Page 95 of The Crown of the Dark Prince
She paused, glancing back with a raised brow.
“I’m sorry I hated you for so long. You’re actually… really great.”
Her smile widened, her laughter soft and warm. “Of course I am. Great people are often the most hateable.”
With that, she slipped out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. For the first time in what felt like forever, a small, tentative smile pulled at my lips as I waited for Clay to arrive.
Chapter Twenty Seven
When Clay finally came to me, after what felt like an eternity, the sun was already beginning to set. I'd spent most of the day attempting to read and dozing off when I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to the words on the pages in front of me. Even after those short bursts of rest, my body still ached from how long I'd been awake worrying.
When I heard his soft knock at the open door, I turned rapidly from where I’d been brushing out my hair to meet his gaze, a rush of anxious energy flowing through me.
His grey eyes trailed over me from where he leaned heavily against my doorframe. He’d thrown on the same clothes from earlier, though they were notably more rustled than before. And even though he looked just as tired as I felt, with dark circles under his eyes, he was undeniably handsome, body lean but with corded muscles visible from where his arms crossed over his broad chest.
“You look more relaxed,” I said, noting the way his shoulders sat a little lower than they had earlier when he’d stormed out of the house.
He pursed his lips and nodded before pointing towards the small set of chairs before the hearth. “May I?”
My pulse raced as I inclined my head towards them and stood to close the bedroom door as he took a seat. He didn’t look angry anymore, which was some small relief. Now he just looked tired - of the day, of the fight, of everything that still lingered between us.
“I’d offer you a drink, but I don’t actually have anything worth drinking here in the manor.”
A small breath of air escaped as he laughed through a stressed smile. “Now that might be the worst crime you’ve committed yet.”
I thought of Camilla in my living room. Then I thought of the times I’d taken lives, the day I’d gone to an illegal drug dealers party, the time I’d allowed Iris to take me to one of those sex houses. I had committed far worse crimes, and we both knew it.
Taking my time, I lowered myself slowly into the seat across from him, watching his every breath. Despite my conversation with Elaina, despite her insistence on Clay’s feelings for me, I suddenly felt… doubt.
It was an odd sensation. I’d never had to doubt the way Clay felt about me before. From the moment I’d overheard him telling Iris that I intrigued him to the moment I’d knocked on his door the day before and asked for his help, he’d always made his intentions, impossible as they may be, abundantly clear. I’d never had to worry that he didn’t find me beautiful or that he didn’t enjoy my company.
But that had been before I’d allowed so many secrets to linger between us, and now it seemed so clear that we weren’t standing on level ground anymore.
“What happens now?” I finally asked softly, unable to bear listening to the silence any longer.
He looked up at me from where he’d been staring at the embers in the hearth, his body here but his mind far away. “I’ll return to the palace in the morning. Tell Rankor and Kent to gather the men that are loyal to them.Iris should have some members of the Order that will join us as well. Then we’ll go to my father.”
“He’s not just going to surrender his kingdom, Clay.”
He folded his hands together, leaning forward on his knees. “I know that.”
Clay had been right when he’d pointed out earlier that he wasn’t ready to make this move yet. Gaining control of a kingdom wasn’t easy. It was a bloody, messy, war-filled process. Maybe if Clay had the time he needed to gather all his allies, to follow his plan the way he’d intended to, innocent lives could be spared.
And the only thing standing in his way of doing just that was… me.
“There is another option,” I whispered tentatively, my heart not wanting to give life to the plan that my mind knew was a reasonable enough course of action.
His eyes flashed to mine.
“I could go to Tenebris. Or Promissa, even. I’m the last Descendant of Hyrax, either kingdom would happily take me in and protect me and-”
“You want to leave Athenia?”
I stilled, heart falling through my stomach at the tone of his voice. We sat for a moment, simply looking at each other before I finally steadied my breathing enough to choke out, “No. I don’t.”
Athenia was my home.
He was here, of course, but Iris, Kent, and Rankor, too. They were my family and being sent away from them had been my biggest fear for so long.
