CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
IRIS
The tears were still stinging in my eyes when I turned to see who it was.
“Raven?” My voice cracked on her name.
She stood behind me with her hands locked around my arms. The sight of her made my chest tighten even more.
“Raven, let me go!” I shouted, trying to wrench free, but her grip only tightened.
“I can’t,” she said, her voice trembling. “Iris, please don’t—”
“Let me go!” I screamed again, twisting, clawing at her wrists. “He’s leaving! I have to go to him!”
She shook her head, her voice breaking. “I’m sorry. He told me to stop you.”
I froze for a heartbeat, the words barely sinking in. “I don’t care what he told you,” I cried, my voice hoarse. “Raven, please, let me go!”
I tried again to pull free, but she only held tighter. Her arms wrapped around me like iron bands, dragging me away from the railing. My tears came harder, falling so fast I could barely see. My breaths were sharp and uneven, and my whole body shook.
“Raven, please,” I whispered again, my voice raw. “He’s all I have.”
But she didn’t move. Her grip only tightened more, making my arms hurt. “I know,” she said. “I know, Iris. But I can’t let you go. You’ll get hurt. Please.”
Her words were a blur in my ears. My mind could only focus on the silhouette moving in the distance. I could see him through the open gates, walking toward the ocean.
“William!” I screamed, thrashing in her hold. “William, come back!”
“Iris, please stop,” Raven said between trembles. “Let’s go back inside.”
But I couldn’t. I didn’t even hear her properly.
My breath came in sharp, broken gasps, the air catching painfully in my throat.
I could not breathe. My lungs burned as if the world itself had turned against me.
All I could see was him, far ahead, his figure growing smaller and smaller until the night began to swallow him whole.
The man I loved. The man who had held me like I was the only thing that mattered. He was walking away, and I was frozen, watching the life I wanted slip farther and farther from reach.
My body gave in before my mind did. My knees buckled, the strength leaving me completely. The world blurred through my tears. Raven caught me before I could fall by steading her arms around me.
“Iris,” she whispered. “Come on, please. Let’s go back inside.”
I couldn’t respond. My heart was pounding so violently it hurt. The ache in my chest grew heavier, spreading until I thought it would crush me entirely.
“Come,” she said again, more firmly this time. Her hand brushed through my hair in a trembling attempt to comfort me. “Please, Iris. It’s over. He’s gone. Let’s go back inside.”
Her words stabbed deeper than she could know. Over. Gone. The very sound of them made something inside me twist painfully.
She pulled me closer, wrapping her arms tighter around me, and for a moment I let her. I let my forehead rest against her shoulder, my tears soaking into her dress. My arms rose weakly and circled her as I sobbed against her.
But then something inside me snapped.
The thought of never seeing him again, of letting him disappear forever, struck like fire through my veins. The pain turned into panic, the panic into something fierce and uncontrollable.
“No,” I whispered against her shoulder. Then louder. “No!”
Before she could react, I pushed against her. My hands gripped her arms and, with all the strength I had left, I shoved her away.
Raven stumbled back with a gasp, her eyes wide with shock. “Iris—”
I didn’t hear the rest. My feet were already moving. I ran for the railing, my skirts tangling around my legs, my tears blinding me. The world narrowed until all I could see was the open night beyond the balcony and the faint silver glow of the ocean where he had gone.
I threw myself at the railing and climbed before I even realized what I was doing. My hands gripped the cold stone, my skirts dragging and tearing against it. The night air bit at my skin, sharp and cold, but I didn’t care.
“Iris, stop!” Raven’s voice rose behind me, breaking with fear. “Come back, please!”
But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My fingers found another hold, and I climbed lower, the stone rough beneath my palms. Her voice grew fainter behind me, but I refused to look back. I dropped the last few feet and landed hard on the ground, my knees jarring from the impact.
Pain shot through my legs, but it didn’t matter. I pushed myself up and ran.
The wind rushed against my face, pulling at my hair and skirts as I sprinted across the courtyard. I could hear Raven behind me, calling my name again and again. But that only made me run faster.
“William!” I cried, my voice tearing through the night. “William, stop!”
My heart pounded so hard it hurt, the sound thundering in my ears. I could see the gates ahead, wide open, the world beyond them silver and dark. My slippers slipped against the dirt, but I
didn’t slow. My tears blurred everything, yet I could still see him.
He was there.
Down by the water, the faint moonlight glinting off his armor. He was standing in a small sailboat, his hands working to untie the rope from the dock post. The boat rocked gently in the waves, ready to leave.
