Free Web NovelChapter 14: Chapter 14: The Price of Secrets
I scrambled through the window, my boots hitting the floor with a thud. My skin still buzzing from the ghost of Yue-Senn’s touch, and the scent of him sweet, burnt vanilla mixed with the rugged tang of black leather. A powder-soft musk both sweet and spicy. I needed a moment, I needed to breathe.
"You never learn, do you?"
The voice was like a bucket of ice water. I spun around to find Aiyolistra lounging across my bed, a book held casually in her lap. She didn’t look up, but the air in the room was sharp with her judgment.
I couldn’t even process the sting of her words. My heart was racing, my face was a mask of heat, and my mind was still stuck in that bed at the Spring Inn.
"Ari!" I called out, my voice trembling.
The door flew open, and Ari rushed in. But she wasn’t her usual composed self. Her eyes were red-rimmed and filled with tears.
"Ari? What’s wrong?" I
moved toward her, my own panic rising.
"Why are you crying?"
Aiyolistra stood up from the bed, the book clicking shut.
"Mother is letting her go," she said, her voice dripping with a cruel sort of boredom.
"I wonder who is to blame for that?"
"Are you joking?" I hissed, spinning to face my sister.
"Nope."
Without another word, I turned on my heel and marched toward my parents’ room. I didn’t care that my hair was falling out of its tie. I didn’t care that I was disheveled and covered in the dust of the road. I burst into their chambers.
The room was dimly lit, the heavy scent of incense hanging in the air. My mother and father were together on their massive bed, my father’s large frame wrapped protectively around my mother.
I stopped short, keeping my back turned to them, unable to meet their eyes.
"Well, look who we have here," my mother said mockingly, though it had an edge of steel. "Our missing daughter."
"Why are you letting Ari go?" I demanded, my voice cracking.
"She didn’t do anything wrong."
"A lady-in-waiting does not encourage her lady to sneak out in the dead of night to be alone with a man," my father’s deep voice rumbled from the shadows.
"Nor does she lie to her King and Queen."
"She didn’t encourage me!" I shouted, finally turning to face them, though I kept my chin down.
"She allowed me to make my own choice. Unlike you two. She lied to protect me isn’t that what you want? Loyalty at any cost?"
My mother slid off the bed, her movements fluid. As she approached me, she stopped, her nose wrinkling as she tilted her head.
"I can smell the hormones all over you, Ryophlira. What exactly did you do with that man?"
"We did nothing!" I blurted out, my face burning.
"I went to talk about the wedding. We... we decided to move it up. To two weeks from now. It’s the best move for the alliance."
Mother didn’t listen. She leaned in closer, her sharp eyes catching the faint, darkened mark on the side of my neck. Her hand shot out, gripping my chin and tilting my head back.
"Explain yourself. This looks like more than talking."
I felt my ears drop in shame. I pulled away, covering my neck with my hand.
"The guards came looking for me! We panicked. We ended up in an... embarrassing position to hide me. That’s all."
My father rose from the bed then, his massive shadow stretching across the floor as he walked toward me.
"Father, please," I gasped, stepping back.
"Stay there. I promise, it’s not what it looks like."
"Look at the state of you," he growled, his eyes fixed on the hand covering my neck.
"You come home with a hickey on your neck and expect me to pretend I don’t know what happened?"
"Father, I give you my word! Nothing happened. We didn’t even kiss!"
He stopped in his tracks, looking down at my mother with a puzzled expression. They had seen me angry, they had seen me defiant, but they had never seen me like this unnerved, blushing, and desperate.
Mother let out a low laugh, reaching back to touch my father’s hand, signaling him to stand down.
"Mother..." I sank to my knees, I grabbed the hem of her robe, begging.
"Please. Don’t let Ari leave. It was my fault."
My father moved instantly, reaching down and lifting me by the chin. His grip was firm but not unkind.
"You kneel to no one," he commanded. "Stand up."
I stood, my legs shaking. freeweɓnøvel.com
"Is this truly what you want?" Mother asked, her violet eyes searching mine.
"Do you believe this wedding will help?"
"I know I’ve been stupid," I whispered.
"But please. This once... trust me."
There was a long silence before my father spoke.
"Fine. The wedding will be in two weeks. Word will not leave this kingdom. The East and South will think the wedding is next month. We will strike while they are blind."
His expression turned lethal. "But if you ever leave this palace to meet that man again before the vows are spoken, I will kill him myself. Personally."
I let out a shaky laugh half fear, half relief and nodded.
"As for Ari," Mother added, "she stays. But if she lies for you again, she will be cast out of this kingdom forever. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Thank you." I didn’t care about decorum then. I ran forward, throwing my arms around each of them in a brief, fierce hug before sprinting out of the room.
I hurried down the dimly lit hallway, my heart finally slowing down until I saw her. freewёbnoνel.com
Aiyolistra was standing in the shadows of an archway. The moon light from the outside windows caught her face. Her eyes were filled with tears, glowing with a hint of jagged rage.
She didn’t say a word. She just watched me, her expression a mix of heartbreak and fury that I couldn’t understand. I stood there for a second, confused by her tears, but more than that, I was confused by the heat still thrumming in my own chest for the Prince of the North.
