Page 12 of A Fate In Moonstone

He dropped my hand and leaned on the stone railing. “So, you don’t want to marry me then?”

Chapter Six

“Prince Torin.”

“Call me Tor.”

I gulped. I needed to fix this. I didn’t say anything wrong, but maybe my expression did, and I hadn’t realized it. How could I be expected to leap into a partnership with someone I just met?

Tor turned around and chuckled when he saw me.

“No need to panic. I was pushed into this too.” He waved me over to stand beside him. The view of Crysia would have been better with the stars sharing their glow over the mountains and river cascading through the kingdom. But the lights from the market, and everyone’s homes would do.

I stole a glance at Tor. His gaze was on the kingdom as well.

“I am going to try. It’s what’s expected.” I offered my first whole truth since meeting him and he nodded.

“Me too, but can I ask a favor?” His voice deepened for a moment, then he cleared his throat and faced me. The word favor fluttered around my stomach like a group of butterflies.

“Sure.”

“I can tell you don’t like lying, and you’re not good at it. Moving forward, can we be honest with each other? I believe it’ll make the—” He paused. “Transitions easier.”

My shoulders relaxed, and I sagged onto the railing. This I could manage.

“Sounds like a plan.”

A cooling breeze brushed against my skin, and I closed my eyes to focus on the chill. The thrill of living and feeling.

Tor tightened the knee length jacket he wore over his gold embroidered tunic, pants, and black boots. He saw me watching him and shrugged.

“It’s a lot warmer where I come from.”

“Would you like to go inside?”

Tor shook his head and focused on the mountains with the subtle sounds of music at our backs. “In a few. I know we’ve got time to get to know each other. But this is nice.”

I knew what he meant, and his honesty was surprising. Maybe being married to Tor wouldn’t be so bad. This meeting was calm, and real. As brief as it was.

We walked back into the ballroom a few minutes later and stood beside my parents. They entertained the prince while I avoided Nyx’s puckered lips and silent laughs.

The night was a success in my book. Tor and I met and we got along just fine. He wasn’t an asshole like Foxface who’d been staring at the swells of my breasts and exposed thigh all night.

So, with the night being perfect as could be, I shouldn’t have been a surprised when after my fifth yawn of the night and bed called my name, that a line of ten soldiers wearing black and red armor dropped down from the skylight. They just had to ruin a good thing.

My father took a step closer to my mother and shouted, “Guard the prince and princess!”

Silver armored soldiers from both kingdoms fought soldiers, their pinched expressions watched us and the intruders simultaneously.

A hand grabbed ahold of mine. “I’ve got you, Sapphira,” Tor said with an unsheathed knife in his hand. I believed him and his willingness to protect me was admirable. Another point in the “Maybe being married to Tor wouldn’t be so bad” column.

But I wasn’t a damsel in distress.

A snarling soldier ran toward us with his sword raised and no one to block him. My fingers tingled and I gripped the hardening crystal spikes I grew in my right hand. I threw it straight for the opening in his armor between his helmet and chest plate.

A wet smacking sound echoed and the soldier stopped. Eyes wide, oddly black veins on his face turned red, and blood shot out from his neck far enough to splatter the hem of my dress.

Tor stood beside me, mouth gaped wide as more soldiers jumped through the skylight.