“William!” I screamed again. “Stop!”
He froze.
For a moment, the world seemed to go still. The wind quieted, the sound of the sea softened, and everything between us felt suspended in time.
My breath came in sharp gasps as I stumbled onto the shore, my skirts heavy with sand and water. My tears mixed with the salt in the air.
He turned slowly toward me. His expression shifted from confusion to disbelief, and then to something softer, something aching.
I took another step forward. “Don’t go,” I said, my voice breaking. “Please.”
“Iris—”
Her voice came faintly from behind me, broken and shaking. I turned sharply to see Raven running toward us, her hair loose from its braid, her face pale in the moonlight.
“No!” I cried, my voice hoarse. “Leave!”
She froze where she stood, her eyes wide with shock. For a moment, she looked like she might come closer, but the look on my face stopped her. Her lips parted as if to speak again, then closed. She took a slow step back.
The waves crashed softly against the shore, the sound filling the silence between us.
“Iris,” William said finally, his voice quiet and heavy. The way he said my name made my heart twist, but it only fueled the storm building inside me.
“No,” I said again, louder this time, my voice trembling. “You don’t get to do this.”
He took a hesitant step toward me, his eyes searching mine, but I didn’t let him speak. The words came rushing out of me, raw and angry and full of hurt.
“You lied,” I said, my chest tightening with every breath.
“You lied about saying you wouldn’t give up.
You said you’d never leave me, and look what you’re doing.
” My voice broke, and I pressed a trembling hand to my chest. “You’re leaving, William.
You’re leaving and hiding behind the excuse that you’ll wait for me. ”
He flinched as if I had struck him, but I didn’t stop. The tears came faster now, hot against my cheeks, and I could hardly breathe through them.
“You said you love me,” I whispered. “You said nothing would keep you away. But you’re walking away. You’re choosing to leave me.”
His jaw trembled, and for a moment he couldn’t speak. Then, through the sound of the waves and my own ragged breathing, I saw his tears fall. Slow, silent, and full of everything he was trying to hold back.
“Iris,” he said at last, his voice breaking. “I never wanted to hurt you. But if I stay, it will destroy us both.”
“Please,” I whispered, shaking my head as more tears slipped down. “Don’t say that. I need you, William. I need you, and you need me. You’re all I have.”
He closed his eyes as if the words hurt to hear. When he opened them again, the moonlight caught on the tears still clinging to his lashes. For a long moment, neither of us spoke. Only the sea filled the silence, its soft roar wrapping around us like a heartbeat.
Then he reached out a hand toward me. His voice was quiet, trembling but sure. “Then come with me.”
My breath caught.
“Come with me, my love.” He reached his hand out farther, the plea trembling with every word.
Something inside me broke.
When I turned, Raven was still standing a few steps behind. She looked terrified, torn between stopping me and letting me go. For
a moment, I saw my own pain reflected in her face: the same kind of helpless ache that came from loving someone you could never truly have.
I turned back to William.
There he was. My William. Standing at the edge of the sea, the wind tugging at his cloak, his tears catching the moonlight as they fell. His hand was still outstretched, waiting. He looked at me like I was his whole world, like nothing else existed beyond this moment.
“Come with me,” he said again, his voice shaking. “Please.”
My heart slammed against my chest so hard it hurt. The sound of the waves faded until all I could hear was that pounding inside me, quick and uneven, urging me to move.
I didn’t know what to do.
If I went to him, I would lose everything. My title, my crown, my wealth, my father’s favor. Everything I had been raised to protect would vanish the moment I took his hand. But what did any of it matter if I was never happy again? What was a kingdom worth if it meant a life without love?
I looked at him. His face was wet with tears, his hand still outstretched, trembling.
Love was more than wealth. More than duty. William was worth more than all of it.
But my thoughts still tangled. If I stayed, I would live a life of
silence and sorrow. I would smile for the court, bear the prince’s heir, and die a little more each day. My heart would belong to someone I could never touch again. Staying would mean surviving, not living.
If I went with him, I would lose the world. But I would have him. The one person who had ever seen me for who I truly was. The one who loved me before he knew my name.
My breath came out shaky. My decision came before my mind could catch up.
I stepped forward.
His eyes widened, glistening in the moonlight.
And then I placed my hand in his.
The world seemed to exhale around us, the sea roaring louder as if it knew what I had just done. His fingers tightened around mine, warm and certain, and I knew there was no turning back.
I had chosen him.
I had chosen love.
And everything else would come after.