Page 73 of Finding Closure

Hit me hard, and I dropped the burrito I’d been eating, the conversations all around me dying as they realized something was going on. I ignored all of it and focused on Neldor.

“Did you give me—” I breathed.

“Yes.” He cleared his throat as his face flushed. “Yes, I felt it.”

I sat back in my chair. “So this is what it feels like. It’s…”

He looked worried but then curious. “What? Bad?”

I shook my head but then tried to think of what I wanted to say. I scanned myself a few times and tried to settle with it. “Soothing. Not so lonely.” I nodded when his eyes flashed shock.

Then it was my turn to blush. How did that even work? He’d given me a piece of his soul and I was blushing somehow?

Gods help me, but I really did love the stupid fairy.

And we both knew it.

18

My graduation dress was fairly simple. It wasn’t anything meant to stand out or cause heads to turn. I had my hair up in a low flip so the cap would still be on but my hair wasn’t heavy on my neck.

I arrived when the graduates were supposed to… And my group wasn’t small. There was a battalion of Guardians on campus much to the shock of people attending.

“If one more idiot asks me why we’re overreacting when you normally show up with a few guards to most events, I swear my head will explode,” Shael grumbled under her breath. “The arena isopen. This is an enclosed auditorium with limited exits. Seriously, how do they not see the difference?”

“We’ve dealt with a lot of the students and their parents all of this time, but now it’s grandparents and siblings who get to play the innocent game,” I muttered. “We get through today and we don’t ever have to come back here. Just remember that.”

“And I get to drink tonight,” she grumbled, scrubbing her hand over her face before really looking at me. “You look stunning, Your Highness. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“Oh, Your Highness, Your Highness,” someone practically screamed over at me. She waved when I looked at her as if Icould miss the shifter trying to barrel over my security. “You look wonderful.”

“Thank you,” I accepted and went to move to anywhere else, but she wasn’t remotely done with me.

Of course not.

“You’ll have to drop by our celebration later,” she said as if it was a done deal and she was just confirming it.

“As the princess has repeatedly said, she is unable to attend any graduation celebrations but appreciates the invites,” Shael said with a fake pleasantness.

The woman waved her off. “Yes, of course, that’s for others, but our party is—”

“It’s for everyone,” I confirmed with amusement dancing in my eyes. “And most would expect me to already be busy, asking the leader of a people this late.”

She frowned. “What else could you have to do that’s so important?”

Anything. Anything was more important than dealing with this idiot.

But I couldn’t say that, so I went with the truth. “My coronation.”

“That’s not right after this,” she chuckled like I was being silly. “You have—”

“Yes, please explain our customs to us,” Shael chuckled. “There is a lot for the princess to handle. Now if you could find—”

“Oh, that’s too bad, but you’ll have to invite me to the coronation,” she said brightly… But firmly.

Shael and I shared a look. Was this bitch for real? She seriously just walked up here and demanded an invite to my coronation when I didn’t even know who the fuck she was?

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