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My stomach twisted and turned as I shivered.
“King Louis’s daughter would inherit the leftovers of a kingdom, with its true power belonging to the Rhine and its king and queen.”
The Rhine’s king and queen? Or the monster and Night Queen?
I ran a trembling hand across my forehead. None of this was real. This was all a nightmare. But the little sweat pearls forming at my temples felt real enough.
My marriage to Alrick had been my only light at the end of a long dark tunnel for so long. All the tears, horror, misery, and sadness were for this one moment, and now the world was going to rip that away from me too.
Rune.
I spun on my heel to look at him. He was still standing at the same spot. Motionless, his face, as usual, was detached and cold.
“You,” I managed to spit out. “Tell them. Tell them you refuse. Tell them how much you despise me and all I stand for. I can see it in your eyes...so tell them!”
But Rune just gave a faint smile. At first, it looked as if it was in pity. But then the smile vanished.
“Earlier, you asked of me to sacrifice everything, to turn my back on my father to help you achieve peace, but now you are unwilling to sacrifice a childish love to save two kingdoms?”
“Childish love?” This love was the only thing that had saved me...from myself and others. And this man dared to call it childish?
A burning rage exploded inside me. Every word he said was true, and yet I felt as hot as a dragon’s fire. Without thinking, I stomped over to Rune and slapped him right across his face.
Someone audibly gasped behind me. Frida called my name. But I didn’t care. The world was spinning away from me. I was falling, becoming the Night Queen once more. I could almost hear her, this other version of myself, laughing at me, telling me that no matter how often I defeated her, she would always linger deep down in my soul, waiting for moments like this to emerge again.
“You will speak to me with more respect,” I said to Rune.
Rune didn’t flinch nor touch the red mark rising on his cheek. He stood still, like the heartless statue he was.
Peeking over my shoulder, I looked at Alrick. The sadness in his eyes broke my heart. He was giving me up.
“I’m finished here,” was all I said, striding back to the path we had come from. I couldn't bear to stay another second.
I hated them. All of them. For a second, even Alrick.
What I would give to be someone else. Anybody. Just a simple maid or a farmer’s daughter. Someone whose parents were still alive, who would be allowed to fall in love and live a life of simple happiness.
As the endless rows of grand sandstone walls of my mighty castle grew larger, my breath became labored, my feet sluggish. I felt as if I couldn’t take another step. I hated the castle, this golden cage that had imprisoned my heart, making it not mine to give.
I stopped, alone in the dark, when someone grabbed my arm, spun me around, and pulled me into a tight embrace before I had a chance to protest.
I didn’t even have to look up to know who it was. I knew the lean muscular body, the smell of lavender and soap. And although I had sworn I would never cry in front of a man again, this was an exception.Hewas an exception. This man had saved me from myself and from others. This man was everything I’d ever wanted. This man was my true love; his touch set me on fire.
I buried my head deep into his chest and let go. I wept as if my mother and father had died all over again.
“It’s all right, my elf,” Alrick whispered as he kissed my head. “Let it out before it breaks you.”
And so I did.
