Chapter Seventeen
“Checkmate.”
“Not again,” Lukas grumbled, ignoring the way Percy pretended not to brag about another win. His little brother hadn’t lost a game of chess in years.
Lukas wasn’t sure why he even agreed to play anymore.
Usually, it was to pass the time. Today, it was to avoid the time, which was unfortunately close to the start of his mother’s birthday dinner.
He wished now that she had celebrated while they were away, but no, the queen wanted them to be there.
He didn’t feel much like celebrating anything, not with Princess Klarissa’s arrival tomorrow.
“Still thinking about it?” Percy asked, resetting the board. “Maybe you will like her.”
“It’s not her, Percy. It’s the entire thing. I don’t want to marry some stranger—”
“Wouldn’t you have anyway? Chances were good our mother would have found you someone eventually. Some other princess or lord’s daughter.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely. What’s the alternative? You’ve never taken a liking to any particular lady, so what’s wrong with this one?” After a moment of silence, Percy’s brow furrowed. “Unless, there is a particular lady you’re interested in?”
“No, of course not.” Lukas looked away, cursing his brother for being too smart for his own good.
“You answered that way too quickly.”
“Drop it, Percy.”
“I don’t think I will.”
“Dammit!” Lukas barked, standing. “Yes! I like someone. I think… I always have. But it doesn’t matter because I’m being forced to marry this princess for some pointless alliance with a kingdom we hardly even speak to.”
“What if… I marry her? Would that be better?”
“No.” Lukas turned to his brother. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t let you do that, Percy. You’re only nineteen. Your time will come soon too, I promise. This is my burden to bear.”
“What will you do about your lady? Whoever she is?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Do you think she feels the same way?”
“Why? Are you a romantic all of a sudden?”
Percy shrugged. “It’s all you and Baz ever talk about now. How he misses Lina and how you don’t want to marry this girl.”
“I know but… it’s adult business. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m an adult too, you know?”
“If you say so,” Lukas said, reaching over and ruffling Percy’s hair. His brother smacked his hand away, but Lukas just laughed.
His amusement died when Rosella entered the room to tell them it was time for dinner. Percy left but Rose stayed back, grabbing Lukas’ hand.
“Something is wrong with Sage,” she said. “Did anything happen while you were gone?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did she meet someone? She seems… I don’t know… heartbroken? She mentioned a man in a bar that she danced with. Do you think they had a spark?”
“How would I know?” Lukas replied, trying to control his anger. Just thinking about Danny and the way the prank he’d played on the man had caused a rift between him and Sage made his stomach turn.
“You’re my twin, genius.”
“So?”
“So you can sense things,” she said, smacking him on the arm. “You’ve always been able to read Sage like I can.”
“I’ve never known what that fairy was thinking,” he said, annoyed because it was apparently the truth. She’d been in love with him for who knows how long, and he’d never been able to tell.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rose said, scrunching her nose.
“Of course, you have. You’d see her alone and ask her dance.
Bring her a new plant to study when you boys would be out in the forest. You know how much she enjoys that.
And as dumb as I think your little prank war is, you’ve always known when she was sad and needed you to prank her and cheer her up.
You know Sage, Luk. What is happening with her? ”
Lukas stared at the wall in front of him, unsure what to say. Had he known all along that Sage had feelings for him and he’d returned them without realizing? Was it really that obvious? Why the hell couldn’t he have realized this before? When being with Sage was even a possibility?
“Fine,” Rose said, huffing. “Pout about your new pretty little princess wife and leave me to fix our best friend. Jerk.”
She stomped out and Lukas couldn’t help but laugh. Sage was his best friend too, by extension of Rose. He was in love with his sister’s best friend, his best friend, and because he discovered it too late, now there was nothing to do about it.
~*~
Sage lifted the flower to her head and tucked it behind her ear.
She turned from side to side, looking at herself in the mirror.
Her gown was more fitted than anything she’d ever worn before in the castle.
It was long enough to be appropriate for the dinner, but revealing enough to be fit for a fairy. Fit for seduction. Just not for Lukas.
“Ugh!” she whined, ripping the flower from her ear. “This is so dumb! I can’t do this. I can’t!”
There was a knock on the door and Rose stuck her head inside, her eyes going wide when she got a look at the fairy’s gown.
