AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Does it matter? No, not to me, because I know I can handle her. Not any man is going to be able to handle my Syn the way I can. She has needs, she has wants and I know how to fulfill every single one of them. No other man is going to come close to me. And yet, she isn’t mine to keep. She belongs to someone else. The thought of someone else touching her causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end, and I slam my fist into the back of the seat multiple times as I roar with anger.
Chapter 24
Tamsyn
I spent the night crying my eyes out. They’re now puffy and red. I didn’t sleep at all last night after Rylan spoke those final words to me. We’re done. Those words ring in my head over and over and I can’t face the fact there’s a world out there I’m being thrust into without Rylan in it. I guess a part of me always knew this wouldn’t last forever. We were meant to be with other people and that’s just what our lives have to be. And yet, it still hurts. It’s the deepest pain I’ve ever felt in my life.
Anger, rage, fury, sorrow. All of those emotions tangle inside me, and I don’t know which one I’m supposed to feel. Rylan didn’t come home to his dad’s last night. Matt forbade me from going to my house since we didn’t know where the hell Brady was. I was forced to sleep in Rylan’s bed without him. And I hated every fucking second of it. That’s probably why I didn’t sleep at all.
Angel stayed with me, although she did fall asleep. I apologized to her more times than I can count, but she wasn’t angry with me. She said she understood why Ry was so angry. Maybe I should have just told him, but I didn’t want him to look at me differently. If he’d known what Brady did to me maybe he wouldn’t want me anymore. It’s not like that changes things now. He’s gone, promised to another.
My chest tightens as the queens do our hair. Every time they’ve tried to do my makeup, I’ve swatted them away. Rylan doesn’t like when I wear it and I don’t want to wear it again for that very reason. Again, not that it matters now.
Once our hair is finished, we’re helped into the white matching dresses we’re required to wear. Once those are on a white cloak is then placed over the top of it. The queens wear red cloaks, and the Kings wear black. Since we are princesses, we wear white until after the ceremony, when we’ll be given a red one.
Once everything is in place, we’re led out of the room and out into the center of Chaos. There’s a crowd of people from all around, Kings and Queens, who have come to watch. Off to the side are the Kings. My eyes travel down the line of them, wondering which one I’m supposed to be for. Internally, I cringe. On the outside? I’m keeping up appearances as expected, but when my eyes stop on Ry’s face, I want to sob. His face is a blank mask, unreadable. He doesn’t even look at me, and that hurts more than anything.
“We’re here to crown the new Queens of this generation. It gives me great pleasure that you have all joined us in the ceremony of taking the oath.” Matt speaks, but I mostly tune him out. I don’t care what’s being said. I don’t care this is happening around me. I want it over and I want it over now.
After his speech, drinks are passed around to those in attendance as we stand and wait. Then it begins.
I watch as the Kings are called one by one to the center of the stage, and then their new Queen’s name is announced. She walks up to the center with a senior Queen on her arm, and the Queen offers her to the King. They intertwine arms and say the oath before the Kings are passed a knife. The King is tasked with cutting the palms of both of their hands, then they clasp them together, letting the blood flow into a glass below them to be used later in the ceremony. This goes on and on.
When they call Rylan’s name, my heart kicks up a notch. I watch him walk across the stage and stand in the center, not looking at anyone. My pulse quickens as Matt turns to look at the princesses. My hands tremble, and the thought of someone else marrying Rylan and being with him causes my stomach to lurch.
Jen’s name is called, and I can see Ry swallow hard. Jen walks past me and smirks at me because she knows I love him. Who doesn’t know that? Anger courses through my veins as she walks across the stage toward him. Just as they’re about to intertwine arms, I scream.
“No!” All heads turn to look at me except Rylan’s. Is this what he wants? He wants her? No. Fuck that. I said it once, and I’ll say it again. I’m done being the victim. I’m ready to take what I want.
“Are you challenging this princess?” Matt asks, nodding toward Jen as she stares at me. Everyone is looking at me and I can feel myself start to tremble harder. I take a deep breath because I don’t know what challenging her means. I don’t know what I’m going to have to do.
“Yes,” I reply, keeping my head held high. There are a few gasps and whispered words from the crowd. Jen’s mom covers her mouth as tears stream down her cheeks.
“Very well,” Matt states as someone comes and hooks their arm through mine.
“You’re going to make Rylan a great wife,” she says. It’s Rylan’s mom.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I whisper.
“Just remember Rylan loves you.” I don’t know how true that is anymore. He said we were done. We’re not done. I won’t let us be done, no matter what he said that night.
I’m escorted to the other side of Rylan. He doesn’t look at me, but I glance at him and see the tick in his jaw. Matt stands in front of us, looking between Jen and me.
“King Rylan, please go be seated,” he announces, motioning to a chair on the stage. Rylan walks over and sits down, still not looking at me.
“As you have challenged this princess for the right to marry her King, you must prove you are worthy of being his Queen. It isn’t common knowledge amongst the princesses. Yet, you took the chance to challenge one, and we shall let it proceed.” My hands feel clammy as he continues to speak. I keep my eyes glued to his, listening to everything he has to say.
“With you being the challenger, that gives Princess Jen a head start of sorts. In all my time as a King, I have witnessed one challenge, and it was brutal,” he says, his eyes going to his wife’s. Oh my God. That’s what she was trying to tell me. She’s done this. She challenged another princess for Matt.
“The result in the case of a challenge is the death of one of the princesses.” At that, the other girls gasp. The audience seemed to already know about that little clause. I take a deep breath and try to calm the humming in my ears. Death. One of us isn’t walking out of here.
“Weapons will be at your disposal but can only be supplied by Queens. Keep your eyes open. Watch your opponent. May the rightful Queen reign.” With that, the crowd claps. They’re fucking clapping, knowing one of us is about to die? I can hear Angel sobbing, but I don’t look over at her. Nor do I look at Rylan.
“Because you were the one to challenge her, Tamsyn, she will have a thirty-second lead. If you move or attempt to go after her before you hear the siren, you will lose, and she will be allowed to take your life.” Matt’s words ring in my head. I heard him, but everything was moving in slow motion. “No weapons are allowed during that thirty seconds. Jen, you will have to fight accordingly.” She nods her head as I stand still, a little stunned.
“Remove your cloaks,” he says. I reach up, shove the hood off my head, and unhook the small latch in the front, allowing it to slide down my arms. Ry’s mom is behind me, taking it into her hands. I turn to look at her over my shoulder and she gives me a small smile. The stage has been cleared, and the front couple of rows in the audience have been pushed back. Only the Queens are allowed to stand near the stage.
Matt stands in the center of the stage, rings a bell, and Jen doesn’t waste any time coming for me. She punches me in the face, and it knocks my head back. She then comes at me, kicking my legs out so I fall to the floor with a thud. It takes everything I have in me not to fight her back. My hands clench as I lie still and let her beat the shit out of me.
