Violating.
He didn’t say it was an affair or a betrayal.
No, he stated it as if Fyn had attacked me.
They could do anything to him with that accusation.
He needed to go free. It would have to be without me.
“He did no such thing. Please, you have to release him. He would never hurt me.” My eyes burned as I blinked.
“Do you see how she’s pleading for him? How am I supposed to carry on with a bride who is in love with someone else?” Soren rose from his chair, his eyes wild, as he glared at me.
“I will do whatever you require. Please let him return to Nythrel.” I would trade my freedom for his.
“You don’t make it very believable that nothing happened between the two of you,” Kilan said.
“He will remain imprisoned here until you prove that you’re not carrying his child. Only then will he go free. And the fae king can handle him however he wishes.” The starlight flared the moment the king said he’d go free.
Soren stormed out of the room while I remained frozen.
“It is a shame you are so much like your mother, Ashlyn. I had hoped you only carried her beauty.” The king’s words struck me until I quaked.
“It would be best if you made your husband believe that you can commit to him. I fear Soren has little patience for you—as do I.” Kilan gestured to the door.
I didn’t look back at either of them as I fled the room. Soren was already beyond my reach. As he strode further down the hall, I darted after him.
“How could you do this?” I reached for his arm, but he pulled away from me.
“Me? I am not the one who went and—” He gritted his teeth as his voice flooded the corridor.
“He didn’t do anything to me. Please, you have to believe me.”
“I knew you didn’t want to marry me. And to be honest, I don’t want to marry you.”
Stunned didn’t even begin to describe how I felt.
I recalled everything he had said in his father’s study. “You truly wanted them to break the pact, didn’t you?”
He grabbed my wrist and yanked me further down the hall. “They can’t hear us like this.”
“Let me go.” I tugged myself free.
“Stop fighting me. And come with me. Now.” Hatred gleamed in his eyes.
“No. I don’t trust you.”
“You need to.” He stepped closer to me, lowering his voice. “If you love him like I think you do?—”
“You knew…”
“The two of you were never subtle about anything,” he said. “Yes, I knew. Everywhere you went, you were watched. Come with me. I will not ask it again.”
I followed him down the hall. When we reached the sitting room, he pulled the door back. “We won’t be disturbed here.”
Everything in me told me it was the worst idea to enter that room with him alone.
But what choice did I have anymore?
