Page 108 of Somber Prince

“As far as I know, he was.”

Melanie pivoted to me. “You don’t know for sure?”

“I stayed in my room this morning.”

“Well.” She nodded with a knowing look. “His fucking frenzy is over, I’ve heard. He didn’t need you anymore.”

“Melanie!” Elaine’s cheeks flushed bright pink, and she squeezed my hand in support.

“That’s fine.” I brushed off her concerns for my feelings. “It’s not like what she said is a lie.”

Elaine glared at Melanie through her glasses. “Maybe. But there is no need to be mean.”

Melanie had the decency to keep quiet this time, and I turned away, staring at the cloth that shielded us from the desert.

I couldn’t see anything through the thin, dark material. Not the desert, not the hill of Teneris. And I tried not to think about the Crown Prince sleeping in his bed. I tried very hard not to think about what would happen when he found me gone.

Maybe Sigid would bring my breakfast and would let the prince know that I wasn’t in my golden bedroom. Or maybe Rha would intercept Sigid by the staircase, as he’d done before, to serve me breakfast himself. Then he’d see I was no longer there.

Would he be angry?

Or worse—sad? Heartbroken.

And not just because I left, but also because of the way I did it—sneaking out behind his back without even saying goodbye.

It had to be done that way. I couldn’t raise suspicions and jeopardize the others’ escape. But my heart ached, nevertheless. I couldn’t break down in front of the others, holding back tears with everything I had. But I already knew the pain of leaving Rha would never go away completely. No matter where I’d end up, I’d always miss his deep, soothing voice and the comfort of his arms. I’d miss him for as long as I lived.

“You all have to promise me one thing,” Lucia broke the silence. “We all go through the portal together. At least the four of us, if not all eighteen.”

“How are we going to do that?” Elaine asked. “By holding hands?”

“Whatever it takes. Holding hands or hugging each other if necessary. We need to stay together. And if we land back where we came from, I’m crashing on one of your couches until I’m back on my feet, okay? I’m not sleeping in my fucking car again.”

Elaine gave her a faint smile. “No one knows where we’ll land. We may end up so far in the past, you’ll get a chance to marry a duke and live in a castle filled with hundreds of your own couches.”

“Yeah, right. With my luck?” Lucia laughed, then said in a more serious voice, lifting a finger for emphasis, “But if any of you bitches do marry a duke or a prince or whatever, don’t you get snotty and forget about the rest of us. Deal? We’ll return to that world together, and we’ll stay together.”

“Of course,” Melanie agreed.

“Deal.” Elaine nodded.

The three of them then looked at me.

I slid a hand under the fabric draped over my head and shoulders and clutched a strand of my necklace. The cool, smooth surface of the stones felt familiar and comforting in my fingers.

“Yes,” I said. “We’ll stay together.”

* * *

Other than a couple of short bathroom breaks, we made no stops, moving ahead steadily. At noon, Melanie shared some snacks and water she’d brought with her.

I wasn’t hungry, but the heat was getting to all of us. The fabric over the bamboo frame blocked most of the sunlight, but it appeared to trap the heat inside.

When I moved a corner of it aside, however, hoping to get some air, a blast of hot wind tore through our small shelter.

“Keep it down!” Melanie shouted.

I yanked the fabric back in place, but the wind sandblasted the fabric walls from the outside, shaking the thin contraption.

---