CHAPTER 24
Without Lukas at my side, the ballroom quickly felt far too intense. The obnoxious chatter paired with the blaring music felt like a hundred nails scratching my skin. I needed air – nice, cold, sobering, outside air – and fast. Barging through the crowds, I searched for the nearest open door, then barreled towards it. The cool evening air immediately soothed my racing heart and scalding skin as I rushed outside.
“Ancients, save me,” I sighed through heavy breaths. Confusion swam in the wine that still sloshed around my mind. If it weren’t for the transparent glass doors, I’d strip off my gown and collapse in just my undergarments onto the dewey grass. Maybe then, while staring up at the stars, would I finally find some answers.
Taking a few steps out onto the grass, I inhaled deeply. The night air was working wonders on my exhausted senses. Though I was only engulfed in the bliss for a few precious moments before a familiar male voice sent all the unease rushing back to my stomach.
“Fancy seeing you here, darling.”
I bristled at the sound of him. Following the voice, my body whipped around to face Prince Colyn. At first glance, he might’ve appeared somewhat innocent, his tall frame leaning against a narrow fruit tree as he threw a small orange up and down in his hand. But there was a poisonous desire burning in his gaze, and immediately I stepped a few feet back, ready to dart straight back into the ballroom.
“Don’t even think about running, sweet one. We both know you came out here for a reason… Are you bored of your little princeling already?” He tossed the orange up into the air again, catching it quickly in his open palm. “I can show you what a real man feels like.” A dark shadow flickered across his face, churning the unease in my stomach into a heavy dread. Though my obvious fear seemed to only entice him further as he pushed away from the tree with a grin and prowled closer, dropping the orange onto the grass.
“Don’t be afraid now, I can be gentle.”
Absolutely not.
My heart leapt, sending my once-frozen feet springing into action. I bolted towards the ballroom door, but before I’d made it more than a metre, my arms were suddenly pinned behind me as a loud, piercing scream flew from my lips.
“Let me go!” I yelled, thrashing wildly. Oblivious to my protests, the man wrenched my body away from the doors.
“Hush now,” he chided. The golden light of the ballroom faded with every step as he hauled me deeper into the palace grounds. “If you didn’t want this you should’ve worn something other than this damned gown. I’ve seen the way your prince has been watching you all evening, only unlike him, I take what I want.”
“No, please, stop!” I begged, tears welling in my eyes.
He chuckled, his breath heavy with the stench of alcohol. Then, keeping my hands pinned, he threw me roughly against a tree. The bark felt like daggers scraping my back as I collided against it, the pressure forcing all the air from my lungs – so much that when I tried to scream again, it came out barely louder than a whimper.
“Stop squirming!” he spat before smearing his lips over mine.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. All I could think about was how foul he tasted until, like a whisper in my ear, I recalled the calming words of the village mother.
‘Even the strongest of menfolk have a weakness, dear child.’
A weakness…
Thanking the Ancients for anatomy classes, I swung my knee up. Hard. Aiming directly between his legs. Immediately, he stumbled to the side, doubling over to clutch his lower body.
“Little wretch,” he cursed.
Finally, I saw my chance. Shoving away from the tree, I dove past the hedgerows and sprinted back through the grounds. My legs ran until they ached, and then they ran even more. We hadn’t gone far from the ballroom, but I didn’t know these grounds well. The panic, mixed with the dark of night, transformed the pretty flower beds and neatly trimmed hedges into a dense, wild maze. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. My sprinting only stopped when my body painfully thudded against hard metal armour.
“Gotcha!” Behind the cold chestplate, a man called out to someone nearby, “We found her, sire.”
A thousand butterflies burst from my heart when I saw just who he was calling out to.
“Naria!” Lukas rushed towards me. My exhausted knees buckled at the sight of him, the relief turning all my limbs to jelly. I hadn’t realised that I’d collapsed until he was kneeling beneath me, his warm arms supporting my wilting upper body as I landed in a heap upon his lap. “Where were you? Someone heard a scream from outside. Are you hurt?” His expression was heavy with concern and dark anger.
“I needed some air.” My words spilled out between ragged breaths. “Colyn found me… I tried to get away but—” A sob forced its way up my throat before I had a chance to finish, and any remaining dignity was washed away with the relentless tears that followed.
“Shh, you’re safe now,” he murmured in a gentle yet reassuring tone. Not moving from the grass floor, he jerked his chin towards a nearby guard. “Search the grounds! Search the entire damned palace if you have to! Find Prince Colyn. And when you have him, lock him away in the dungeons.” His commands were strong and powerful, almost as if I was laying across the lap of a king rather than a young prince. “Whatever happens, do not let him leave this palace tonight.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The guard bowed then swiftly scurried off to alert the others of the urgent new plan.
