Page 34 of Thorns of Deceit: The Beast Within

Skylar turned to them, keeping her voice calm and steady. It was the voice of Duke Anathemark, used to command armies and quell uprisings. “You will leave now. Fix your appearances, and speak of this to no one. Am I understood?”

The noblewomen nodded frantically, scrambling to their feet. Their movements were jerky, uncoordinated in their haste to escape. They cast fearful glances at Arye as they hurried past, a stream of apologies and thanks spilling from their lips. The door closed behind them with a soft click, leaving Skylar and Arye alone once more.

The monster they feared saved them. How ironic.

Silence fell, broken only by the distant sounds of the ongoing celebration and the ragged edge of Arye’s breathing. Skylar suddenly became acutely aware of her hand still pressed against his chest. She could feel the warmth of his skin through the fabric of his shirt, the steady thud of his heartbeat a counterpoint to her own racing pulse.

When she looked up, she found Arye’s eyes fixed on her, dark and intense. The fury from moments before had faded, replaced by something that made her breath catch in her throat and her skin tingle with awareness.

15

Skylar blinked, her gaze slowly lowering to her hand, suddenly noticing how close they stood, how she touched him. With a sharp inhale, she pulled back abruptly, stumbling back a step. Her fingers tingled, yearning for more.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, unable to look at him. “I shouldn’t have?—”

“Don’t,” Arye whispered.

Skylar swallowed hard, forcing herself to look up. The intensity in Arye’s storm-gray eyes made her breath catch, her heart thundering against her ribs. She steeled herself, desperately trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach, the traitorous warmth spreading through her body.

The way he looked at her… No. This wasn’t the time for her foolish feelings.

“Arye,” she began, carefully controlling her tone as she clenched her fists. “What you just did… it was too much. Those women didn’t deserve such harsh treatment.”

“They did.”

Confusion washed over her. “Why would you think so?”

“They insulted you,” he said, as if that explained everything. As if it were reason enough to end someone’s life.

As if… it wasn’t the first time.

A chill ran down Skylar’s spine as the King’s words from weeks ago echoed in her mind. The executed soldiers. The pieces began to fall into place, forming a picture she wasn’t sure she wanted to see. How long had she been blind to this?

“Have you,” she said slowly, almost afraid to ask. She couldn’t keep the tremor from her voice. “Have you ever done something like that before? Hurt someone for my sake?”

His silence was deafening.

“Have you killed innocent people before?”

“They weren’t innocent.” Arye’s eyes met hers, unflinching. In their depths, she saw a darkness that mirrored her own. “None of them.”

Skylar’s stomach lurched, a mix of horror and a traitorous thrill warring within her. It shook her to her core that Arye would go to such lengths to protect her honor, no matter how wrong it was.

“Tell me,” she pressed, her voice barely above a whisper. Her fingers twitched, instinctively seeking the familiar weight of her sword hilt. “What have you done all these years? When did it start?”

Arye stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. His scent enveloped her, seduced her, making her head spin. “Do you really want to know, Sky?” His eyes bore into hers, voice dangerously soft. “Are you prepared for the truth?”

It was clear as day. He had killed for her. Maybe he had done even worse. A shudder ran through her body—fear, disgust, and something else. Something that made her realize she wasn’t the honorable Duke she liked to portray.

She relished the idea of Arye seeking revenge for her, that she meant so much to him that it was his first instinct. That hehad a dark side, similar to her own. That he understood what she always wanted to do deep inside whenever she heard people whisper about her.

But at the same time, shame burned in her chest. She couldn’t embrace this part of herself. It was wrong. So very wrong. She should have been better than this, rising above the darkness that clung to her family name.

Anger flared, hot and sudden. Not just at him, a Crown Prince whose duty was to protect his people and instead gave in to his vengeance, but at herself. At the realization that she wasn’t a good person. That she was nothing but a liar, not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.

She had to stop this, to save at least Arye’s soul from getting tainted by the thorns of her very existence. It was her duty, both as the Duke and as his friend, to be the voice of reason, to pull him back from the edge of this darkness… right?

With a snarl, she shoved him away, her hands connecting with his chest. “I don’t need you to fight my battles,” she spat, her tone cold and sharp as ice. “This stops here and now.”

---