Page 78 of When Day Breaks

She looks over to the pair I'd been staring at, seeing what I'm seeing and she simply shakes her head gently at me. A warning not to interfere. Does she know something I don’t know?

I can't hide my irritation.Are they a thing?Or maybe she's doing it to see if she has intel. Whatever the circumstance, I don't like the dynamic but I heed my wife's wishes and step away letting whatever is transpiring between them continue.

I decide to head over to the bar and grab a refill on my Bloody David to quell my anger.

An hour later I find myself up on the second floor and in the hallway of focus rooms. I'm not here for my own perusal. I followed my wife in about ten minutes ago. She slowly walked from room to room, surveying each individual show for a few beats, then traveling to the next room.

She fascinates me. Always has. I've been drawn to her curiosity and I’ve obsessed over her ability to see the purpose of everything presented to her, almost like she's addicted to life and now in death, she'll have an eternity of it.

I clear my throat before making a calm but stern demand. "The room." My voice carries to everyone in the hallway, not a question from anyone as they turn to look at me before silently exiting the area.

My wife, however, remains unbothered as she watches the two in the throne room; a room that I know she fancies most.

"She must feel like a queen in that chair," she quips as I approach her. The view of the couple coming into sight.

Their show consists of nearly the same thing I performed for Lucynda the first time she ever stepped foot in this hallway.

"She'll never know the true feeling," I say to her as I bow my head before her.

We both look into the room before us, not saying much else as the minutes tick by. This could be our life. The moments of pleasure and the little segments of normalcy. The respect that is natural to us, because of who we are. A lifetime over and over again of anything we could ever ask for in this world . . . anything. I will give it to her.

This will all be over and I will still hold the reign as king. She will forever reside as my queen in or out of Royalty. But this, this is all ours.

Silence caresses the air around us as we continue watching the way the couple before us bonds intimately with one another. It's dirty, but passionate.

But before I can slip my hand up my wife's dress—my fingers trailing the soft skin of her thigh—something steals both of our attention.

"Your Highnesses." Kacian comes plowing through the thick red curtain. "We have movement."

Lucynda looks at me with wide eyes before responding to her guard.

"Who?" she asks him and he makes eye contact with me for a moment before revealing the truth.

"She left the party, she snuck past the guard and-"

"Kacian," I shout, holding my wife tightly at my side. "Who?"

He swallows before answering.

"It's Birdania."

27

war

Rivian

The castle is eerily quiet when no one else is around. The rain that started just moments ago pitter-patters against the bricks and melts into the warm barks of the trees, while creating an ominous ambiance for us to enjoy as we follow Birdania into the castle.

Surely, she is hiding something, that is clear now. But friend or foe? That is the question.

She slips away into the great hall, her hair flowing a trail behind her as she makes haste of her steps. Her matching yellow dress signals us like an incontestable flare against the darkened rooms she travels in.

Troian stops us from getting too close, worried she might already know that we're on her trail.

"What if she's a distraction?" she suggests, turning to face me, her twin, my wife, and Kacian all huddled around.

She's right. This could all be a ploy to lead us away from who we're really after.

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