“Wow, Sage! Look at you!”
“I know. It’s terrible, isn’t it?”
“No, you look amazing. What are you talking about?”
“I look like a harlot.”
“You look like a fairy, Sage. You are a fairy. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”
“I… thank you.” She grabbed her slippers and started to put them on. “Is it time?”
“Yes, it’s started. We’ll be a little late but that’s fine. Are you sure you’re alright? You haven’t been yourself since you returned. Is it about Danny?”
“Who?” Sage asked, then remembered she’d shared that part of the story with her. “Oh, no. I barely knew the man. He was nice enough but a little too nice, if you know what I mean?”
Rose shrugged. “If you say so. But why are you dressing up so much tonight? Did meeting Danny make you want to try courting someone? You’ve always been against the idea.”
“I wasn’t against it, necessarily.”
“You would refuse to dance with everyone, Sage.”
Not everyone, Sage thought. Unfortunately, it mattered little now.
In fact, she didn’t plan to dance with Lukas tonight at all.
Not even once. She was wearing this gown to avoid her bad idea to seduce the prince.
Instead, she’d decided to dance with every single other man in attendance and keep her eyes, hands, lips, and magic, firmly away from Prince Lukas.
The gown was sure to attract men to her side.
“I plan to dance tonight,” the fairy said, forcing a smile. “You should too.”
“Right,” Rose replied, rolling her eyes. “Not likely.”
“You will have to find a suitor one of these days.”
“I will when you will.”
Sage followed the princess out of the room and down the stairs to the hall. Music filled the large space and the middle was already covered with couples dancing.
Rose stayed with her as they made their way around the outside of the hall, but as soon as a few men approached them, the princess whispered an apology and slipped away. Facing the smiling men around her, Sage took a deep breath and committed to her plan.
Several dances, many forced smiles, and some awkward conversations later, and she was ready to sneak away and hide for the rest of the evening.
It was torturous, especially because her eyes kept looking for Lukas, against her will.
He was there, always on the outside, never once dancing with anyone.
If he had, she might have been able to convince herself that everything was back to normal for him.
Instead, she worried about how he was handling his upcoming nuptials.
“Did you hear what I said?” her dancing partner asked, dragging her back to the moment.
“I’m sorry,” she said, quickly. She put on what she hoped was a charming smile. “Momentarily distracted. Doesn’t the queen look lovely this evening? You’d never know she was a year older. Honestly, she hardly ages at all.”
Sage clamped her mouth shut to stop the rambling.
It had happened all night. Once she opened her mouth to speak, she would just talk and talk and the men seemed to find it endearing, for some reason.
Just like this man, whose name she’d already forgotten.
He grinned at her as if he thought she was adorable and repeated his question.
“I asked if you planned to stay here in Orious and work with your mother? In the gardens?”
“Oh, yes. I believe so.”
“Which means you are not open to marrying a man who lives outside of the castle? Even if he has his own land and a sizable fortune?”
“Umm… no?” She was certain he spoke of himself, but since she didn’t know who he was, she couldn’t be sure. “I tutor the children in plants and am being trained to assist my mother and take over for her, eventually.”
“You would prefer to work? Rather than letting your husband take care of you?”
“I enjoy working.”
“Yes, but you would enjoy it more if you let me take care of you. You would want for nothing.”
“No, I couldn’t. I have responsibilities.”
“But I’m sure you could be convinced—”
“She said no,” Lukas interrupted, his tone lethal.
Sage didn’t look over at the prince—afraid to.
The man in front of her apologized and pulled away, quickly leaving the floor.
Before she could even wrap her mind around what had just happened, Lukas swooped in and took the man’s place, pulling her back into the dance as if he’d been there all along.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Dancing. Thought that was fairly obvious.”
“Why?”
“I always dance with you.”
“I didn’t agree to.”
“Because I didn’t ask.”
“Lukas,” she said, louder than she wanted to, then hastily lowering her voice. “You’re making a spectacle.”
“I’m making a spectacle?” he asked. “Have you seen what you’re wearing tonight? You’re drawing attention from every man in the room, married or not.”
“So?” she replied, annoyed. “I’m looking for a husband.”
“You’re what?” he asked, his voice so loud that it caught the attention of everyone around them.
