The Dean, who’d been quiet up until now, stood from his desk, his brow furrowed with worry. “This could cause a situation, Confiance,” he said, not even looking at me. “Tensions between the Twilight Realm and the mortal realm are already tense.”
“I agree,” she nodded. “I’ll need to inform the Elder Council of the situation. We have a direct line to King Erestolal and his advisors. It may be time for us to make a personal visit to the Twilight Realm.”
The moment the words left her mouth, my heart sank. Nobody on campus, save Karrick and the Dean, knew of my princely title. I felt my blood run cold as the secret was spilled, seeping into the minds of all present and unable to be put back.
Ash’s brow furrowed. “Did you say King Erestolal?” he asked, looking up at Confiance. Then he shifted his gaze to me. “Are you related to them?”
Confiance and the Dean exchanged surprised looks as they realized the truth. I’d never told Ash who I really was. I’d been lying to him for weeks, unable to tell him the truth of my heritage.
“Silver?” Ash asked again, his voice small. “What are they talking about?”
I felt my throat close up, every word I’d been holding back for weeks suddenly trapped behind my teeth. Ash’s blue eyes were wide, searching my face for answers I didn’t know how to give. The silver and gold threads might have faded from view, but Icould still feel them pulling at my chest, tightening with each second of silence.
“I...” I started, then stopped. How did you tell someone you loved that you’d been lying to them from the very beginning? “Ash, I can explain.”
“Then explain,” he said, and I heard the edge creeping into his voice. His shadows were starting to swirl more actively around his feet, responding to his rising emotions. “Are you related to the king?”
I looked down at my hands, unable to meet his gaze. “Yes.”
“Howrelated?”
I forced myself to look up, to face the hurt that was already blooming in his eyes. “He’s my father. I’m... I’m the prince of the Twilight Realm. The heir to the throne.”
The silence that followed was deafening. I watched Ash’s face cycle through confusion, shock, and then something that looked like betrayal. His hands gripped the arms of his chair even tighter, and I saw the silver cuffs on his wrists start to glow as his magic responded to his emotional state.
“You’re a prince,” he repeated slowly, like he was testing the words. “This entire time, you’ve been a prince, and you never told me?”
“I wanted to,” I said quickly, leaning forward in my chair. “Gods, Ash, I wanted to tell you so many times, but?—”
“But what?” His voice was rising now, anger mixing with the hurt. “You thought it wasn’t important? You thought I didn’t deserve to know that the person I fell in love with was royalty?” His face darkened. “Or were you just going to get your kicks and then leave?”
“It’s not like that,” I protested, my own emotions starting to spiral. “I came to Widdershins to be normal, to be just Silver, not Prince Silver Erestolal. I didn’t want people treating me differently because of my title.”
“So you lied to me instead?” Ash stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. His shadows were darkening the room now, responding to his distress. “Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? I told you everything, Silver. Everything. About my family, about the spell, about how ashamed I was of what I’d done. And you couldn’t even tell me this one thing?”
“Mr. Vale,” Professor Blackwood interjected gently, “perhaps we should all take a moment to?—”
“No,” Ash cut her off, his eyes never leaving mine. “I want to hear it from him. Why didn’t you tell me, Silver? Was it because you knew your father would never approve of you being with someone like me? Some human shadow witch from a cursed family? Or was it because you never really loved me to begin with? Am I just another one of your frat party flings?”
His words hit me like a physical blow. I felt as if my heart was going to stop. The hurt I saw on Ash’s face… it was all my fault. Every last fucking bit of it. And I had nobody to blame but myself.
“You’re not a fling,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “But my father… you’re right about him. He’ll never allow a shadow witch into the realm or one with such low standing. That’s why he already chose a wife for me?—”
My eyes went wide as the words slipped out and I knew I’d made a grave mistake.
“So, you were just going to leave me behind after graduation? Make up some lame excuse so you could go home and marry someone else?”
I looked up, a desperate plea in my eyes. “I don’t care about any of that! I love you, Ash! I love you more than anything else in this world!”
He stood there, his hands balled up at his sides. Tears ran down his face as the shadows filled the room, knocking thingsfrom the shelves, shattering windows, and tearing at the walls. The silver cuffs around his wrists began to glow red hot, then strangely blue before they suddenly evaporated into thin air.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have lied,” he said, his entire body shaking. “Go home, Silver,” he growled, his body consumed by shadows. “Enjoy your wife.”
There was a sudden explosion of shadows from Ash’s body. The magic knocked everyone off their feet, toppled my chair backward, and flipped the Dean’s desk as if it was made of feathers. When I finally managed to sit up once more, Ash was gone, nothing but a crater in the center of the room where he’d been standing. Outside I heard the deep thunderous cracking of the wards and a security breech siren begin to wail.
Ash was gone and with him, my heart.
Chapter 22
