Page 38 of Broken Hearted
“I can’t believe I almost married her.”
My heart ached for him. He was still processing Elisana’s betrayal. Reaching out, I placed my hand over his, and he looked up at me.
“Take it as a compliment. You’re so powerful and handsome that a witch wanted to enchant you to love her forever.”
A lopsided grin graced his face, and my stomach bottomed out.
“You think I’m handsome?”
I burst into nervous laughter and pulled my hand back.
“No, please, Isolde, tell me more about that,” Adrien pressed, and I just laughed harder, blushing red as a sunset.
“Stop. You know you’re good-looking. All of you Ethereum lords are.”
His face darkened a little, and I suspected he was thinking of me kissing Zane.
I swallowed hard and put the last piece of sandwich into my mouth, chewing.
“Well, I’m exhausted,” I told him. “Thank you for the dinner.”
I stood, and he followed suit.
“Let me show you to the guest quarters,” he said.
I waved him off. “I know where they are. I’ve stayed here before.”
His cheeks pinked. “Those werenotthe guest quarters. Thoseare for servants. I’m sorry I didn’t stand up to Elisana. I … couldn’t at the time.”
“It’s okay,” I told him.
“It is not,” he said, his face darkening for a moment.
It wasn’t just that his face changed, but that the shadows in the room seemed to shift and press in closer.
I drew in a quick breath of air in surprise, and it snapped Adrien out of it. He drew in a slow lungful of air and the shadows retreated, returning to their proper place.
“My apologies,” he said, running a hand through his hair, drawing my attention to his long, sun-kissed hair. “I lost myself for a moment. I’m just so angry with Elisana.”
I told him it was okay again, because it truly was. What Elisana had done to him was beyond deplorable. She’d taken away his free will. I didn’t expect him to recover overnight.
He gave me a pinched smile and then led me to a lavish two-room suite with a claw-foot tub bathroom and sitting area. It was plush with light-blue and sand-colored linens that reminded me of the sea, and a thousand miles from the chamber I’d stayed in before.
He lingered at the door. “Goodnight, Isolde.”
“Goodnight, Adrien,” I said, and for a wild second I considered kissing him, just to see if it was like kissing Zane, but I lost my nerve and shut the door.
Besides. Who said he’d want to kiss me back?
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, we were up bright and early and took a carriage to the wharf where Adrien’s ship was moored.
It was a short ride down the coast from the castle, but as soon as we arrived I could tell it was the true heart of Soleum. The wharf was teeming with life. Fae rushed back and forth as they shuttled supplies to outgoing ships and brought in crates of goods from ones recently returned. There was a bustling market set up along the docks in front of where the smaller boats were docked. The larger ships were anchored out in the harbor. The way that it was set up was that we had to walk through the market to get to the docks where the boats were tied up, but I didn’t mind. It was beautiful and lively. It reminded me of the market in Winter Court right before the solstice.
Adrien got out of the carriage in front of me and then held his hand out to help me down. Rather than releasing me when I reached the ground, he tucked my hand into the crook of his arm and led me toward the market. I told myself that it meant nothing, but couldn’t ignore the thrill that went through me.
When we reached the market stalls, merchants were sellingeverything from flowers to homemade cakes, to seafood fresh off the boats bobbing in the harbor. Sellers called out to us as we passed.
