Chapter 27
My chest ached under the strain of the pale blue corset—another gown provided by the High Court.
Cora bit into a plump strawberry. “Maybe we should go for a walk. The gardens here have the most beautiful blooms.”
I forced a bite of eggs onto my tongue, but my stomach churned. “Fresh air sounds nice.”
“I’m glad you’re finally eating something. You had me worried last night.”
Cora’s life would always be free. She would never understand the pressure of a pact, made on her behalf.
I tugged at my braid as I caught my reflection in the mirror. A princess stared back at me, but I didn’t recognize her anymore.
Ladies, lords, servants, and guards filled the courtyard—each one staring at me as I passed. Fyn shadowed us. He came as soon as Cora called for him.
A winding path led us to a garden enclosed by stone walls, slender chambers with methodical arrangements of flowers on display.
My fingers lingered on a sunflower’s petals—it wiggled in response. Light whirled at my fingertips, kissing the tops of closed rosebuds until new blooms unfurled.
The onyx chilled at my chest as Thalen watched me from across the enclosed space. He leaned into the stone wall, entranced by the blooms beneath my fingertips. Thalen shifted his weight, and then slowly sauntered in our direction.
Fyn placed his hand on my back. “We should go.”
“Your Highness.” Thalen stopped before me. “I was hoping I could get a moment with you—to explain.” Hesitancy lingered in his words.
“We were just leaving.” Cora’s body angled between us.
Only Thalen stood before me, but still I clung to my dwindling hope that Lioran would intervene.
“Fyn, Cora, you can go ahead. I’ll be with you shortly.”
Fyn’s hand gripped mine, his eyes pleaded with me, but I slipped my fingers from his.
“You don’t have to do this.” Cora’s fingers trailed my sleeve.
“I will call for you the moment I need you,” I whispered to Fyn.
“I’ll be right over there.” Fyn pointed to the wall where Thalen once stood. “If you do anything to harm her, I will not hesitate to intervene,” he growled.
Fyn hovered for another second, his eyes threatening Thalen, before Cora wrapped her fingers around his arm and pulled him away.
Thalen extended his hand to me, but I did not move. “You are never without a crowd.”
“Why didn’t you come for me sooner?” I don’t know why it mattered, but his words hung over me still.
Thalen stepped closer until his arm brushed mine. “You left me on our wedding day.” He swallowed hard. His jaw tightened. “If I had just gone to you, you wouldn’t have given me the chance to explain.”
“You accused me, embarrassed me in front of everyone. Did you think I’d go with you then?” I seethed.
“I was desperate. He will ruin you.” He was unraveling with each word he spoke, as if it pained him to even think about us together.
I glared at him. “And you came to save me?”
His head held high as he scanned me. “I came to free you from him, Aelira.” He said my name like they did in Bailoc—shorter and less melodic.
“And the men you sent after me in the woods? You risked my life.”
“I instructed them to find you and bring you back safe—unharmed.”
“One of your men tried to use me as a shield to ward off a sylkren…and another almost killed your future king.”
Thalen swallowed hard.
“What would the king and queen have thought if I spoke that truth in the court?”
“I didn’t know. I swear it.” He clenched his fingers into a fist. “You didn’t tell the king and queen…Why didn’t you?”
Saying it then would have only made me look desperate, proof that I was guilty of Thalen’s accusation.
“To spare you.” I lied. “You’re lucky Lioran didn’t either. Do you think I’m so foolish I can’t make choices for myself?”
“No. You are capable and resilient.” His breath was hot on my cheek. “I fell for you, deeply from the minute we sat under the stars together. I hadn’t planned it. I wanted the political strength our marriage provided, but I didn’t expect to fall in love with you.” His voice softened.
He couldn’t have—he barely knew me.
My chest tightened under the weight of the corset.
“I have been sitting in agony since I heard the news that you were his. Knowing what you had done with him.”
“How would you know anything? You weren’t there and yet you accuse me of something, you don’t even know to be true…in front of the king and queen.” I slid my quaking hands behind my back.
