CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
IRIS/WILLIAM
IRIS
Dinner passed in a blur. I barely tasted the food on my plate. Around me, the hall was filled with noise. The nobles talked about the wedding, about how grand the ceremony would be and how strong the alliance would make our kingdoms. Their words ran together, meaningless and hollow.
My thoughts were somewhere else.
William.
I hadn’t seen him since this morning. Not during the day, not during the evening.
I kept searching for him among the guards, hoping I would catch a glimpse of his face or hear his voice.
Nothing. He was gone, and the distance was unbearable.
The idea that this might be our last day together made my chest ache.
Tomorrow, everything would change. I would stand beside a man I didn’t love, while the one I did might be forced to leave forever.
I tried to eat, but every bite turned heavy. My hands shook slightly as I lifted the fork, and my throat felt tight. I wanted the dinner to end. I wanted to run from the hall, from the voices, from the eyes that saw me only as a bride, not as a person.
When the nobles began speaking again, louder now, I quietly rose from my seat. My father didn’t look at me. Lorenzo didn’t either. That was fine. I didn’t want their attention.
I left the hall quickly. My footsteps echoed through the corridor. The air was cold and smelled faintly of smoke and candle wax. I walked faster, clutching the sides of my gown, my heart beating
faster with every step. I needed to see him. I needed to find him.
The thought repeated in my head, over and over. If I didn’t see him tonight, I might never get the chance again. The fear of that thought made my eyes sting.
By the time I reached my bedchamber, my breath came quick and shallow. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it for a moment, trying to calm my racing heart. The room was quiet. Too quiet. Only the soft rustle of the curtains moved in the still air.
I turned toward the balcony. My hands were trembling when I reached for the curtain.
And then I saw them.
Roses. White and pink. A trail of them scattered across the floor, shining faintly under the light of the moon.
My breath caught in my throat.
Without thinking, I grabbed my shawl and hurried toward the balcony. My heart felt alive again, wild and trembling with hope. I didn’t care what waited beyond those doors. I just needed to see
him.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I didn’t walk. I ran.
The night air was cool and sharp against my face, but I didn’t care. My heart pounded so hard it filled my ears, drowning out the sound of the waves and the wind. I ran faster, following the faint light of the moon across the grass until I saw him.
William.
He was standing by the same tree near the sea, the one that had become ours. When he saw me running toward him, he straightened and took a few steps forward, surprise flashing in his eyes.
For a moment, everything else disappeared. There was only him.
I ran faster until I was in his arms. He caught me easily, his hands firm around my waist. A soft laugh escaped him as he lifted me from the ground and twirled me once before setting me back down.
“Someone’s excited to be out here,” he said, his voice warm and teasing.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My chest felt too tight, my heart beating too fast. I reached up, touched his face, and kissed him.
It was soft at first, uncertain, but then his hands moved to my back, pulling me closer. The warmth of him spread through me, steady and sure. The scent of salt and sea filled the air, and everything else fell away.
When we finally pulled apart, the world felt still. The waves moved gently against the shore, and the night air was cool against my flushed skin. His hands lingered at my waist, as if he wasn’t ready to let go, and truthfully, neither was I.
I looked up at him, the moonlight catching the quiet smile on his lips. For a moment, nothing else existed. Not the castle, not the wedding, not the crown waiting to bind me to a life I didn’t want. There was only this. Him and me.
I rested my forehead against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my palms. It was calm, sure, and it made me feel safe in a way I hadn’t known I needed.
He said nothing, and neither did I. Words would have only broken what we had in that moment.
When the wind shifted and the sea whispered against the rocks, I felt something ache inside me. I wished time could stop here, beneath the stars, where nothing else mattered.
But it couldn’t.
So I held him tighter, just for a little longer, knowing that when I let go, it would hurt. Knowing that no matter what tomorrow brought, this night would be ours.
WILLIAM
We had been in each other’s embrace for what felt like hours. Maybe longer. Time had stopped meaning anything. All I wanted was for her to stay in my arms forever. I could feel her heartbeat against my chest, soft and steady, matching mine like it belonged there.
Now we sat beneath the same tree we always did. My arms were still wrapped around her waist, and her head rested on my shoulder. Neither of us had spoken. We didn’t need to. The quiet between us was enough.
But then her voice broke through the stillness.
“I’ll be married tomorrow.”
The words sank deep, cutting through the air like a blade. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. For a moment, it felt as though the ground had vanished beneath me. My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. I wasn’t ready for this. I would never be ready. Nothing could prepare me for losing her.
My grip around her tightened. I could feel her breath catch slightly, but she didn’t move away. I didn’t let her. I couldn’t. The thought of her standing beside another man, wearing his ring, his name, hearing the world call her his, tore something raw inside me.
“God, I can’t,” she said. Her voice trembled, breaking something deep inside me.
I looked down at her. Tears had already filled her eyes, spilling
over and streaking down her cheeks.
