His name slips from my lips in a whisper. “Koen…”
His head lifts, startled. Our eyes meet across the glow-lit cave, and I feel the world narrow to only this moment.
“What are you doing here?” I breathe, voice trembling with disbelief.
Chapter 35
?----Koen?----?
The ball is miserable.
The air reeks of perfume and politics, heavy with the sound of laughter that feels too fake. I linger near the edge of the hall, doing my best to look present without being present. My stomach twists at the thought of dancing, of pretending I belong in this ballroom of silk and jewels.
Lioran, of course, refuses to leave me be. He claps me on the back, grinning like the insufferable bastard he is. “Cheer up, Koen. You’re acting like we’re at a funeral. This is a celebration, remember?”
I bite back the sharp reply that rises in my throat.
He tilts his head, a knowing glint in his eyes. “Or is it nerves? Worried about seeing Ren again?”
My jaw tightens. I’m about to snap at him when the herald’s voice cuts through the hall.
“Her Royal Highness, Princess Serenya of Syltheriel.”
Both Lioran and I turn toward the grand staircase, and my breathing stills.
She’s here.
Serenya isactuallyhere. After her absence the past few weeks, I wasn’t sure if she would come.
I almost wonder if this is another dream. Those visions that haunt my nights, so vivid I wake half-believing she’s actually beside me. But no dream has ever been this blinding.
The black gown clings to her like night spun into silk. Her white hair is half-pulled back in a crown of braids, the black strands woveninto the braid tonight, and the rest spilling down her shoulders in soft waves. She seems to glow, as though the starlight itself bends to her will.
Lioran whistles low beside me. “Well, if that isn’t a sight…” He says something else about her dress, about how she looks, but the words barely reach me. A flicker of heat twists in my chest possessively at his tone, but I don’t answer. I don’t dare take my eyes off her, not for a breath.
Her eyes meet mine as she descends the stairs slowly, graceful as ever.
I take a step forward without thinking, as if some invisible tether has drawn me toward her. My pulse hammers, every part of me desperate to reach her, to speak, to just be close enough to breathe the same air.
But Lioran is there first, sliding into her path with a smile. I hadn’t even noticed him slip away. A flicker of disappointment crosses her face before she schools her features, turning to him instead. Watching her do it—watching her give her attention, her hand, her smile to another man—sparks something hot and irrational inside me.
He leads her onto the dance floor.
I shouldn’t watch. But I can’t take my eyes off her.
Her hand rests on his shoulder, his on her waist, their steps in time with the music. She laughs at something he says, soft and light, and my jaw clenches so hard it aches.
Over his shoulder, her eyes find mine again.
For a heartbeat, the world stops. There’s something in her gaze…something that squeezes my chest until I can’t breathe. Longing?No. It can’t be.She doesn’t want me. She’s made that clear.
The song ends, and I move, ready to claim the next dance before anyone else can. Before I can reach her, Asbel steps forward, bowing and offering his hand. Serenya accepts, and just like that, she’s gone again.
Then again. And again.
I watch as she dances with a red-haired man—her uncle, I guess. Alira looks just like him.
Serenya laughs at something he says, that soft sound that wraps around me. I can't look away. I’m drawn to her, and I can’t help but wonder if she knows how many people are staring at her. It’s not just because she’s the princess—though, sure, that’s part of it—but because when she’s in the room, everything else fades. She’s the center of everything.
