The words floated toward me like shards of glass dressed as snowflakes—beautiful and cold and cutting me to ribbons before I even knew I was bleeding.
I could only stare at the sheikh as he stood by the window of his study, his back turned to me.
I must have heard him wrong.
I must have.
Because there was no way Mik’hail would say something like that. Not after everything that had happened between us. Not after the way he had touched me, tasted me, whispered my name like it was the only word he knew.
“Aurora.” His voice was cold. So terribly cold. “Did you hear what I said?”
“I...” My throat had closed up. “I don’t understand,akh.”
The sheikh finally turned to face me, and I had to dig my nails into my palms to keep from reaching for him. Even now, even when he was looking at me like I was a stranger, my body still ached for his touch.
Once, I had dreamed of being his princess.
Now I was just the girl who needed to disappear.
“I’ve given it much thought,” he continued in that same detached tone, “and I believe Lady Ella would make a suitable bride. She’s of noble birth, well-educated, and her stepfather is a king.” A pause. “You understand, don’t you?”
No. No, I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand anything at all.
“But you said...” My voice cracked. “You said you didn’t love Aretha. You said there was never any love between you—”
“And there isn’t any love between Lady Ella and me either.” The sheikh’s lips curved, but there was no humor in the smile. “But love isn’t a requirement for marriage, Aurora. Surely you know that by now.”
So this was what it felt like to have your heart served back to you on a silver platter.
How terribly civilized.
Was he saying that what happened between us meant nothing? That all those heated looks, all those stolen moments, all those times when I could feel how much he wanted me...
Had I dreamed it all? Had I spun a fairy tale out of nothing but moonlight and wishes?
“I would appreciate it,” the sheikh said quietly, “if you kept your distance from now on.”
My chest caved in.
“Keep my distance?” I heard myself say. “Is that all you have to say to me?”
“What else is there to say?”
Everything, I wanted to cry out. There was everything to say. About the way he had kissed me. About the way he had groaned my name. About the way his hands had trembled against my skin, like he was barely holding himself back.
But looking at him now, at the cold stranger who stood before me, I realized that none of it had mattered.
Not to him.
The prince had kissed the sleeping girl, and then he had decided she wasn’t worth waking up for after all.
“Very well, Your Highness.” It took everything I had to keep my voice steady. “If that is what you wish.”
His jaw tightened. So brief I might have imagined it.
“It is.”
“Then I have a request of my own.” I lifted my chin, refusing to let him see how close I was to breaking. “I would like to move to the dormitory at my school.”