“Iris…” I breathed her name, but it was all I could manage.
“I’m forced to marry someone I don’t love,” she said, her voice shaking. “And that means we won’t ever see each other again.”
Before she could fall apart, I pulled her closer into my arms. Her body pressed against mine, soft and trembling.
“I’d take it all away from you if I could,” I whispered.
And I meant it. But even as the words left my lips, I knew I couldn’t.
I couldn’t take away her crown or her title or her duty.
I couldn’t give her the life she deserved.
A commoner like me could never stand against a prince or a king. I knew it. She knew it. But knowing didn’t make it hurt any less.
Her tears soaked into my tunic, and my own threatened to fall. I had to stay strong for her, to make her believe that everything would be alright, even when I didn’t believe it myself.
“But I won’t see you again,” she whispered.
I tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Don’t speak like that,” I said softly. “Of course we will. I’ll write to you, and I’ll visit whenever I can.”
She shook her head, her lip trembling. “But that’s not enough.”
Her words sank deep, heavier than anything she’d ever said. I knew she was right. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
My heart sank, but I tightened my hold around her anyway, as if
that could make it true.
I brushed my thumb across her cheek, wiping away another tear. “Then I’ll find another way,” I said quietly. “Whatever it takes. I’ll find a way to see you again.”
Her eyes softened, her breath catching as she looked at me.
“I promise, Iris,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “This isn’t the end.”
She closed her eyes and pressed herself against my chest, her fingers curling tightly around my arms as if afraid I might vanish.
I held her there, feeling the steady beat of her heart against mine, each thud echoing through me.
For a moment, there was nothing else. Just us, breathing the same air, holding on like the world could not touch us.
Then she lifted her head again. Her eyes met mine, wide and searching. “If there was a way for us to be together,” she said softly, her voice barely more than a whisper, “if a new law suddenly came that I could marry whoever I wanted, would you wait for me? Even if it took ten years?”
Her words lingered in the air. She swallowed, her gaze flickering down for a second before meeting mine again. “Or would you already have found someone else?”
I stared at her, struck silent. The thought of waiting for her, even a lifetime, did not frighten me.
What frightened me was how easily I knew the answer.
Her face was so close now, her breath warm against my skin, and I could see the fear behind the question.
The fear of being forgotten, of losing this.
I let out a quiet breath, my hand moving up to the side of her face, fingers tracing her jaw. “Iris,” I said, “I could wait ten years. I could wait longer. There isn’t anyone else for me.”
Her eyes shimmered, her lips parting as if to speak, but no words came. So I pulled her closer again, holding her as the waves
whispered against the shore.
“If the world ever gives us a chance,” I murmured, “I’ll be there. I’ll always be there.”
She looked up at me, her voice barely a breath. “You promise?”
I nodded, my hand still on her cheek. “I promise,” I answered. “I’ll never leave you.”
Her eyes glistened in the faint light, and for a moment, everything around us disappeared. I could see nothing but her, hear nothing but her breath.
“Even in death, I’ll be with you,” I whispered. “You’re my first love and my last. My only love. So I’ll wait an eternity if I must, because a life without you is no life at all.”
Her lips trembled, and tears filled her eyes again, but this time they weren’t from sorrow. She leaned forward until her forehead rested against mine, her breath mingling with mine.
“William,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
I closed my eyes, my hands gently tightening around her waist.
“I mean it,” I said. “Even if the world changes, even if everything else fades, you’ll still be the one I love.”
She let out a soft sob and buried her face in my neck. I held her close, feeling the warmth of her tears against my skin. The night around us was still and endless, but it didn’t matter. For that moment, time had stopped.
And in that silence, I knew nothing could ever make me let her
go.
When she finally spoke again, her voice trembled. “So we’re just like Elara and Mike,” she said. “Two who love, but can never have each other.”
Her words hit something deep inside me. The story we loved, the one that ended in a heartbreak. Two souls meant for each other, torn apart by the world that refused to let them be.
I pulled back just enough to see her face. “No,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “Not like them.”
She looked up at me, confusion glimmering in her eyes.
“They gave up,” I said softly. “But we won’t.”
Her eyes softened, though her tears still clung to her lashes. “But what if we’re not given a choice?”
“Then we’ll make one,” I whispered. “No matter what happens, I’ll keep finding my way back to you. Even if the world keeps us apart.”
She looked at me for a long time, her eyes searching mine as if
trying to hold on to every word. Then, slowly, she nodded. The faintest smile touched her lips, small but real.
The sea whispered behind us, the sound mingling with the wind. She leaned forward until her head rested against my chest again, her hands clutching her skirt as though she could anchor herself there.
I ran a hand through my hair and closed my eyes. For that
moment, nothing else mattered. Not the crown, not the vows, not the morning that waited us. Only her heartbeat against mine, and the quiet promise that lived between us.
If the world tried to tear us apart, I would still find her. Somehow.