“I know you let him have you.” His hand trailed down my arm, the heat of his body lingered on mine with his touch.
“The way you’re looking at me right now.
I know it is true.” He spoke with such certainty.
“You were supposed to be mine. That moment was supposed to be for me…and you just gave it to him.” His nostrils flared.
“I am not yours,” I snapped. “You know nothing.”
“You’re mistaken. I know way more than you think. Maybe even more than you know yourself.” He hovered over me. Waiting. Watching. Wondering when I would crack. “The consequences of your actions have already…manifested.”
I stepped back.
He glanced me over. “I’ve come to give you the future he can’t.”
“Why would you want a future with me at all?” My breathing quickened.
“Despite what you’ve done with him, I want you still.” Pain flickered in his eyes. “I can keep you safe as my wife—the mother of my children.”
Water pooled in my eyes, but I blinked it away.
“I love him, Thalen.” I spoke the truth in a way he couldn’t protest. Thalen was too boastful to accept that I love someone he loathed.
“You will learn to love your husband, Aelira.”
I would never get over my heart being shattered.
Thalen slid his arm around my waist as I stumbled, catching me. My trembling body was pressed against his—my eyes locked onto his, searching for the truth.
Fyn cleared his throat in the distance, but Thalen didn’t release me, nor did I fight it.
“We will get married. Just as we planned. Together we can build a beautiful life—one you’ve always dreamed of.”
Thalen released me from his hold, but his hand lingered on mine, before he disappeared beyond the stone walls.
“Tell me you’re not even thinking about it.” Cora stepped beside me, but I couldn’t look at her. They may have heard every word we spoke. “You can’t be seriously considering his offer.”
“Really Aelira?” Fyn shook his head at me before he walked off.
I slid my hands over my hips. My stomach tossed as I considered Thalen’s words. “Lioran is already done with me.”
“None of us have seen him,” Cora said.
I swallowed hard, wanting to believe there was a reason, but I couldn’t. “I’m going back to our chambers to lie down.”
“Let’s go for a walk. We can figure something out, together.” Cora reached for my hand.
“I can’t. I’m exhausted, Cora.” I slipped away from her and traced my steps back, desperate for a moment of solitude.
Lavender tea settled on my tongue. Its scent unraveled my nerves. Life continued in the courtyard below, a complete contrast to the serenity of the Heart of Lythira. I longed to be back at his castle, to feel his embrace—the moments I craved were taken from me.
My heart was hardening. Each hour that passed, the distance between Lioran and I only grew. I sank further into the sofa as Thalen’s offer settled on me.
He said he wasn’t hunting me; he was trying to save me from the High Court, from this heartache. I entangled myself with Lioran, but he still came for me. I would never understand his actions, but I understood just how far I’d go for love.
Still, every warning Lioran gave about him hung over me. I knew who he was—what he was capable of, but the choice wasn’t really mine to make.
The deal was made—Thalen had every right to claim me.
It would be easier to go without protest. If I married Thalen, I could still have a life of my own making. There would be no secrecy, no threat of watching the man I love be bonded to someone else—I could leave it all behind and build something new.
Darkness swept through the chambers. The endless flicker of candlelight held my gaze. Cora had come by, but our conversation only spiraled. She hadn’t returned since.
The door creaked, severing the stillness.
“Leave me alone.” I growled before Cora could enter.
Cora didn’t respond as she entered, but as I spun to face her, Lioran stood before me. His rage-filled glare glowed in the darkness. I hadn’t even felt him enter. Maybe whatever tethered us together was severed, too.
“Fyn pulled me out of a very important meeting, with news from the palace garden.” His biceps bulged beneath his midnight tunic.
I sat in silence as he came closer.
“I need you to tell me he was wrong about what he saw. Tell me—you weren’t in Thalen’s arms.” His eyes narrowed.
“I wasn’t aware Fyn was reporting on my whereabouts.” I clenched my jaw. “Or that you cared where I was at all.”
