Page 8 of Broken Hearted
I prickled at the authoritative tone in her note. I was a princess of Faerie: who was she to order me to stay in my room? But on the other hand, I had no desire to run into her and be forced to endure her sour presence any more than necessary. So I spent the day in the tiny room, pacing the floors until my feet hurt, my mind swirling with thoughts of Zane and Adrien and the curse.
No one had come out and said it, but it was clear the assumption was that Zane was my mate. I could claim I didn’t believe in mates as much as I wanted, but what if it were true? What did that mean? Was I going to be expected to marry him? Because if that was what he thought, he was going to be in for a surprise. I was happy for Dawn and Aribella. They seemed content with their new lives, but I wasn’t going to just shack up with the first Ethereum lord who paid a little extra attention to me because we were supposed “mates”. Especially not after seeing what my own mother and father went through.
Mate or not, my mind was made up. I was only here to helpend the curse, then I was going to do everything to get home to my parents and sisters. My life was in the Winter Court, not this foreign land with one of its dark lords.
A knock at the door ripped me from my thoughts.
“Isolde, Zane is here,” Elisana’s annoying voice called from the other side of the door.
I took a deep breath and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. I was wearing the same baggy dress with ripped sash from yesterday because Elisana hadn’t brought me anything else, but at least I’d had a bath this morning in the bathroom shared with the maids.
When I stepped out into the foyer, Elisana and Adrien were talking to a handsome man that stood a good three or four inches over Adrien, who was already tall himself. He had brownish auburn hair that was shaved on the sides and longer on top. When his gaze met mine, I noticed there was something different about his eyes. They were dark blue with a splash of brown in one of them. Unusual, yet interesting.
Stepping forward, Zane broke out into a grin. “Isolde. It’s so lovely to officially meet you.” He bowed his head a little, which was very sweet considering he was on the same level as I was royalty wise, if not one notch above since he was acting lord where in the Winter Court my mother was still queen.
“Hello, Zane.” I gave him a sheepish smile.
Even though I’d sworn off love I had half expected sparks when I met Zane, but so far there was nothing. He was undoubtedly handsome and seemingly kind, but I didn’t feel any fireworks, as my mother called them.
Good. I didn’t want them.
“Well, you better get going if you want to make good time.” Elisana opened the front door wide, and Zane frowned. “Oh. I thought we might have dinner together or—”
“Oh, we’d love to. Another time though, we’re planning the wedding, remember?” Elisana reminded Zane. “So much to do. And I’m sure you’re eager to get Isolde back to your kingdom.”
Zane glanced at his brother Adrien, who stood still as a statue as Elisana clung to his arm and nodded. “Right. The wedding. I’m excited for that. We won’t bother you then,” Zane said.
Adrien frowned. “You’re not a bother. If my brother wants to stay for dinner before his journey, he stays for dinner.” He yanked his arm out of Elisana’s grip, and Zane and I shared an awkward look.
“You know. I think heading out is probably best,” I added, giving Zane a wide-eyed look. I didn’t want to stay in this house one more minute than I had to.
Zane seemed to catch my meaning. “Right. We should go. Dinner next time, brother. Perhaps when we return for the wedding.”
We?I didn’t think so. I had no desire to ever come back to this castle, let alone watch Adrien and Elisana marry. But I didn’t bother to correct Zane. It wasn’t worth it.
Reaching out, Zane pulled Adrien in for a hug, and all the while Elisana just fixed me with a glare.
When they broke apart, Zane held the door for me. I passed Adrien and curtsied to him. “It was nice meeting you. I wish you well with your wedding and everything,” I finished lamely.
His face fell for a second, like he just realized he’d probably never see me again. “It was nice meeting you too, Isolde.”
I tried to look away then, but suddenly, there was something tangible in the air, something I couldn’t explain. It made it hard to breathe as I was held captive by his gaze. I glanced at his full lips, not able to stop myself from wondering what they might be like to kiss, when Elisana stepped right in front of me and broke our connection.
“Bye,” she said flatly.
It was like someone had doused me in cold water. I turned and fled out of the castle as fast as my feet could carry me. Zane jogged to catch up. There was a carriage up ahead with half a dozen guards on horseback around it.
“She’s horrible,” Zane said behind me, and I couldn’t help but pop a grin.
“The worst. And you almost made us have dinner with her,” I scolded him.
His smile matched my own. “My mistake. It will never happen again.”
He opened the carriage door for me and took the bag off my shoulder. “This is light. Have you no more clothes?” He eyed my baggy dress.
I shook my head. “I’m from the Winter Court, and everything I wore was too warm for this land. I didn’t pack extra clothes because it was assumed that I wouldn’t be staying here long,” I said.
He nodded. “You get the heart and get out.”
