“Will–” I start to argue, our young guards pretending not to hear the two of us as they look sheepishly ahead.
“We need to talk."
I scoff,“now?”
“Now, Rorin.”
He didn't waste any time racing down the hallway until we made it out into the courtyard, the moonlight bouncing off the dark stone walls. The expression on his face is a mixture of rage and pain as he paces back and forth, waiting for me to catch up.
"Will—"
"You can't do this." He snaps, the steam of his anger rolling from his nostrils.
"What are you…"
He whirls in his spot, blue eyes flashing, and the muscle in his jaw ticking. "The princess is not an object for you to do whatever you please. Haven't we put her through enough?!"
"I think you're speaking about something you don't understand."
"NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND RORIN!" He shouts, his face turning beet red. "I have watched you slide down this slippery slope formonths.Turning into a man I don't know or trust!" My mouth parts to counter, but he shakes his head, warning me not to dare. "It was a mistake to ever come here. To join… to join forces with that miserable, hedonistic woman."
My hands flex in and out as I try to control my reaction to his words. "Watch it, Will."
He laughs cruelly, the sound so dark I have a hard time believing it came from him. "Since your alliance began withher—"his finger jabs towards the windows above us, towards where our hallway is, "you have become reckless. You have become cruel. Rorin, I hardly recognize you anymore. I stood by you when you made this deal. I stood by you when I watched your feelings towards her shift, despite my aversion to it. I did so again when you went on your tirade to find her, when you poisonedbuildingsof innocent people, tortured towns full of citizens, simply because they didn't have the answer you hoped for. It's sick— you make me sick."
"Well, thank you for informing me of your feelings, Will, but I do recall that I never forced you to stay if my choices were so abhorrent for you to witness."
His jaw goes slack as he looks at me like I'm nothing more than a stranger. "Pruella does not deserve to be treated like this. She came to you seekinghelp, and you would throw her back into the slimy grip of a man you hate, simply because yourbitchof a wife feels threatened by her?!"
I crack my neck side to side, letting his slip of tongue go, and holding tightly onto my magic. "I see you've been eavesdropping again," I mutter, and his brows shoot to his forehead.
"You cannot do this. I will notletyou."
"It's not your decision. I made a promise to her Will—"
He throws his arms out to his sides, taking a large step towards me. "THEN MAKE A NEW PROMISE!"
"You don't understand. There are necessary sacrifices to be made."
"Necessary sacrific… ha." He sighs, rubbing his jaw roughly. "So help me, Rorin, if you go through with this, I'm done. That's it."
His threat weighs heavily in the air, the two of us standing there silently as the tension between us builds. "Will—"
"I'm serious. It's her or me. You can either side with the queen, or you can be the man I know you are."
"I made her a promise."
My friend scoffs, standing toe to toe with me, "twenty years, Ror. Twenty bloody years." The hurt and betrayal are plain on his face as he shoves past me, checking my shoulder with his. "I hope she's everything you think she is, Rorin. For all our sakes."
I sulked back to the bedroom, defeat weighing as heavily in my chest as Will's words do in my mind.
The young guards don't meet my eyes when I dismiss them from their posts and step into the room. Steam flows out from the bathroom, and I hear Eveera call for me, "princeling?"
A smirk twitches at my lips as I start to undo the ties of my shirt, pulling it over my head. "Were you expecting someone else?"
She peeks her head out of the doors, toweling off her wet curls. "No. But my men don't have the best of manners. Or– they didn’t…" My mouth turns down in a frown, and she steps out of the bathroom, noticeably… unclothed. I bite down on my lip and watch her lithe form slink around the bed.By the gods… damn woman."What did Mousy want?"
The question douses every ounce of heat I'd begun to feel at seeing her, and I finish peeling off my clothes, my irritation rising. "To give me an ultimatum."
