His golden eyes softened—something I’d never seen before.
“Hatter didn’t choose the queen, girl.” His voice dropped, uncharacteristically gentle. “He chose you. Every cruel word. That kiss. All of it to keep you breathing.”
I clutched my chains tighter. “Chester, what are you saying?”
My mind raced back to the court. The kiss. The proposal. The way Darius had knelt before Alanna like she was everything he wanted. It had looked so real. Felt so real. But Chester was telling me... what? That it was all a lie?
“Curious thing, shadows.” His voice floated around me. “They hide so much. Hear so much. See what others wish to keep secret.”
He flashed in front of me—first his smile, then his golden eyes, then his body fully materialized.
“What would you give to save someone you love?” He tilted his head. “Your pride? Your heart? Your very self?” His grin widened. “Hatter faced a curious choice. A queen’s hand in marriage... or a witch lost forever in dreams she can never escape.”
His smile faded—something I’d never seen before.
“He chose. But not for himself. Never for himself.” Chester circled me slowly. “The question is, Alice... which nightmare do you think he feared more? Kissing a queen he despises? Or watching you scream inside your own mind for eternity?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Magic objects.” Chester’s voice curled around me like smoke. “Darkness. Nightmares with no waking. A mother burning over and over and over.” His golden eyes met mine. “The queen gave him no choices. So he made the only one he could.”
“The queen was going to curse me?”
“Forever.” Chester went still. No flickering. No disappearing. Just those golden eyes, heavy with sorrow. “So he took your place instead. Cursed forever. Bonded. Enslaved. Broken.”
The words sank into me like stones.
Darius hadn’t gone mad.
He’d sacrificed himselfforme.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Darius
After Ari dragged Alice out of the throne room, I slipped my hat back on. The brim shadowed my face—good. No one needed to see what was underneath. Noblemen and courtiers swarmed around me.
Congratulating me.
Congratulating me for destroying the woman I loved?
What the fuck was wrong with these people?
I forced a smile, accepted their hollow praise, and died a little more inside with every handshake.
Alanna laughed and giggled beside me like a schoolgirl, soaking in every moment of her triumph. Her laughter was like a harpy’s nails dragging down my spine.
I forced myself to kiss Alanna’s cheek. “Would you excuse me, love?”
The word tasted like poison on my tongue.
“Of course.” She ran her palm down my cheek, possessive and triumphant. “Hurry back, my betrothed.”
Betrothed. My stomach turned.
I wove between the congratulators—smiling faces, empty words, hands reaching out to shake mine. I nodded. Smiled. Played my part.
All while Alice's voice echoed in my skull.Darius, no! You love me, not her!She'd screamed it for the whole court to hear—laid her heart bare—and I'd crushed it anyway. My hands shook. I gripped my goblet tighter to hide it.
