Chapter 27 #2
Something flashed in front of Rune—a tiny object floating in the air right over the river, and he reached out his hand to grab it.
The token.
He won.
A game, a game, a game— yet I hadn’t even considered rejecting the image in front of me when Rune smiled at me like that. I remembered what Lyall said perfectly, how to win the game—it just hadn’t been possible to think at all.
But Rune had. He’d rejected whatever it was that the mist had showed him. He had won, and now he raised his token and analyzed it calmly, but only for a second.
Then he threw it at Lyall, who caught it in his fist with ease.
“Your game. Your win,” Rune said and stepped back.
My breath caught in my throat. Lyall smiled—he wasn’t even surprised.
“Gracious, as always,” he said instead and held up the token to inspect it better.
“I just don’t want to have to hear you complaining,” Rune said, and I could have been mistaken, or they could have been too far away for me to hear properly, but I could have sworn that he sounded off. His heart wasn’t into the teasing at all.
If Lyall noticed, he didn’t comment, only laughed. “I’ll take it.”
Then he turned and started to look around. “Where is she?”
Just like that, my body moved on its own.
The moment I walked off the bridge, the mist took away my vision of them completely.
All I saw was white, but I moved ahead anyway because I’d seen where they were.
I couldn’t even tell you what the hell I was thinking or why I was so shocked that Rune would give away his win like that.
He had a reason. I was sure of it—he always had a reason for everything he did—but I couldn’t for the life of me imagine what it was.
“There she is!”
Lyall was in front of me, smiling brightly, reaching for my hand. “Come, let’s get away from the mist.”
I put my hand in his only because I wanted to get this over with quicker, and it worked. He pulled me forward, and the more we walked, the more color the world gained as the mist faded away—until we were outside of it completely.
Rune was there standing by a tree, just like in that image the game had showed me—except here he had his arms crossed and his shoulders rigid, and his eyes were dark as he looked at me from under his lashes.
My heart broke all over again just like it had when the image disappeared because once more I was reminded that it wasn’t real.
Just a game that could somehow pull my greatest desire right out of my heart—when I wasn’t sure I even knew what it was myself until I saw it—and display it in bright, vivid colors in front of me to get me to reach for it.
Of course, I’m going to reach for it—that was everything I wanted!
Safety and no more running and no more confusion about how Rune and I would make it, just that we would.
Just that we were together and there was nothing standing in our way.
Reality had never felt duller than when I turned back to see the river, and instead found a white cloud where it had been, the mist so thick it was impossible to see anything through it.
It didn’t go higher up than seven or eight feet, though, which was probably why I’d seen them from the arch of the bridge, but now we saw nothing at all.
“I won,” Lyall said and held up the token Rune had given him for me to see—a tear-shaped crystal with no engravings on the clear surface that I could see.
I glanced at Rune just for a moment and reminded myself that he had his reasons for doing this, and neither of them knew I’d seen them. It was important I didn’t call them out on it.
“Congratulations,” I said and offered the best smile I could muster .
The prince beamed. “Thank you for playing with me, beautiful Nilah.” And he bowed dramatically in front of me.
“My pleasure,” I lied.
“And now comes my favorite part,” he said with a wide grin. “As the winner, I get to claim my prize—which is for you, Nilah, to be my date at the Whispering Ball three nights from now.”
“I—wait, what?” Because that was not what I was expecting at all.
“The Whispering Ball. It’s a masquerade, and pretty much the only public gathering I can attend because everyone in it is masked. No words are allowed, only whispers. I think you’re going to enjoy it. I know I will if you join me.”
He stood before me with that smile and those bright eyes sparkling, like a kid waiting for his candy—and if I said no, he was going to be heartbroken.
I didn’t want to go to a fucking ball, of course, and I was going to politely decline, when Rune said, “Not to rush you or anything, Your Highness, but some of us have work to do. Can we walk and talk at the same time?”
Lyall rolled his eyes, but it was just for show. “Since you’re so polite to your prince, bastard, you will be attending, too.”
“No, thanks. I’m busy that night,” Rune said without missing a beat.
And Lyall grinned. “I’m so deeply sorry. In that case, my friend, it’s an order. ”
Rune shrugged and waved him off, but I knew him well enough to see that he didn’t like this one bit.
“I suppose it’s an order for me, too?” I asked with a raised brow, but I didn’t mind going to the ball all that much now. Since Rune was going to be there, too.
“Not at all. Your attendance as my date is merely my prize for winning the game.” He turned, waved for me to follow Rune, who’d already walked ahead among the trees. “Shall we?”
You didn’t win—we all did.
The words remained inside me when I smiled. “Of course.”