Page 100 of Labyrinthine
I am not a leaf to be carried. I’m done being a pawn in the game men play for power. It doesn’t matter what Mallen says. Or what Darian claims. It matters what I do—and being broken on my own terms is better than living at the mercy of someone else’s. I straighten my spine, and the breath I draw tastes different. Like something final. The sunset before a storm.
My breath catches. “He said things.”
A pause.
Mallen waits.
“He said you’re working with my father. That you’ve been lying to me. That you want the crown, and I’m the easiest way to get it. That if I choose you and we are married, you’ll either continue serving him—or replace him.”
Silence.
He doesn’t deny it.
And gods help me, I don’t know what that means.
My voice turns hollow. “Tell me he’s lying.”
Still, he doesn’t move. Just watches me. Like he’s searching my face for mercy he hasn’t earned. Or some sign I might absolve him of what hehasn’tsaid.
When he finally speaks, it’s low. Rough. “What do you feel when he looks at you?”
The question hits like a slap. Not because of the words. But because I don’t know the answer.
He sees it.
And his expression folds, slow and silent, like a wound breaking open.
“I see,” he says, and turns away.
“Don’t,” I breathe. “Don’t do that. Don’t leave me alone with this.”
He stops. But he doesn’t turn fully.
“I told you once,” he says quietly, “that I would never trap you. That I would never make you stay. That I would never ask you to choose me if your heart was somewhere else.”
“It’s not,” I say. “Not yet.”
A bitter smile flickers across his face. “That’s not the reassurance you think it is.”
I step toward him. My leg shakes under me.
“Darian is charming,” I say. “He chooses words carefully. He looks at me like I’m the only thing in the world he wants—and I know that’s not love. That’s strategy.”
Mallen turns his head a little further. Enough that I can see the muscle twitching in his jaw.
“He’s too perfect,” I say. “And he’s playing a game I haven’t figured out yet.”
Now he turns. Now he faces me. Now his eyes burn.
“So why did you ride with him?”
Because I wanted to? Because I was lonely? Because I don’t know what’s real anymore? Because some part of me wanted to believe him. Just for a moment.
He steps closer.
His voice is low. “I’ve never lied to you, Azhara.”
“But you’ve kept secrets.”