“Lukas, please. Lower your voice. Everyone is looking.”
“Good. Let them look. While they’re staring, maybe you can explain to me why you—”
Sage slapped her hand over his mouth. Whatever he was about to say would probably not be for prying ears. Seeing no other option, she quickly changed to sprite form and because Lukas was touching her, he changed also, shrinking down to the size of a mug of ale.
There were gasps around them as they essentially disappeared from view, their new height being so close to the floor. Lukas began to argue again, so she grabbed his arm. She drug him along as she flew as quickly as possible out of the room.
She flew until she could barely hear the noise from the hall anymore. Finding the greenhouses looked empty, she swooped down into one and dropped Lukas onto his feet, changing them both to normal size at the same time. Once he regained his footing, he whirled on her, livid.
“How dare you!” he shouted.
“You deserved it!” she called back in anger. “Embarrassing me in front of all those people! I should have just shrunken you and then left you there to be stepped on!”
“Not that! I’m talking about all of this!” Lukas pointed at her gown. “How dare you go in there and flirt with all of those men. Do you have any idea what I’ve been going through all night? Watching you ignore me and fawn over them?”
“You’re not making any sense, Lukas!”
“No, you’re not making any sense, Sage! Was it all a lie? Did Willow lie to me?”
“Willow?” she asked, confused. What did the nymph have to do with this?
Lukas ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Now that she had a moment to really look at him, it appeared as if he’d already done that move a few times tonight. His hair was never this disheveled. His clothing wasn’t as immaculate as usual either. Was he stressing about the princess?
“I know, Sage,” Lukas said, finally. He looked her in the eye and repeated it. “I know.”
“You know what?”
“Willow let it slip around the fire one night. I… I know you’re in love with me.”
“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no!”
She moved to walk past him, but he took her arm and spun her around to face him. One hand found her hip and the other cupped her cheek. She could pull away but being touched this way by him, something she’d only ever dreamed of, was hard to walk away from.
“Tell me,” he said, softly.
“I can’t.” She shook her head, but he held it firmly in his fingers, forcing her to look at him. His eyes were glassy, as if he felt as close to tears as she was.
“You can.”
“No, I can’t. It won’t help anything, Lukas.”
“I need… I need to hear you say it, Sage.” He swallowed before continuing, “I’ve been going crazy trying to convince myself it isn’t true. That I couldn’t have possibly been so blind to it all this time and… just tell me if it’s true. Please.”
She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. He looked about as miserable as she currently felt and when he said ‘please’, all of the fight in her froze like the streams in winter. She couldn’t deny him.
“I’m in love with you,” she whispered. “I have been for years.”
Lukas drew a sharp breath and closed his eyes. She watched the war of emotions on his face. Relief, sadness, a touch of anger. Those were the same emotions she felt right now too. Relief that he finally knew, sadness that it didn’t make a difference, and anger that it never would.
His eyes opened and a tear slipped out of one. She reached up to wipe it away and he leaned into her hand.
“I’m sorry, Sage,” he said, his voice shaking. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize it, that I didn’t see it. And now—”
“Now it’s too late,” she finished his thought with a small sob.
“No, don’t do that. Don’t cry. It’s not your fault.”
“It’s no one’s fault, Lukas. It just… wasn’t meant to be.”
Lukas pulled her close and she nestled her face in the crook of his neck. The first breath she took, inhaling his scent, made her breath catch. It was unique to him, and she knew she’d never get that smell out of her head. He held her for several moments as her tears finished falling.
When she started to pull away, he caught her before she could, taking her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers.
She could feel him shivering as they kissed—or maybe it was her.
His lips were gentle but firm. It was bittersweet and made her heart both soar and burn.
She would have given anything in the realm for him to have kissed her this way, but now it only made her ache.
Her tears were just starting to dry on her cheeks when he finally broke the kiss and stepped away.
Not another word was said between them. Lukas plucked a flower from a plant beside him and tucked it behind her ear. Then he slowly passed by her and left the greenhouse. Sage crossed through to the other end and out into the night air. She looked up at the stars but hardly noticed them.
She felt numb. As if her heartbreak was so strong that she couldn’t even feel it anymore. A flowering fruit tree stood beside her, and she walked over to it, curled up on the ground next to it, and cried until she drifted off to sleep.