“You don’t even know what I look like,” I whisper.
“Why does it matter what you look like? Your face could be hideous by traditional standards, and it wouldn’t diminish your beauty, for I’ve seen the tapestry of your emotions. I’ve felt what you’ve felt, I’ve witnessed the kind of person you are. I’ve heard you hum and seen depths of your energetic signature that might as well have been your soul. I know you’re kind yet brutally honest. You’re intelligent without being arrogant. You look out for others even though you’ve clearly been hurt yourself. You’ve felt ostracized and shamed for your dangerous magic, and yet you haven’t become a monster from it. You haven’t let it change who you really are, a being of wild feral beauty and strong human determination. Of empathy and rage. Even though I never saw your unmasked face, I sawyou, Em. And I see you now. I love you. No matter how badly I want you to stay with every beat of my heart, I won’t make you. I won’t ask you to. But please know that you were loved by me.” He holds my gaze a few moments longer, then releases my shoulders and takes a step back. “That’s all I wanted to say.”
His words send a storm wind through my heart. My tongue feels heavy in my mouth. I could stay silent. I could let him walk away.
Or I could tell him the truth.
“I’m afraid,” I say.
“Of what?”
I take a step closer to diminish the distance he placed between us. “That when you know who I really am, you’ll take back every word you said.”
“I won’t.”
“Then…” My heart pounds so hard, I feel it might burst as I reach for the ribbon tying the glamoured shoes to my feet. For the second time tonight, I step out of the shoes in his presence.
This time, he’s looking.
This time, I don’t ask him to turn around.
I stand as tall as I dare, despite the fear that has me wanting to hide my face, my hair. “This is who I am, Franco.”
He stares at me with an unreadable expression, saying nothing.
I avert my gaze, keeping my eyes anchored on his cravat. “For the last three years, ever since my father died, I’ve been living as a servant to my stepfamily because of a bargain my stepmother coerced me into. One day, my stepfamily had some scheme to meet the prince outside Madame Flora’s shop, although I didn’t learn about it until after. They didn’t want the prince to meet them while they had their hideous maid in tow, so they sent me to the alley to keep out of the way. I obeyed.”
I dare to look up, to assess Franco’s reaction. It’s clear when realization dawns in his eyes. His expression falls. “You.You. Of course it was you.”
My stomach drops. This is where it ends. This is where he realizes he hadn’t meant a word he said.
His lips flicker between a smile and a frown. “Oh, Em, I’m so sorry. There’s no excuse for how I spoke to you that day. What could I ever do to earn your forgiveness?” His tone is full of regret, but is it regret over the things he said? Or that he confessed feelings he’ll have to take back?
“You already have earned it, Franco. I don’t blame you anymore. I hated you after our encounter, but now that I’ve gotten to know you, I understand why you push people away like that. Why you hate meeting strangers. Why you despise being hounded after by admirers who know nothing about who you really are.”
His throat bobs. “And?”
“And what?”
“How do you feel about me now?”
A torrent of fear blows through me, sealing my lips.
But no. I am no longer a prisoner. I will allow myself to be free. To speak freely. No matter how much it could end up hurting.
My voice comes out with a quaver. “I love you.”
He releases a sigh.
I close my eyes, unable to look at him, to assess what that sigh means. “And you? Now that you know my true self—”
His hands come to my cheeks, and I open my eyes to find his smiling face before mine. “Nothing has changed. I meant every word I said.”
“But don’t you see? It doesn’t matter. I’m not a princess and I won’t be your mistress.”
He brushes his thumb along my cheek. “How can I make myself any clearer? You have my whole heart. If that means I can’t be king, then so be it. If I must sacrifice who I truly am to maintain a stranglehold on the throne, then this is no longer a throne worth fighting for.”
“But the queen—”
