He looked sick.
More tears spilled down, and I swiped them away. “How dare you stand there and—read that out loud like?—”
His brow furrowed.
My voice cracked. “I loved him! I loved him so much I couldn’t see what he was doing to me.” Tears streamed faster. “I believed every lie, and when I was brought to my execution, he didn’t even show up.”
Kairos rubbed his neck.
“He couldn’t be bothered, andyoujust made me—made me remember how stupid I was to believe I mattered. How bad it hurt when?—”
I couldn’t finish. Another sob tore free, and I hated myself for it. Hated that I was crying in front of him. That he could see exactly what a fool I’d been.
He grimaced. “Fuck.”
I turned and ran.
27
CAUGHT
“Aelie, wait!”
I shoved through dancing fae, ignoring their startled looks. My shoulder slammed into a male, and I pushed past him, gasping for air. I stumbled behind a table, knocking a goblet to the ground. Wine splattered the moss.
I glanced back through the blur of tears. Kairos stood in the center of the dancing, scanning the crowd. Then someone called his name, a courtier demanding his attention.
I ran.
The kitchen garden, where was it again? East. My boots skidded on wet grass as I rounded the corner. There. The old well, half-hidden by overgrown rosemary.
I dropped to my knees, breath hitching with sobs I was trying to swallow.Crying.Like some weak girl.
Kairos had given himself up for a century. Endured humiliation and gods knew what else to save his people. And what had I done? Let myself be manipulated by pretty words and allow Vaeris to carve a death sentence onto my skin.
How pathetic I must look to Kairos.
My fingers scrabbled at the loose stone near the base. It wouldn’t budge.
“Come on.”
The stone gave. I thrust my hand into the hollow, fumbling.
Please be there.
My fingers closed around canvas. I yanked the satchel out with a choked sound. I looked at the castle, my heart twisting, then at the trees.
I hit the woods at full speed. The forest swallowed me whole. Didn’t care. I just needed to get away from him, from the pity flashing across his face, from hearing how easily Vaeris had twisted me around his finger.
Twigs snapped. The hem of my dress caught on a branch. I ripped it free.
Doesn’t matter. Keep moving.
If I slowed down, he’d catch me.
My side screamed. The pain throbbed with every step, but I pushed harder.
The trees thinned. A clearing opened before me, the still water nestled between jagged stones.
