“Do you think he won’t?”
“I don’t know what to think. I have no idea what is going on inside his head and I have no way of knowing unless I go to him in Oscuro, but that’s almost impossible right now.”
“Yes, I would rather you stayed on this side of the Veil, but what is stopping you from going to him?” her mother asked.
“Well, the main reason for staying put is because there is a large sum of reward money on my head for any Thorn who captures me alive and then there’s the fear of going to him and finding out he doesn’t want me the way I want him.” Adalia replied.
It took a few seconds for her mother to speak. “How did you get a bounty on your head?”
Adalia shrugged lightly. “The King of Oscuro didn’t take lightly his son setting me free and I presume it’s the price we both now have to pay.”
“Oh Ada, I am so sorry. What a tremendous burden for you to carry, and Matthias must be internally battling guilt and shame. Have you talked about it to one another?”
“We tried. It didn’t turn out so well, and he left. I don’t know what to do, mother,” Adalia whispered softly.
Reaching across the table, her mother squeezed her hand. “For starters, I need you to promise to be as safe as you can be. Your incident in Oscuro has left a scar on my heart and I don’t know what I would do if I lost you to True Death. I know you are trained for these situations, but please promise me you won’t hurry out and do something rash in the name of love.”
“I promise, mother,” Adalia murmured.
Adalia’s mother sniffed back some tears. “Now I know it fixes nothing right now, but shall we do some baking? As we cook, maybe the solution to your predicament will come to you. There isn’t a bone in my body that doesn’t think you already have the answer inside of you, my daughter.”
Sighing, Adalia rose from her chair. “I know what my heart wants, but sometimes I need to listen to my head and right now, they are both saying different things.”
Together, they cleared the table and headed inside. Thoughts of the blue-eyed prince circulated in Adalias’ mind and her heart ached.
Maybe if she passed by the tear in the Veil near his cabin, she might catch a glimpse of him or hear his beautiful voice. If she could just see or hear him for a moment and know that he was okay, then she felt her heart would be at ease.
“Are you sure about this?” Shiloh asked nervously.
“I just need to know that he’s alright.” Adalia replied as she got down from her horse.
They were on patrol together and had reached the end of the Veil where Matthias’s cabin was located. Adalia stood next to the tear and listened, but could hear nothing. No sad, melodic sounds drifted in the air. More than anything, she wished to hear something, a single strum of his veslo, anything that would let her know he was alive.
Sighing, Adalia stepped away and walked back towards Shiloh. “He made his choice, I guess. I just hope it was the right one for him.”
“Have you told your mother about him?” her white-haired friend asked.
Adalia pulled herself up into the saddle and clicked her horse on. “I have. She was very understanding.I mean, at first she was a little concerned about the whole bounty thing, but she trusts me and I know both her and father support me no matter what. I’m more concerned about the sad prince in the kingdom next door.”
Shiloh nodded. “I think he will be fine, Adalia. He’s a grown man. You have to trust that some of the goodness of Lucius touched his heart and that, if he is ready, if it’s meant to be, he will come and find you.”
The women walked in silence for a while, horse hooves scuffing the ground beneath them, the only sound in the peaceful forest.
“Would you accept him as a friend if he one day came back?” Adalia asked Shiloh quietly.
“I’d be friends with anyone who was that good looking.”
“LOH!” Adalia exclaimed.
Shiloh grinned. “Ada, if he’s who your heart beats for, then I will stand by you both.”
Adalia sighed. “Is it really that obvious?”
A giggle erupted from Shiloh, and her sweet laughter rang through the trees. “It’s definitely obvious—to me, anyway. I’ve known you too long. I see the way your eyes light up when he enters the room, the way your breath catches when he is near. You’ve never been like that with anyone before. Not even that cute Lightner soldier who asked you out all those months ago made you react the way you do when Matthias is close by.”
Adalia sighed. “Do you think Nikolas knows?”
“Anyone with eyeballs knows, Ada,” Shiloh answered as they plodded along.
