Don’t follow me.
I reflect on how her energy spiked with regret after she said those things, but it doesn’t help soften the blow. She knew what she was doing when she said that. Knew it would keep me at bay. I can’t go after her.
Ican’t.
Not when she doesn’t want me to.
Not even if it kills me to hold still.
“What are you doing out here?” I startle at the sound of my sister’s voice and turn to find Nyxia strolling down one of the garden paths toward me.
With a deep breath, I gather my composure. “I could ask you the same,” I say with a smirk. The tug of my lips feels firmly at odds with the pain lancing my chest. “I thought you were on holiday for the entire month.”
“I came to see how you’re doing with everything.”
“Is Lorelei here?”
She purses her lips. “I came alone.”
I bark a cold laugh I don’t feel. “By that, you mean she didn’t approve of you coming to spy on me.”
She puts a hand on her hip and pops it to one side. “Can’t a devoted sister check up on her dear brother without it being considered spying? I revealed that I’m here, didn’t I?”
“Very well, Nyxia,” I say, crossing my arms. “What’s your grand assessment? How am I doing?”
“You’re clearly upset about something.” Her eyes dart down the path Em took mere moments ago. “I saw you speaking with Princess Maisie.”
Annoyance flairs inside me. If she saw us, then she damn wellfeltus too. “Do you have anything you’d like to say about that?”
Her expression softens the slightest fraction. “All I asked was for you to try with her. If things aren’t working out between you, I’ll find another royal for you to court.”
My heart clenches at that. I don’t want her to find another royal. I don’t want her to find anyone else. I just want…
I’m leaving, Franco.
I don’t wantyou.
Shit. There’s so much I don’t understand. So much I don’t know. It isn’t hard to believe Em’s feelings wouldn’t match my own. I’m not so arrogant to think I can woo any female I like, but when I taste her emotions around me, they spark with desire, joy, and contentment. They reflect my own. Reflect things I’m still too terrified to admit lie between us.
But none of that matters.
Does it?
I narrow my gaze at Nyxia. “Why is it so important that I marry a royal?”
She rolls her eyes. “We’ve been over this several times, Franco.”
“Then what’s the harm in once more?”
“Fine,” she says with a flippant wave of her hand. “We both know you need to gain the respect of the humans and the fae.”
“Because the humans see me as a careless dandy and the fae see me as weak compared to you.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way.”
“But it’s the truth.”
She huffs. “If you insist. Regardless, if you are to challenge me to the throne, you must maintain a strong enough standing that you aren’t challenged yourself. We both know the humans respect royal marriages and the ability to produce heirs while the fae respect strength and formidable alliances.”
