“There’s something I want to?—”
“You’ll never believe what just happ?—”
Their words clashed together, both of them too eager to get out what they had been holding in.
He smiled softly. Her excitement was palpable, and he wanted to see it, wanted to hear what she had been bursting to tell him before confessing everything to her.
“You first,” he said. He extended his elbow to her, and she weaved her arm through it as he led her to the side, off the pathof the other travelers. They sat on a stone bench, secluded from the bustle of the city, in front of their favorite place, the place they spent hours every day.
Yes, this would be the perfect place to ask her to be his.
But first, he needed to know what she had to say.
“You’ll never believe what just happened,” she repeats, her face glowing as the blush deepens across her cheeks. “I’m still reeling. I can’t believe it myself.”
“Tell me,” he says, leaning closer, pinning her with his eyes and hoping she sees how invested he is in every word that falls from her lips.
“I met someone…”
Her words trail away as her hand reaches up to cover her lips, and his world shatters around him. The cold of the stone bench soaks through his clothes and into his skin, sending dread seeping into his bones.
Her excitement was apparent as she recalled the moments that kept her from joining him, and the man that captured her attention, who was undoubtedly also captivated by her.
Who wouldn’t be? She was everything.
But she was his.
Sour taste coated his mouth as tension roiled through his body, but he did everything he could to keep it off his face. He couldn’t let her see the devastation her words caused, how he felt like he was imploding watching such happiness and excitement flitter across her face.
He watched her tell of her plans to see the man again. His focus faded in and out, and the humming in his ears drowned out her words, all while he kept his face neutral and locked on hers.
“Is that alright?” she said, weaving her face slightly closer to his and snapping his attention back to the moment.
“Is what alright?” he asked, keeping the smile tight on his face.
“I have to cancel our plans for tomorrow so I can meet him. Is that alright?”
No, it wasn’t alright. It was the exact opposite. It was the worst thing that could happen. These afternoons were his, a constant in his life that was now being torn to shreds.
“Of course,” he lied again.
Her smile grew impossibly wider, and she threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her back, soaking up the feel of her, the smell of her hair, and hoping he could hold on to it.
This man would never last. He could never be there for her like he had been. This new man doesn’t have the history they do. The friendship. He would have to wait, bide his time, and when it was right, take back what was his.
She released him, leaning back and settling on the bench again, lacing her fingers in her lap atop one of her few simple gowns.
“What were you going to tell me?” she asks, the hope and excitement still shining in her eyes.
“Nothing,” he said. “It’s not important.”
CHAPTER ONE
If someone tried to warn me about how many times I’ve almost died in the past few months, I wouldn’t have believed them. I would have scoffed, or rolled my eyes, ignoring them and moving on with my pre-planned, monotonous day.
I’d never been outside my castle walls, and didn’t expect that to change. I surely never anticipated living on the mythical island of Dawnlin, fighting to stay alive and searching for the healing waters to cure my mother.
Danger was not part of my reality in Blackwood, but danger is very real now.
