Soren didn’t laugh at her jokes.
There was something off about her. It was as if I had been staring at the woman that we rescued from the human realm during the war all over again.
I still remember how terrified she looked when I told her who I was and how she needed to come with us.
When we arrived in Nythrel, she trembled every time she spoke for the first day. And then slowly, something in her shifted. She began to test me.
It got under my skin when she’d just look at me.
I tried to pretend it didn’t matter for way too long. When the letter came from Soren, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. When she decided so quickly, it seemed like I got the answer I never wanted.
Now I’d live with it.
I’d convince myself it was better this way.
Maybe it was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ASHLYN
When the night grew stiller and the music finally ceased, the grand ballroom emptied. Every lady and lord exited until only Fyn remained at the door.
“I will walk you to your chambers.” Soren held his arm out to me, guiding me past Fyn who fell in a steady step behind us.
The silence between us was painful. I fought my desperate need to fill it the rest of the way back.
“I know this meeting is most orchestrated, but I want you to feel at ease around me.” Soren paused steps away from the door.
“Yes, I believe most people just meet and fall in love.” I cursed myself the moment I said it. It was something Fyn would say.
“Is that a joke?” His brows knitted.
“Something like one.” I pulled my hand back from him.
“I imagine Bailoc’s customs differ.” Hewas so serious.
A part of me hated how serious he was.
He had no idea how I had been shaped—the life I had already lived—the things I had already seen that no princess should have ever seen.
My father had been murdered in front of me.
I saw men bleed in the midst of battle.
I wasn’t the soft princess he thought he was getting. It was possible someday he might understand it all, but it didn’t make that moment any less heartbreaking.
“I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow after your trip to the market.” His fingers wrapped around mine, and he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it.
I wanted to want him to, but I didn’t. “Goodnight, Prince Soren.”
“Goodnight, Princess Ashlyn.” With a quick bow of his head, he took his leave.
My eyes found Fyn’s before I dropped his stare.
I didn’t need to hear his words to know what he was thinking. When I pushed the door open to my chambers, only silence greeted me.
The gown flowed around me as I lay back in my bed, staring at the golden filigree set into the ceiling overhead.
