She turned then.She had to do this right, or it wouldn't work.She looked him in the eye, summoning every ounce of socialite training her mother had ever drilled into her.
"I was scared," she said."Everything was happening so fast.The ceremony, the pressure...I needed to feel something.Anything.And you were there."
He flinched.It was microscopic.Just a tightening around his eyes.But she saw it.Saw the arrow land.
"I see," he said softly.
"It won't happen again," she continued, trying not to twist the knife but knowing she had to."I'm the Emperor's intended.I have a duty.And so do you."
He stared at her, searching her face.Like he was looking for the woman who had clawed at his back in the dance studio, who had whispered his name like a prayer.
The warmth bled out of his eyes, leaving them cold and distant.Her heart shattered right there in her chest.
"You're right," he said.Stepping back, he bowed."Your Grace."
“I’ll be in my room," she said.
He didn't answer.
She walked past him.It took everything she had not to reach out and grab his hand.Not to fall to her knees and beg him to forgive her.
Somehow, she made it to the bedroom, and the door slid shut behind her.
But she didn't make it to the bed.Instead, she slid down the wall until her ass hit the cold floor.Pulling her knees to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and held herself together by sheer force of will.
She didn't cry.Crying was for people who had hope.
And she was long past that point.
* * *
Three corridorsout from Emily's quarters, Raaevik's hands started shaking.
Shoving them in his pockets, he kept walking.Kept his pace even and his expression locked.Just another warrior heading back to barracks after a shift.Nothing to see here.Definitely not a male who'd just had his guts ripped out by a tiny human female.
A mistake.
That's what she'd called it.Calledhim.And the worst part?She wasn't wrong.
Draanth.
He needed to hit something.Needed to get to the training room and beat on a combat dummy until his arms gave out.Or maybe just stand under a shower until he couldn't smell her on his skin anymore.He could still taste her.Still feel her hands on him back in that dance studio.And now it was over, and her scent was stuck in his nose like he'd never get it out.
A hand clamped onto his shoulder from behind.
He spun.His dagger cleared the sheath and kissed his throat before his brain registered raven hair, familiar bulk, the particular smell of a male he'd known since they were both young and stupid in the training halls.
Thyaar…
Who didn't even flinch at having a blade to his jugular.Instead, he just grabbed Raaevik by the front of his jacket and hauled him sideways into a maintenance closet.
The privacy seal engaged behind them, and the hum of the station cut off.
"We need to talk," Thyaar said.
Raaevik sheathed his dagger and took a breath."I have a shift in?—"
"Cut thetrall."Thyaar stepped in close, crowding him back against the piping."I watched you come out of her quarters looking like someone gutted you.So don't give me thattrall.Tell me what the fuck is going on."
