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Running out of things to guess, I asked, “The king?”
She turned her head to face me. “His son.”
I rolled my eyes. “I played this whole guessing game when you could have just said it was about Miles?”
She smirked and didn’t respond.
“What?! What happened with Miles?” I asked, lightly shoving her arm.
She said slowly, the words leaving her lips like a secret she couldn’t wait to tell, “I never said which son.” Her voice raised a bit at the end.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Bennett?” I whispered.
She nodded slowly, her smile growing in time with my heartbeat.
What news could she have on Bennett?
When Bennett and I were kids, we were absolutely inseparable. He was my person, my best friend. I loved him more than anything in this world. The two of us spent every second together, from jumping in the lake in the middle of the night to spending hours in the astronomy tower with him teaching me how to read. One of the things I loved most about Bennett was his patience with me. He was always gentle and sweet, and he understood me like no one ever had before. He was family to me, or he was, until his mother died.
When we were twelve, Gianna was poisoned and found dead in her bed in the middle of the night. To this day no one knows how it happened or who did it. When Bennett found her not breathing, the first thing he did was run to find me. He shook me awake, begging me to heal his mom. I ran as fast as my legs could handle and poured every ounce of my magic into the only mom I’d ever known. Bennett was screaming at me to try harder, and I sobbed as I knew my efforts weren’t working. I collapsed once my magic had run out, and my heart shattered into a million different pieces.
“YOU KILLED HER!” Bennett screamed.
That one phrase haunted me for years after her death. Although it wasn’t my fault that Gianna died, I blamed myself for it, blamed myself for not being able to heal her from the poison. After that, Bennett became someone entirely different. A boy filled with hate and pain. The eyes that once looked at me in longing became filled with loathing, and my best friend decided that I was his enemy.
“What about him?” I asked, snapping out of the memory.
“Remember when Pater sent him to live with his uncle, King Nix, in Vicinus?”
“Obviously.” I laughed.
“Well, he’s not there anymore.”
My heart stopped. Even though I was afraid I already knew the answer, I still asked, “Then where is he?”
“Here, in the castle. He arrived early this morning.”
I felt like I was going to throw up. After eight years of not seeing him, I thought I would have been over what had happened between us, but, honestly, I think there was some part inside of me that had always been affected by it.
In the days after he left for Vicinus I would cry myself to sleep. I hated him for what he said to me and what he had done, but I also hated myself, thinking I had something to do with his mom's death and his outrage. I blamed myself for his absence and couldn’t help but think he left partially because he hated me.
Although I’d never admitted it, not even to Miles or Amica, I missed him that first year. I would go to his room and lay in his bed when the castle was asleep. I even gathered enough courage in the later months to ask Pater to bring him back.
He said no.
As the years went on, I slowly let him go and continued on with my life. The little hole in my heart got filled with Miles and Amica, as well as the duties as a healer and the king’s assassin. However, after all of those years, I would still visit the astronomy tower in my alone time and look at the same stars I knew Bennett was looking at, too. I would study my healer lessons there or read my favorite book. When he first brought me to the astronomy tower, I was all but nine years old, and I instantly fell in love with it. I relished in the peace and quiet it provided that he knew I needed. Even after all this time, it was still my favorite place in the castle.
“Do you think he still hates me?” I asked Amica.
“I highly doubt it, it’s been eight years! Do you still hate him?”
The truth was I never had, despite what I told him when we were kids. He was my first friend, and I hated the world for taking him from me. When I was in the circus, I used to wish for the stars to bring me someone. A friend. They gave me Bennett and then they took him away.
“I don’t think so.” I sighed. “I’m scared to face him.”
She shifted toward me, grabbing both of my hands with hers. “You are scared of no one and nothing. Your enemies tremble at the mere idea of you without knowing who you are. You’re the strongest and bravest person I know. I hope the prince has changed for the better during his time away, but if he hasn’t, don’t let him change you from the person you’ve become while he's been gone.”
I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and hugged her. She was right, I had changed a lot in the last eight years and was practically a new person. I wouldn’t allow my past to seep into my future. If anything, now I was looking forward to seeing Bennett again, and I was hopeful he remained who he once was or became someone better.
“How are you always so good with words?” I mumbled into her shoulder.
She laughed, letting go of me and rising off the bed. “I’m a natural.'' She shrugged. “Maybe I should be an author?”
I smiled. “I’d read your book.”
“You would be the only one I allowed to do so. Get some sleep, Rhia, you’ve been up all night. I'll come get you before dinner.” She started for the door. “Oh, and dress cute. I’m still planning on guard hunting with you tonight.”
I laughed as she exited the room, and I lay my head back on my pillow. I didn’t realize just how exhausted I was until my eyes were closed and I was drifting to sleep.
