Page 112 of Heiress of Fire

She remained quiet and nodded. Part of her wanted to fight and argue. How dare he say such things to her? But she realized it was true. The person she truly wanted was so close, yet so far away. A future with him was now forbidden.

She looked ahead and made eye contact with Ron. He shook his head, a sad look in his eyes then he continued walking beside Snow.

Davina felt the need to put a distance between herself and her fiancé. “I just remembered that I have to get some errands done before heading home, can we go to dinner some other time?”

Isaiah turned to Davina, he seemed to be examining her. He nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. I feel a bit tired myself. I’m going to head home and rest.”

Isaiah landed a soft kiss on her forehead. Davina forced herself not to cringe under his embrace, she smiled at him and then called, “Bye, everyone!”

Snow and Ron waved silently as the others created a chaos of goodbyes and ‘see you later’s’. Davina chuckled before quickening her steps off the courtyard and toward the backsides of the castle, near the garden. Passing swiftly by the Soldiers and Apprentices that strolled nearby.

The stoned floor turned into lively grass as she hurried away from the castle’s front doors.

Davina was welcomed by the vibrant green of the bushes, filled with daisies, roses, dahlias, and lavender. The tall maple trees granted her a good amount of shade from the hot sun as she leaned against the castle walls.

Her vision began to blur from the hot tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Davina dropped her bag as she covered her lips before they betrayed her by letting out a sob.

It was like all of her walls had come crashing down as if it were glass falling on stone.

Davina’s hands trembled against her temple, her face wet from all the salt that spilled from her eyes.

“You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay,” she repeated to herself. The trembling in her fingers didn’t stop even as she tried to force herself to believe her own lies.

“Davina?”

She froze.

THIRTY-TWO

“Ron, what are you doing here?” Davina sniffed, quickly wiping her cheeks of any tears.

“I came to see if you were okay. You seemed upset when you said goodbye to us.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he approached her.

Davina grabbed her bag by its handle. They hadn’t had a real conversation for almost a year. She wanted to know more about him and how he was able to overcome all of his emotional storms. She wished to delight in his embrace, missing the alleviation that his warmth brought her. She felt okay. She felt confident. He was a refuge that she had to avoid.

As much as she wanted to stay, she had to leave. For Isaiah’s sake.

“I’m fine, I just had a stressful day.” Davina chuckled. “Thank you for checking up on me.”

He nodded. Davina could see that he didn’t know what to say either.

“I should go,” she said.

His lips curved down. “Of course.”

Davina nodded as she sent him a small smile and headed for the garden exit, wishing she could drop her bag and run into his arms. As she brushed past him, she looked into his eyes.

He was no longer giving her his usual hard stare. All the anger, revulsion, and sadness was gone from his expression. Something about him had changed, that much she understood.

Her legs obeyed the command that her mind had given, to run away from him as fast as possible when her heart was screaming for her to run into his arms instead.

Not wanting to go home and bring her emotional problems to Leilani, she headed back into Castellum and loitered around the corridors for just a few more hours.

After she realized the guard watch of the Apprentices had ended, leaving the posts clear, Davina decided it was time to head home. She grabbed tight onto her duffle bag and jogged off the courtyard’s stoned staircase to Basalt Bridge. The night was high and mighty with stars twinkling above. The moon shined its light across the islands with a majestic pearl glow.

As her heels clicked on the stoned arch Bridge, Davina couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t alone. A shiver ran down her spine as she stopped at the highest point of the Bridge and scanned the ocean’s ripples below the stone railing.

She rubbed her arms as she quickened her pace toward the edge of the Bridge, but fog began to grow quickly around her. Davina scrunched up a brow. Her eyes turned to the waters beyond the Bridge which were covered in white mist as well.

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