My head jerks back, glowing white heat flaring in my palms that forces Haylee to take a step back. “Why would you do that?” I snap, my chest heaving with anger and frustration andjealousy. The volatile emotions course through me easily at the mere mention of them together. Haylee holds her hands up in surrender, her eyes wide.
“It would be a farce! Only to get the council off your backs. I assure you that I have no romantic feelings towards Nox. Nor would I want to get between you both.” I glare at her as I clenchmy fists, my magic at the ready to do whatever I command of it. “Please, Rhea. I want to help. Listen to what I have to say.Please.” Her eyes flick to my hands as she waits for me to make my choice.
With a weighted sigh, I force it back down inside of me where it coils like a hunting snake. “I’m sorry. This meeting didnotgo how I expected it to. I knew they were curious about me, but to know that they think I’mdoomingthem…” I rub my hands down my face. “I just want to be with Nox.”
“I know,” she whispers, her hands tentatively reaching out to rub my shoulders. “And I think I can help. Let Nox and I marry for show. You two could still be together, spend every moment you can with each other. Hell, even have children that I will pretend are mine when we need to. He’d be yours in nearly every sense of the word.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” I reply hoarsely, dropping my hands to my sides. “I don’t think I can only have him in secret while you get him in public. Even if you don’t love him as I do.”
“And I don’t,” she reiterates. “He is a friend—nothing more. But I do want him to be happy, and Idobelieve he would be the best king. You know how powerful he is. You know what kind of security that brings to a kingdom whose magic is slowly being drained from them.”
“He would never agree to it.”
Haylee tilts her head to the side. “He would if you asked him to.”
“No,” I vehemently deny. “He wouldn’t—”
“Rhea, I’ve seen the way he acts with you. How helooksat you as if you hold the very world in your palm. Don’t deny the power you hold. It’s the kind of power over a man that other women merely dream about.” Her gaze turns pleading as her hands slide down my arms to grasp my own. “If you told himhow importantyouthought it was that he do this, I have no doubt in my mind that he would.”
She may be right, but why does this feel so wrong? Why does the very idea of him marrying anyone else, even just for show, make me want to burst apart? My heart feels made of glass, fracturing further the more the idea starts to burrow into my mind.
“Just think about it. You havesometime before the council will get more aggressive in their pursuit to change Nox’s mind. You can save yourself the anguish—saveNoxthe anguish—and pretend to give the council what they want.”
I don’t say anything in response, don’t even look at Haylee, as she gives my hands one more squeeze before releasing them. My steps towards the library are a blur, and for the first time since waking from the Middle, Iwishfor the old Rhea. The one who could box up this pain and pretend it was something I could deal with later. The one who could be numb.
When I finally make my way to the desk where I know Elora will be waiting, the tidal wave of my despair leaks down my cheeks and I have to gasp for breath. Elora lifts her head from the book she’s reading, her smile widening when she sees me. “How did the council meeting go?” She studies me, her grin dropping as she stands and sets the book down on the table. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
A broken whimper sounds as my hands cover my face, Elora rushing to me and pulling me in for a hug.
“Did Nox do something? I’ve never beat a prince up, but I’d do it for you.”
For some reason, that only makes me cry harder. I need her to know the truth. Elora is my friend—a friend thatIchose. Not because she knows Nox. Not because we are forced to be friendly with each other. But because there is something within us that calls to the other.
And I trust her.
Pulling back, I wipe my eyes and then stare into hers. “I need to tell you something.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Rhea
I tell Elora nearlyeverything. Who I truly am and where I come from. How Nox and I met. I tell her about Bella. About how Nox lied to me and how we reconciled. I leave out any talk of my magic and the Middle only because I still have so many questions about those things myself that I can’t really explain them to her yet. I share with her about the council meeting and Haylee’s proposal afterwards.
Lying on our backs hidden between two bookcases, I stare up at the wooden beams that cross the ceiling and sigh. “I’m sorrythat I kept everything from you.” When she stays silent, I turn and look at her. “Are you mad?”
She meets my gaze, her freckled cheeks rounding with a small smile. “No, of course not. I understand why you had to keep things secret. I understand why Nox is asking that of you. And Ialsounderstand that I now need to keep this secret.”
“I won’t ask you to lie. It is not your responsibility to—”
“I already knew that you weren’t from Santor,” she interrupts.
My lips part in surprise as I push up onto my elbow. “What?”
Elora mimics my position, playing with the ends of her hair before twisting her lips to the side. “Do you remember during our first book club meeting when I asked you to confirm where you were from? And what your last name was? It’s because I wanted to research if anyone from your family line might still be alive. Maybe a distant cousin or something. I was going to surprise you if I found anything, but the orphanage I contacted had no record of you.”
I drop my gaze to the floor and swallow roughly.
“And then I reached out to the records person in the town, andtheyhad no information on you either. I figured someone with your unique eyes would be remembered, so that had to mean you weren’t actually ever there.”
“How long have you known? And are my eyes really that unique?” I knew the majority of mages had some variation of gray eyes, but I had seen shades of blue and even brown too. However, Nox had never once said anything about my own other than the fact that he loved them.
