My fingers tremble, temper rising. I need to make them go so I can take the remedy.
Standing up, I march past them, ignoring his question and answering directly to Karo. “Thank you, we will do it right away,” I turn to the others, noticing their sour expressions.
“Good night,” I throw it while making a beeline for the smaller bedroom. I don’t manage to get there, because Jestin grips my arm.
“No, you won’t walk away!” He grits out.
I freeze in shock for one heartbeat. I would expect that kind of reaction from Aidon, given how foul his manners are, but not from Jestin.
Like he is keeping the promise, which he whispered to me while I was dozing off in his arms in Santorili.
He should have been honest.
“Yes, I will,” I linger before I dust his hand off.
The hurt on his face knocks the wind out of me and my first instinct is to explain, comfort, and talk it through, but I don’t have time for it.
He searches my face, as if he is looking for a long-lost friend in me, but the naive princess he is longing for killed her family and shat all over her responsibilities.
I refuse to be her any longer.
“You can’t make me,” I snarl, as if it’s the absolute truth, like they couldn’t possibly overpower me.
I need to sharpen my comebacks before I claim that throne.
“We’re building something here, Seleste. Talk to me.” He refuses to back down. Persistent little frog.
“Please…” His voice cracks.
I give him a condescending smile, even though the rest of my heart rots inside.
“We can build later.”
“We can do it now! Is some stupid balm more important than our relationship?”
I seethe. How dare he manipulate me? Again? After he forced me on that path? I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but then I hesitate and shut it, sinking into the chair again.
Is it more important? Is that overpowering need unhealthy? Should I pay more attention to it?
“Attention to what love?” I flinch when Aidon’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
“To…” I want to explain, but no words come to mind.
“...into Her Majesty’s health, of course. Nutrition should be important in her condition,” Karo states, directing herself towards the spare bedroom, then addressing the males again. “I must ask you to pardon us, we should see to her needs.”
They exchange a glance, and I brace myself for more defiance.
“Let them go,” Riven says, catching me off guard. He had been leaning by the door throughout the dispute, watching me with cold calculation. I realise now that his silence is more dangerousthan I first anticipated, especially given the unusual weariness etched on his face.
Still, despite my aching heart, I don’t waste any more time on him and follow Karo into the second bedroom.
The door closes behind me, a terrible feeling of foreboding settles in my chest, like I’m one wrong move away from losing something precious, but I’m too far down the path to turn back.
Chapter 22
The so-called great hall turns out to be a large room filled with rows of wooden tables. My army’s barracks are more prestigious than this, and still, I wouldn’t spend a heartbeat there if it were up to me.
What a disappointment, especially considering how long the Vikans have lived on this planet.
