Page 73 of Dueling the Suitors

Even as he stood, gathered his belongings, and walked through their interconnected door to his room, she remained speechless. He glanced back at her over his shoulder beforeclosing the door behind him, and still, she couldn’t muster a single thought.

All she could do was stare at the door that separated them.

15

The Walls Between

When Astoria woke up the next morning, her eyes went immediately to the interconnecting door. Heat rushed to her cheeks as memories of the previous night surfaced. She sealed them off in her mind. She didn’t want to remember. If possible, she wanted to tuck it away in a corner of her mind.

From then on, Astoria withdrew into herself and avoided Cyrus. But try as she might, she couldn’t help the way her heart raced or her stomach flipped pleasantly each time she saw him. Then, the memories from the night of the coronation would flood back.

She wasn’t sure what the most embarrassing moment of her life was anymore. Him besting her in front of her kingdom or the intimate moment they had that night.

Cyrus tried to reach out to her several times, but Astoria kept pulling away. Every time he asked her to have lunch with him, she had an excuse. The only time he managed to keep herat his side was during the court meetings, but right after they adjourned, she managed to slip away from him.

Even on Shabbat, when he had nothing to do but rest, she excused herself every time he invited her to join him. But she did spend some of her time with Rowan. He turned out to be a pleasant person to be around, and eventually, they became good friends.

Usually, men couldn’t befriend her, but something about Rowan reminded her of her brothers, and he won her over in no time. Who knows, perhaps it was her desperation for a friend—other than Skylar and one who wasn’t her husband—that led her to find one in Rowanthissoon.

If Cyrus noticed, he said nothing and made no attempt to stop them. But she didn’t miss the silent glares he sent Rowan over dinner whenever Rowan cracked dumb jokes that made her laugh. Worse still, her heart betrayed her, fluttering treacherously at her husband’s unspoken jealousy.

Then, she would feel the need to remind herself that her husband had humiliated her in front of her entire kingdom with his street performer disguise to win her hand. The Unyielding Princess of Daliston bested in her own duel by a mere street performer. Astoria held onto that. It made it easy for her to harbor hatred towards him despite his change of attitude towards her—even though the humiliation of it had worn off with the entire continent learning about her and Cyrus’ dramatic union.

Days passed by.

Today was a cloudy day. Astoria heard the rumble of thunder in the air as she relaxed in the pool in the washroom.

A knock sounded at the door.

She turned and frowned. Emily had gone to select a gown for her, and she never knocked before coming in.

Then she realized—the knocking came from theotherdoor.

Her heart raced. She cast a pleading glance at the door to her room, hoping Emily would come and answer him instead of her.

The knock sounded again. “Astoria, are you in there?”

Would it be wise to stay silent? What if he entered, thinking she wasn’t inside?

“Yes.” Her voice squeaked. She cleared her throat and called back, “Yes, what is it?”

“I forgot my signet in there, on the dresser.”

“Emily is not here.”

“That’s alright. If you are decent, I can come in and take it myself.”

Her heart galloped like a wild horse. “No!”

“No?” She imagined him raising an eyebrow. “I need my signet, Astoria. Would you rather come to the door and give it to me?”

“I am in the pool. I cannot.”

“Then I am coming in.”

Astoria looked around in panic; she didn’t want him to see her in this state. She didn’t know how to cast an illusion, nor could she lock the door to stop him because he would unlock it. So she did the one thing that would hide her from him.

“Fine, then! Come in!” she called out and took a deep breath, and ducked underwater when the knob turned. She counted the seconds, reconsidering her action when she realized she couldn’t hold her breath much longer. She didn’t know how to use her powers to breathe underwater either. She should’ve simply thrown up an ice wall around the pool instead.

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