“So, you did…you let him hold you? Like I would hold you…after everything he did to you…to us.”
“Us?” I seethed. The storm inside me whirled, a pit settled in my stomach. I rose before him. “You know Fyn wouldn’t lie to you. Why are you even here?”
His chest trembled with each unsteady breath.
“You’re really considering what he’s offering?” Desperation leached between his words.
I didn’t dare raise my gaze to meet his. My hands ran over all the layers of fabric that encompassed me.
“You are considering his offer.” He slapped his hand over his chest as if I struck him. “You hated him, were so worried he’d come to Lythira. His men almost killed me,” he growled.
“It wasn’t his instruction.”
“You know what he is—what he is capable of. I didn’t think you’d fall for his manipulation. You let him use his magic on you and then you pretend he didn’t.” He reached for my hand, but I slipped from his grasp. “Thalen defiled your reputation in the High Court.”
“My reputation was gone the moment I made the choices I did with you. You didn’t even hesitate to discard me when you were done with me.”
“He made you believe you’re worthless, too.”
“No. I am fighting for my future, because no one else will.”
He stepped backwards. “So, you’re choosing him, because—”
“You’ll never give me what I want.”
“And he will?” His hand reached for mine, but his fingers rolled inward. I held on to hope for too long, but seeing him here in front of me, I knew our time was done.
“That is not your concern anymore.”
He flinched. “I came here to—”
“Make decisions for me? Soon you’ll have someone who you can make decisions for—it was never me.”
He shook his head wildly, and his mouth gaped open. I didn’t know who I was looking at anymore, but it wasn’t who I fell in love with.
“Then go be his wife, Aelira. Bear his children. Live out your time in his precious Vale. I have other matters to attend to.” He slammed the door behind him.
I clutched my knees to my chest, a sobbing puddle on the floor.
A thud came at the other side of the door along with a low growl. I waited for the handle to turn, for Lioran to tell me anything at all, but his boots only echoed down the hallway.
A lady’s maid slipped into my chamber. I longed for someone to talk to, wishing Milana or Juniper were here instead.
This world wasn’t mine. No one here cared who I was.
“Your Highness, a letter arrived for you.” She held out a tray in front of me with a pressed parchment. A dagger draped in thorns ingrained in vermillion wax illuminated in the firelight—the seal of the King of Bailoc. The door closed swiftly behind her.
I was alone with his concealed words.
The letter shook beneath my fingertips as I held it above the blazing flames. Each ember threatening to destroy King Ardyn’s commands. The fireplace crackled. I pulled it out of the hearth. Whatever it said was only a threat if I allowed it to be—he was on the other side of the divide.
I unfolded the parchment and familiar handwriting greeted me.
It wasn’t Ardyn’s, the forced letters belonged to Agan.
Aelira,
You are in grave danger—the King and Queen of Nythrel will stop at nothing to strike against Bailoc, especially in our desperate state. A rebellion has risen. When father couldn’t appease the rebellion leaders, they took his life. The state of unrest continues, and I am desperate to resolve it.
Your union with Lord Thalen will be our salvation.
You both can help rebuild Bailoc and protect our people from a desperate future.
Thalen has ensured me he can keep you safe from the fae—that your marriage to him will grant you protection.
Please, I beg you to go with him not just for me, or for our kingdom, but for your safety.
Ashlyn and I are so worried about you.
- King Agan of Bailoc
My trembling fingers clutched the letter, indents forming on the perfectly pressed paper. The rebellion had surfaced—the king was murdered. I reread Agan’s words, determined to find what lay hidden beneath them.
Marrying Thalen would ensure a future for Ashlyn—one I couldn’t give her on this side of the divide. It wouldn’t erase the blight, but maybe she would be safe with me in the Vale.
The letter sat on the table beside me. It was a glaring reminder of what I must do. A trace of warmth radiated from the onyx to my fingertips.
Choosing Thalen would never give me what I wanted, but maybe it was never about that—maybe it was always about finding my own peace, my own way.