He looked away at that. Honestly, he preferred not to think about his future. If he were lucky, he wouldn’t have to deal with it. Someaþaswerewould make sure he died long before he grew old.
At least that was his plan.
However, his sister was in no mood to give him any sort of quarter from those thoughts. “You can’t stop time from moving forward, nor can you defeat every demon who walks these kingdoms. All your life, you’ve been running from the ghost of your childhood, terrified of becoming as callous as our mother. But tell me honestly, X, what would have happened had our mother loved your father the way he loved her? Imagine for one moment, a marriage where two people live and die for eachother. Both of them hopelessly in love for the whole of their lives.”
How easy she made it sound. “Do you think it possible?”
“Masakage has told me that King Dash lives in utter happiness with his dragon queen. You’ve seen that yourself.”
She was right about that. The two of them were deliriously happy.
But they were still newly married. What they had might last forever and it could end tomorrow.
“You make it sound so simple, Dara. But her mother would never allow her a life with me. She’d sic her dogs on us for eternity.”
“When has being pursued ever scared the great Prince Xaydin?”
She had a point. That was his happy place.
“Besides,” she continued. “Nothing is ever simple. Nor is anything worth having, unless you have to strive for it. But don’t strive too long, Xaydin, or you may very well find yourself the loser in this. Have you given any thought as to how you’ll feel when you see the woman you love off with some other man?”
That was just plain mean. And those words created an image in his mind so disturbing that he could barely draw breath.
No, he’d never once thought of that.
“Gisela would never be with another!” he called out after Candara. His injuries protested his raised voice by throbbing instantly.
Smirking, his sister stuck her head through the door so that she looked like some sick trophy. “Keep telling yourself that, brother, and on the day of her wedding, I’ll make sure to find you and comfort you.”
In that moment, he hated his sister for what she was doing. The last thing he needed to hear was the truth.
How dare she!
Throwing his pillow at her head, he then turned to his side and did his best to push her words out of his mind.
Gisela would never betray him like that and choose another man. Her freedom was too precious to her.
What if she loves another?Some centaur who might catch her eye…
That thought hovered in his mind like a demon plague. It could happen. Some other man could woo her. One who would stay by her side and give her his children.
The thought tore through him.
Set her free.
Xaydin cursed. It was what he should do. Look now how distracted he was and they barely knew one another. Imagine twenty years from now...
I would still love her.
He knew that. No matter what happened, she would always hold his heart.
Damn me.
She was his life and his soul.
And there could never be a future for them.
19
