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13
Alina
My mother's hand was on my shoulder, her long perfectly manicured nails digging into the flesh there as she pushed me down the tarmac and towards the grey and red plane that bore Daunalt’s coat of arms. The moment I'd been pulled from the car, they’d rushed me along through the airport.
As we were royal, there was none of the waiting in line that I'd read people had to do in airports. Instead, we were whisked away to a private lounge where we waited in silence. A mere five minutes later we were told we could board.
I'd found myself unable to move then. The same brutish guard who'd pulled me along and out of my room had come up to get me to move but even he had found it difficult. Not until mother had walked over and shaken my shoulder, rough and hard, was I snapped from my trance. That was how I came to find myself being led before her then frog marched up the plane stairs.
Corbin turned from the doorway and presented a hand to help me up. I threw it a look of disdain and marched up on my own, my nose held high. "I can get up the stairs on my own, dearhusband-to-be."I spat the last words out at him and walked into the plane.
Its interior was deep red, the seats plush and rich in a way that our own plane could not rival. I stomped towards a free seat by a window, sitting down just so I could look out. In the distance, beyond the cold gray and metal of the airport, I could spy the mountains of Oshal. I remembered a garden full of roses drenched in moonlight and a kiss full of instant, blazing attraction that bled to love beneath the starry sky.
For a moment, I thought I could see the Palace that would have been my home had fate been kinder, but I realized too quickly the vision was simply my desperate longing, pretending it was there because I wanted it to be most of all.
"Your Highness, may I offer you a drink? His Majesty says you prefer berries, so we’ve stocked on berry cordial." I looked up, staring blankly at the polite smile on the flight attendant's face. It was not her fault that her offer of a drink was a mockery. I looked around her and saw the face of the man determined to claim me.
My eyes on him, I slapped away the tray in the woman's hand. The bottle on it flew and spun in the air for a minute before crashing into the plush carpet, the dark blue contents spilling much like the blood I wanted to spill from that smirking mouth.
"I'm sorry, I don't want anything. Please don't bother me."
Corbin threw his head back and laughed. "But I thought you enjoyed the taste of strawberries and blueberry leaf tea, my dear. You seemed to only earlier today."
He'd been watching. More closely than I’d realized, and I had to shudder at the way every fiber of my being felt like it was invaded.
"Alina," my mother said sharply, to which I simply raised an eyebrow.
"Mother, you said I had to marry this man," I said, gesturing to the man beside her, "to protect Lantis. I'm acquiescing. There was nothing in there about me behaving." I looked back out the window once more, unable to tolerate looking into their faces. I supposed the rest of my life would be punishment enough.
My lips quivered with the desire to cry as I stared out at the last glimpse I'd have of Oshal. The last taste of freedom I'd ever have, when I was destined for a prison of a marriage I didn't want.
Before Reece, I'd thought I could go through with it. That my mother's wishes were truly for the good of Lantis and not for her own selfish needs.
Even without looking, I knew they looked too comfortable together. I didn't know the nature of their relationship with one another, only that they knew each other better than she'd let on in all the years she spent preparing me for this business transaction.
The doors of the plane closed, the captain's voice filtering through the speakers and telling us to fasten our seatbelts. I went through the motions mechanically as the plane eased into motion and pulled away from the airport terminal gently. Leaning my head against the window, I drew in deep breaths to quell my rising panic.
The closer and closer to the runway we went, the more I wanted to curl up in a ball and weep. The time would come—I knew without a doubt. But I wouldn't give my mother and Corbin the chance to see me so weak. Not after everything she'd made me into. How weak and awkward I'd felt.
"So fucking stupid," I mumbled to myself with eyes clenched shut. The sound of sirens exploded through the darkening of the day as it faded to night, muffled through the windows as it was. My eyes sprung open, watching the line of vehicles coming toward the runway as the plane geared up for takeoff. "Oh God," I whispered, fumbling for the closure on my belt.
Corbin reached over, his hand covering mine, his other reaching up to press the button to communicate with the pilot. "Go now," he ordered. The sound of the plane engine increased as I shoved his hand off mine and unfastened the seat belt. One of Corbin's guards, the same one from earlier, stood with a curse, getting between me and the door.
"Sit down before you get hurt, Princess," he murmured as if he cared, grabbing me around the waist. Taking me to the set of seats he'd occupied, he trapped me against the window with his mass.
"Let me go!" I shrieked, desperate to get out. The knowledge that Reece had come for me, that maybe I'd be able to say goodbye after all, meant I couldn't just allow myself to remain on the plane. He deserved to know the truth, even if there was nothing either of us could do to change it.
The sirens grew louder, until I knew the vehicles were right outside the plane even though I couldn't see any from my side. "Go!" Corbin yelled into the intercom, and the static of the pilot's voice filtered through the intercom.
"Sire, the King of Oshal is standing in the middle of the runway."
Shock spread through me, and I moved to press my face against the glass and stare towards the front of the plane. I couldn't see anything past the fuselage. Smashing my fist against the window, I screamed, "Reece!"
The plane turned, easing to a stop perpendicular to the runway until Reece's form was directly within my sight. He stood in front of the vehicles, their lights flashing behind him, using his body as a barrier to the plane's takeoff. His guards stood behind him, glancing at one another like they didn't have the slightest clue how to proceed with a suicidal King. Reece stood tall, with his shoulders and legs squared as he glared at the plane like it was a personal affront. The moment his blue gaze found me in the window, his mouth parted with relief.
It only lasted a moment before his mouth twisted into a snarl and he stormed towards the door of the plane. "Alina!" he roared, the haunting order in his voice echoing through the cabin. "Corbin! Open the fucking door before I do it for you!" The guards behind him cocked their guns, making my mother shriek and scramble to the middle of the plane.
"He's insane!" she screamed. "Corbin, do something!"
