40. Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty
“Why the fuck are you still here?” Tor yelled in the middle of the arena. Soldiers from his kingdom and mine watched the brothers.
Rune snarled, his fists clenched.
Tor pushed Rune’s chest, and I sucked in a breath. “No, seriously. What is your problem, Rune? I get that you don’t like me, or our home. So why are you sticking around? Fucking leave if you’re so damn miserable. I haven’t done anything to you!”
Oh boy.
This wasn’t good.
Rune noticed me first and his whole face softened. My anxious thoughts melted being so close to him.
And Tor saw it all.
“Her?” His voice was low, and I raced over. A hand on Tor’s shoulder, which made the beast rumble in Rune’s chest. Tor heard that too and scoffed.
“Let’s go somewhere to talk. Somewhere private.”
“Out of everyone in the fucking world, Rune. Her? My fucking fiancée?”
Rune stepped closer, putting his body between mine and his brother’s. Ugh, I was going to be sick. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
“Follow me. Now.” I grabbed both their hands and pulled.
The guards murmured as we passed and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop them. The rumors, the gossip would spread like fire.
More fucking problems.
The first empty room I found was the armory and closed the door behind us.
“Are you two fucking?” Tor ripped his hand from mine and stood there, fingers gripping his hair.
“No,” Rune answered first.
“Tor.” I sighed and watched him pace near a wall of swords. His fingers flexing and clenching at his sides.
“Tell me everything.”
My chest ached, and I opened my mouth to speak but the words were stuck in my throat. Tor stopped and faced me.
“Or don’t tell me. Fuck! I don’t know.”
He closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I did try.” Tears sprang free and Rune was there at my side, as steady as a rock to ground me. Tor watched his brother move with such tenderness, his mouth parted, and his eyes widened.
Rune saw my struggle and took over.
“I arrived early to access the kingdom before your arrival,” Rune explained. “We met then and did not know who the other was.”
Tor’s heartbeat was steady and I saw his hand twitch, like he was testing every word for lies.
I suddenly found my voice again. “We fought the pull to each other, choosing to do the right thing. It wasn’t until the morning before the engagement that we realized we were mates.”
Tor closed his eyes and shook his head.
I hated this. My chest hurt, and my stomach twisted in knots.
“I was going to talk to you, and my parents, when my father made the decision for me.”
Tor leaned against the wall, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. “I knew you didn’t agree to it. I just…”
Had hope. Tor had hope that I wanted the engagement. Wanted him.
“I do like you, Tor. You are strong, and kind, and a friend. But he’s my mate. I—”
“Yeah, I get it. Matched by fate. Destined by the stars and all. Still should have said something. Anything instead of leading me on for weeks. You know I’d get it.”
Maybe he would have, maybe not. I don’t know and I don’t possess the power to reverse time to try.
“You didn’t truly want her. You were just doing as you were told.” Rune snarled, and I placed a hand on his chest to keep from launching toward his brother.
Tor had a right to be upset, and the way Rune spoke made it seem like Tor was settling for me.
Which we’d spoken about upon meeting. Neither one of us were excited to get married to each other. But we were giving it a try.
“We didn’t tell you sooner because we were told not to by our kingdom’s seer.”
Tor blew out a loud breath and crossed his arms over his chest. “I knew something bad was coming. It’s got something to with your dad, doesn’t it?”
I nodded, my mouth opening and closing like a gasping fish. How did he know?
“I’m a human lie detector, and the king is slick with words, but I can tell.
He’s like a snake. That’s why I was pushing for us to go back to Regno De Lupi after the wedding.
” Tor sighed, his back slid down the wall to sit on the stone floor.
His head was in his hands. He was trying to get me away from here, away from danger.
“We were told to keep up appearances for a month. If I called things off, he would rush his plans. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m hurt, Sapphira.” His voice shook and my chest cracked.
“I know we weren’t mates, or in love, but I thought we were friends and would have gotten there eventually. Evil plans, or not. You should have told me.”
Rune was silent, watching the interaction between his brother and I with sad eyes.
I told the warrior before. I did like Tor. He wasn’t a bad male. He just wasn’t my mate.
In another life, if Rune never came to Crysia, and all I knew was Tor, we would have gotten married and been happy. Being with Tor was easy.
“I am sorry. I made choices to protect my people. I am still making questionable choices for them, for the realm.”
Tor’s head lifted, his face unreadable. “So, what now?”
“I’m going to Crystoria to look for something to help stop the king’s plans. I shouldn’t be gone long.”
“About us?” he asked, and Rune’s body tensed beside me.
“I can’t ask you to pretend to be engaged to me until our month deadline is over. But for the safety of the whole realm, I ask that you don’t deny the engagement label.”
The words sliced through me like barb on their way out. Like, hey sorry Tor, I know I broke your heart and we aren’t gonna be together since I’m mates with your brother, but can you still be my fiancé in name? Thanks.
Tor stared at me and stood.
“I guess you learned how to be good at games after all.” He walked past us, gripped the door handle, and paused like he wanted to say something. Would he’d keep the secret a little longer?
He yanked the door open and left without speaking.
The twisting in my gut bubbled up, the pressure from the interaction was too much.
Rune caught me as my body fell, and I violently vomited over the stone floors.