crumbling down. “Like what?” he demanded. “What happened?”
“Nothing!” I exploded, my frayed nerves dictating my language. I didn’t want to lash out at him, but I genuinely felt like a caged lion, repressed and eager to get out and tastefreedom again. “I miss Maximo’s. I miss my friends. I can’t just sit around here all day waiting for you to come home, Nyx.”
A hot blush of shame stained my cheeks as I heard the pitch of my voice, but there was nothing I could do to make it less dramatic. My insides were twisted, my previous sense of joy completely diminished. The freedom I’d felt as Maren, dancer, artist, lover, had all been buried beneath the repetitive clicking of guards’ heels and the sense that I would never again be who I was once this baby arrived.
His eyes narrowed. “Your friends can come here anytime,” he reminded me tersely. “But you can’t go back to work. We’ve talked about this.”
“You promised that this was all temporary, that I wouldn’t be under lock and key forever,” I moaned. “Is the search going anywhere?”
Again, he reached for my hand, but I refused to let him sway me with his charm and reassurances. I was going to go out of my mind if I stayed here like this.
“Let me go back to work at least, Nyx,” I begged. “Maybe I can help with choreography or something.”
“Absolutely not!” he interrupted. “It’s far too dangerous. Even with the guards, who knows what we’re up against?”
“You said you would find out!” I snapped, jumping up from the bed. “Have there beenanydevelopments?”
He balked under my direct questioning. “My guards are combing through the entire kingdom, looking for answers, but you’re going to need to be patient.”
“I can’t be patient if I’m actually going crazy,” I insisted. “I have been patient, but my patience has its limits.”
He paused, his head cocking. “Then find something to occupy your time here. Take up racquetball.”
I stared at him balefully, his inconsiderate suggestion sparking another round of annoyance in me. “That’s your solution? Take up racquetball?”
He raised his hands. “You’re right. That was flippant,” he agreed. “I just mean that you need to find something to keep you busy so you’re not so consumed with your thoughts.”
“I can only swim so many laps a day!” I almost yelled. I stopped myself and swallowed thickly, dropping my eyes. I didn’t want to be like this, snapping and arguing. I wanted to be me again.
His face softened. “I get it. You’re getting antsy, but the castle is a city in itself. We have everything you need. Tell me what you need. I’ll have it brought to you. You just have to tell me what your heart desires.”
“It doesn’t have anyone I know here.”
He exhaled. “You know me,” he reminded me, standing to take me by the shoulders. “And Odette. Try to make friends with some of the staff while we get things sorted.”
My frown deepened, and I wondered if he was purposely being dense.
Odette? Does he really believe Odette is my friend?
“I want to go back to work,” I said again, stepping out of his embrace and ignoring the suggestion about the enchantress. It made sense that he would want me and Odette to become friendly, but I was at my wits’ end now. “That’s what will make me feel better.”
To my utter amazement, he nodded. “That’s a great idea! You should start thinking about how we can fundraise more money for the inner-city youth. Do you want to manage the shows at the castle again?”
I gawked at him. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it, Nyx. I want to go back to Maximo’s!”
“That’s out of the question.”
“Tristiana was right…” I mumbled to myself, appalled that I hadn’t listened to my best friend again. She had warned me before about getting involved with the king, and now it was blowing up in my face. Again.
Would I never learn? How did I keep making the same stupid mistakes and expecting different results?
My instinct was to leave again, to run away just like my father had taught me, to pack up and go when the going got tough, but I had no doubt that Nyx would hunt me down to the ends of the world while I carried his child. Moreover, I knew deep down that he was right. It wasn’t safe for me out there.
The whole situation was so unfair.
“What?” Nyx demanded. “What did you say about Tristiana?”
