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Elizabeth glares openly at me, and even though I know I shouldn’t meet her gaze, I can’t help myself. The corner of her mouth ticks up as she lifts her arm, turning to the side. I follow the movement.
Alaric emerges from the back and steps up to her side. My heart aches when he slips his hand into hers and doesn’t let go.
“In two months’ time, our prince will take his rightful place at my side.” Elizabeth glances at him, giving him a falsely warm smile. “He will be crowned, and then oath bound to me.”
I gasp before I can stop myself just as the crowd breaks out in mild applause.
The queen’s sharp gaze cuts to me. Her mouth lifts into a smug expression, eyes dancing with hate.
Alaric lifts her hand and lowers his face to her palm. Her mouth forms a small O.
When he speaks, it’s quiet, but I’m close enough to just make out the words. “We all do what we must for the ones we love.”
Alaric places a soft kiss on her knuckles then lifts his head to gaze adoringly into her eyes. The world shifts under my feet. I must sway because Cassius tucks me into his side.
I’m losing him…
His deep, sapphire blue eyes are clear and bright as he turns from Elizabeth and looks out over the crowd. Alaric’s gaze pauses on me for a painful heartbeat before moving on. The din of voices and clapping fade to a quiet hum beneath the buzzing in my head. There is no spark of red, no dullness, no strain that suggests that she’s compelling him into compliance. He is walking into this willingly.
Two months…
Two months until he’s crowned consort. I knew he would eventually be crowned, but I hadn’t expected it to be so soon.
And to agree to oath bind himself to her—to the woman he loathes more than anything in this world—with a smile on his face?
Cassius’s arm tightens around me.
He knew about this.
He knew—and he kept it from me even after he promised to stop hiding things.
Fissures crack over the surface of my heart. My breath comes in short, shallow bursts until spots form across my vision, dancing until all I can see is Alaric’s face, and the loving way he gazes at her.
Chapter Four
Clara
We all dowhat we must for the ones we love.
The scene repeats over and over in my mind. My words… He usedmywords… forher. It’s petty because they are only words, but it feels like a betrayal.
His smile when he gazed at her with genuine feeling, looked real. I squeeze my eyes shut. Thinking about it twists my stomach into knots.
Down the hall from the training room, in the corner near the stairwell, and covered in shadows, I hide like the coward I am.
I couldn’t even make it to training before the wave of emotions overwhelmed me Anger, confusion, hurt… and my stupid pride. The last thing I want is for Cassius to see me cry. I’m not sure I could stand to see pity and judgment when he looks at me.
Cassius refused to give me the day off, even after what happened. No. It was back to my room to change and an order to be down in the training room, within the hour.
Biting down on my lip, I lean against the wall as the pressure building behind my eyes continues to grow. I press my palms to my cheeks and tilt my head back. But it doesn’t matter, the second I blink, two thick tears slide down my cheeks. I roughly swipe at them with my sleeve.
Yesterday, Alaric held me and said he missed me after avoiding me for almost two weeks. His actions contradict themselves, and I don’t know what is real and what isn’t.
Footsteps descend the stairs above me. I cover my mouth to stifle the sound of my breathing and crouch low.
The man pauses at the bottom for several heartbeats, before he continues. My heart pounds as his back comes into view. I would recognize him and the way he moves even in the dark.
For the second time in as many days, Alaric has passed me in this hall. If I’m ever going to get answers from him, it needs to be now because I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance.
