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“I know you are confused. I can’t even imagine, Thea. So, take this.” He handed it over without hesitation. The stone’s power hummed through it as I looked up at him, not understanding why he was letting me have it. “Just do me one favor before you cross over to Crimson.”
“Okay,” I agreed hesitantly.
“Ask Cassius who is responsible for the curse. Ask him why you were cursed, to begin with. He can tell you, so do not let him fool you into thinking he can’t. Demand it if you have to. You deserve to know the truth before giving this stone to a side.” He pulled me to him and hugged me so tightly, his scent of sunshine, flowers, and fresh air wrapping around me. I could feel my eyes filling with tears but I refused to let them fall.
I didn’t hug him back. When he pulled away, I peered over his face, which barely resembled mine, but those eyes undeniably mirrored my own.
Father.
My father was king. Cassius didn’t tell me that. Cassius didn’t tell me anything but happy, pretty memories of us. He intentionally left out anything bad and I didn’t question it because I wanted to be happy. I wanted to turn a blind eye to the bad times. It didn’t even cross my mind to think about asking.
He could tell me things, but only told me what would make him look good. The whole Kingdom had treated me so well for being the daughter of their enemy, for being the Captain of their enemies' guard. Doubt crept into my mind. I turned around and headed for the wooden doors that I had come in.
“You will always have a spot here in your home,” My father called after me.
I didn’t acknowledge him. I wanted to say this wasn’t my home, but I just kept walking. The guards bowed to me like I was still their Captain as I passed. The stone felt heavy in my hand. There was a shift of uneasiness that filled me. I walked through the castle and out the front doors. Slowly, I walked towards the tree line where my horse was. The rest of the competitors were all waiting for me with looks of confusion and worry. Haden gripped me tightly by the shoulders.
“I thought they killed you.” Haden sighed. “They caught all of us and let us go,” he said confused. I held out the bloodstone and they all quieted down. “You got it.” His shoulders sagged with relief, but I couldn’t even summon a fake smile.
My mind was weighed down by what my father had said. I knew he had a motive and wanted me to choose him and the Kingdom of Cerithia, but I couldn’t shake the words away. They swirled and gripped all my happy memories of Cassius and shielded them. This would all be sorted out when I asked him. That’s what I told myself as I climbed on my horse and took off in a dead sprint towards the Crimson Kingdom.
I could feel Cassius tug on the bond of the blood mark, and I barely could muster thinking I was ok. Was I ok? No. Haden had asked me countless times if I was alright. I lied and said yes, but he told me he wasn’t buying it. I didn’t answer him again. When we rested for the night, I didn’t sleep. There was no way I could face Cassius right now. My mind was still processing things my father told me. I would confront Cassius at the border. He couldn’t cross over to me and it would give me time to think. Besides, my father was following us, I had heard his guards moving in the trees around us as we slept. I would have them if this went sideways.
Worry filled me from the blood mark. He knew something was wrong, but I didn’t even try to respond anymore. I needed someone to tell me the truth and Cassius would do that. Whatever he told me I would take it as the truth because I loved him. I woke the guys up at first sunlight so we could get to the boundary of Crimson and Cerithian lands quickly.
“You didn’t sleep,” Haden observed. “Please tell me what’s going on, Thea. I’m on your side.”
“Did you know the King of Cerithia is my father?” I scrutinized him, hoping that he showed me a face of pure shock, but he frowned instead.
“Yes.”
“Cassius never told me,” I whispered. “He could have told me that at least.”
“Thea…” Haden started but I urged my horse to go quicker. She ran so fast that my braid whipped in the wind and became loose. My mind was a foggy haze of confusion, racing with thoughts of Cassius and me. What if everything my father said was true? What if Cassius never loved me, never cared for me, but really was using me? Flashes of when Nev had kidnapped me swarmed through me. My memory of Cassius had been awful. He had said such cruel things about me.
Cassius said he was trying to avoid me to help me through the trials, but was that an excuse too? Did he just want to be far away from me because I was just a pawn? He humiliated me twice and gave me some excuses that I believed immediately. I should have pushed more, and questioned his motives more. Fae in Exile had blamed the Crimson King for our imprisonments. I had fallen for their fake kindness so easily. Shame filled me. I felt like I failed Sybil and the twins.
Or maybe my father was lying. But what did he have to gain from lying? Maybe he didn’t want his daughter to serve his enemy. Dread filled my chest, crushing my lungs to the point it physically hurts to breathe.
When the boundary came into sight my stomach churned with fear. I asked the Gods above to let this all be untrue as we came to a large clearing. The boundary between Crimson and Cerithia threatened to swallow me whole as the pressure of choosing settled heavily on me.
They were all there waiting. Crimson’s fae and royalty all stood in this clearing to welcome us back. The guys had ridden in front of me through the boundary that divided the land without noticing I had fallen behind. I could feel the bloodstone pulsing in my pocket as if to tell me to ask for answers.
Immediately, Haden went and said something to Cassius and the king. Their gazes immediately darted to me, full of concern as they moved closer. I dismounted my horse and stood twenty yards from the boundary. Cassius's body was tense, and his eyes flickered with something close to worry.
“My Love?” Cassius stopped right at the boundary. “What’s the matter?”
Our eyes locked and I could feel it. I could feel that I would never be the same after this. I would either be broken beyond repair or finally whole. I would forever be altered.
This was the defining moment of my life.
“Did you not get the stone?” The stone. He was worried about the damn stone. I pulled it from my pocket and showed it to him. “Then why do you look so… sad?”
I took a breath to steady myself for whatever was going to happen. For whatever he would tell me. Maybe I could even forgive him for withholding the information from me. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Cassius ran his eyes over me as if trying to see if I was wounded.
“Why am I cursed?” I asked softly, but I knew he heard me. His body stilled ever so slightly that if I wasn’t so worried about his response I wouldn’t have noticed.
“I can’t tell you.” Just as my father predicted. A lie. The realm stood so still as doubt clouded my empty mind even more. Please, Cassius, don’t betray me like everyone else. Not you. I can’t handle you being the one to hurt me. To break me.