When we were alone, the tears only fell harder, as if for some reason I’d been holding them back before. Beneath all the blubbering, I hated how pathetic I must’ve looked. I don’t know how Lukas was able to keep me in his arms while I crumbled to pieces, but he did. He held me close, the rise and fall of his chest grounding me as I tried my hardest to steady my breathing.
“Thank you for searching for me,” I said in a quiet voice, eventually finding a moment between sobs.
“You needn’t thank me.” Lukas brushed a stray hair away from my face. “What kind of prince would I be if I left my fiancée to wander the grounds all night long?”
A strange feeling gnawed at my toes, and I wasn’t sure if it was guilt or just a chill in the night air. This moment felt far too intimate. Glancing up, all I could see was his perfect bronze face, surrounded by a halo of stars against the inky black sky above. He was so close, it would be so easy, so natural, for our lips to meet.
No. I couldn’t do this.
Clearing my throat, I changed the subject. “Won’t the King and Queen of Hallshire be furious if they hear their son is in the dungeon?”
Lukas’s jaw tightened. “I will deal with the two of them in the morning. They likely won’t be pleased, but in Drothmore, it is a crime to lay hands on anyone who is unwilling. Royalty or not, he will be given a trial as anyone else would.”
“And if his parents threaten a war?”
He took a slow breath. “I will not let him get away with whatever he did to you. Perhaps I can negotiate with the King or Queen. He might not be executed, but if he hurt you?”
“He didn’t,” I told him truthfully. “He just scared me a bit. The mental wounds will heal with time.”
“Still…” The hand supporting my arm trailed up to cup the side of my face. With his thumb, he brushed away a tear from my cheek, the closeness making my skin feel warm. “In a few months, maybe even less, we shall marry. And even if you won’t accept me as your future husband right now, I cannot – will not – under any circumstances, let any harm come to you. You’re my future wife, Naria. No one harms you, even if they are only ‘mental wounds’.”
It would be so easy to melt into him, and part of me desperately wanted to. But I cast those alcohol-fueled feelings aside as tears glazed my eyes once again, this time more from frustration than fear.
“Lukas, I—” A finger pressing over my lips interrupted anything else I was about to say.
“You don’t need to explain yourself,” he told me. “I know what you’re going to say, and you’re right – we barely know each other. This is all happening so fast… My head is such a mess, and with my father passing away so slowly, I’ve not been myself.” He paused, his jaw tensing. “In time, I hope you can learn to love the real me.”
Why was he making this so difficult? Where was this tenderness when I told him about my people living in the forests? How can he promise protection for me but not for all those who need me as their queen? Confusion pounded in my head as another sob lodged itself in my throat. It was hard to breathe through the tears that followed.
“Hush, please,” he brushed away the tears that streamed down my cheeks, “it’s getting cold, and you’re shivering.” He was right. In the mess of my tears, I hadn’t noticed how much the summer night air had cooled. “Let me get you inside. I’ll take you to my chambers and you can sleep there tonight. It’s much closer than your tower.”
I began to protest, but he silenced me with another finger. “Do not fear me, Naria. Nothing will happen. You can take my bed, and I will sleep elsewhere. I’ll send for your servants to help you undress before bed and then again in the morning. Please,” he said, his gaze meeting mine, “please let me keep you safe for tonight. At least until the guards have caught Colyn.”
I shuddered at the sound of his name. But now that he’d suggested it, I would feel much safer sleeping somewhere other than my isolated tower bedroom, and there were plenty more guards around Lukas’s chambers. The extra protection would be very reassuring. Also, the thought of being surrounded by sheets that smelled like him was certainly tempting… Forcing that last thought aside, I took a deep breath.
Focus, Naria, this is only for your safety. Don’t let it mean anything else.
Clearing my head of any more dangerous ideas, I accepted his offer. Instantly, his shoulders relaxed, and he smiled in a way that would put angels to shame.
“Let me help you up,” he offered, scooping me up from the floor and propping me onto my wobbling feet as if I weighed no more than a feather. My knees were still trembling from all the running, and as he began to lead me back towards the golden light of the palace, I almost collapsed back onto the ground.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed, my exhausted body leaning into his open arms.
“It’s quite alright,” he chuckled quietly. “It’s been a long evening for us all. Let me help.”
Before my mind could process what was happening, I was swept off my feet and lying back in his outstretched arms. His chest felt so warm pressed against my side, it was almost impossible to keep my eyes open. Everything about the way he carried me was so gentle yet also so secure. There was such grace in the way he walked too, it was like I was floating on an endless lake.
Sleep overcame me long before we reached his chambers. The last thing I remember after my eyes finally closed was the sweet scent of exotic fruits and the strange sense of how I imagined stepping into the warm ocean would feel after a relentless tropical storm.
Peaceful.