The flashbacks ended, and Luna stood panting breathlessly. The servant standing next to her, still holding the ring box, looked horrified. It made Luna wonder if everyone else in the room knew what she had seen. She glared at the servant and snatched the ring, sliding it onto her middle finger.
“What happened? Are you alright?” the prince asked.
She did not hear the prince’s question, and so she did not respond to him. Her mind was consumed with what she had just seen, trying to understand it. “I spent my entire life thinking there was something wrong with me. Something so bad that it would make a mother not love her own child.” Luna turned to the king. How dare he sit there on his throne and ask her to sacrifice herself like Nina did when he hadn’t even given Nina a proper, fair choice. Hatred enveloped her heart. “You forced her.” Luna could barely grind the words out, hardly able to believe them herself. “Youmadeher give me up.”
The glass shards on the floor glistened from the light of the fire. Moving as quick as a cat, Luna snatched up a large broken piece and gripped it so tightly the edges cut into her palm, but she barely felt it. She moved towards the king, murder in her eyes. “I will never do anything for you.”
He snapped his fingers together, and guards flooded the room. In an instant, she was disarmed, her hands pinned to her sides.
The king scoffed. Leaning forward on his throne, his eyes narrowed. “I’ll give you two full days to figure out how to transform, but by the end of the second day, if you haven’t, there will be consequences.”
Chapter 15
All Hail the King
Asilence as heavy as Luna’s heart drowned the halls as Clyde escorted her back to her rooms. When they arrived, she slammed the doors behind her, leaving him to assume his usual position outside her room.
Finally alone, she sank to her knees and allowed the tears she had been holding back to fall. Her mind clouded as if she had entered a fog; the life she had been living was all a false reality. How could she be so dumb to believe the lies she had been fed?
She wasn’t sick.
Wasn’t human.
And now she was expected to use the powers she didn’t even want to protect a kingdom that had only ever lied to and excluded her.
The light from the candle lit on her nightstand refracted in the small gems of Nina’s ring, drawing Luna out of her self-loathing. She brought it to her chest, cradling it against her as if it could soothe all the years of abandonment and dishonesty. It was all she had of her birth mother. Holding it up to the light, she inspected the gems. She’d never heard of objects being able to hold memories, but with magic, everything seemed possible and the visions she had seen further cemented her decision not to help the king.
Longing for the comfort of softer clothes, she walked to her wardrobe and chose a silk nightgown. She paused to dry her tears before reaching behind to tackle the pearl buttons of her dress. As she did, her clammy fingers wrestled with the smooth, elusive buttons, struggling to coax them from their fastenings.
Normally, she would have asked her sister to help, but that wasn’t an option available to her anymore. Positioning her back to the mirror, she used it to help guide her fingers. She almost succeeded in getting one button through its loop when her arm gave out. Screaming in frustration, she stomped her foot; she was going to have to sleep in the damn thing.
A quiet knock sounded on her door, followed by a pause. “Are you all right in there?” Clyde asked, his voice soft.
She groaned and it almost turned into a growl. “I can’t get my dress off.” The door creaked open, and Clyde peered in. She turned to show him the pearl buttons. “It’s these stupid buttons,” she explained, her hands still behind her back, fumbling with them.
He looked a little too eager as he asked, “Want me to help?”
Did she have a choice? Admitting defeat, she hissed, “Fine, but don’t you dare look—and don’t think this means I forgive you.”
Clyde nodded and shut the door behind him, walking over to her. He closed his eyes and ran his fingertips from her slender waist to her back, slowly working each button.
Luna’s body betrayed her; the feeling of his rough knuckles against her delicate skin sent shivers down her frame. He seemed to work purposefully slow as he undid the buttons from bottom to top. Goosebumps trailed down her spine; how she had missed his familiar touch. She drew in a breath when he finally undid the last button and began to slide the dress down her body. As he did so, his hands grazed the outline of her breasts, careful not to touch fully without permission.
His slow movements paused, hovering at her hips before he let the fabric go and it pooled on the floor. With his eyes still closed, he bent his head down towards her neck, his lips just above her skin, like he was about to kiss her. His warm breath sent tingles radiating to her core. She grabbed onto his arm . . . whether to draw him closer or push him away, she did not know, but they stood in that position for a while—stuck in a moment of desire and hesitation—before her brain caught up to what was happening.
She turned away, grabbed her nightgown, and threw it on. “Did you peek?”
He grinned, leaning casually against her wardrobe. “I wish I had.”
Without realizing it, her gaze drifted across his body, lingering on the sculpted contours of his muscular physique. She admired the defined lines, tracing the powerful curves of his broad shoulders and muscular arms.
He chuckled, flashing dimples he did not deserve, and she bit her lip; the temptation to seek comfort in his arms, in their familiar warmth, overwhelmed her.
Their eyes met, and he broke the silence. “Your beauty is beyond words, Luna.” He moved closer, intensifying her already ragged breathing. In a low whisper, as if he were admitting to his deepest, darkest secrets, he murmured, “It captivates me.”
Her cheeks warmed, and she looked away, not wanting him to see the effects he still had on her, but he grabbed her hand, swirling her towards him. With their bodies pressed together, his head found the crook of her shoulders.
She gasped but didn’t move away. His scent filled her and drowned her senses, blurring her thoughts.
