Page 61 of Shadows of the Crown

The thing is, they never do. And I never cared enough to look deeper.

But now I have something to care about.

My shoulders drop the moment she appears on the street ahead—thank the fucking Angel. The lights surrounding the castle wall highlight her hair and face, both splotched in deep red. There’s likely much more coating her clothes, though it’s impossible to see with the black fabric.

My chest squeezes impossibly tight. Seeing her tears earlier…

She’s several feet away when her eyes look up, quickly examining my body before shifting to something past me.

I know my suspicions are correct when she pauses momentarily before shutting down everything except the raw hatred seeping from her. I groan when she marches right by me, carefully jogging to catch up.

“Ariella, wait…” She does. I step around her stiff form, forcing my hands to remain still when all they crave to do is hold her. She looks so…empty. Vacant eyes glare at me, while her skin lacks its natural glow.

She’s hurting.

“Are you okay?” I scoff—stupid fucking question. “Of course you’re not…I just mean, how can I help you get through this?” She rears back, lips parting and closing twice before her eyes search mine.

“You’re serious? You wish to know how I am after I attempted to kill you?” A sad smile pulls at my lips.

“If you were truly wanting to kill me, why were you not shocked that I was waiting for you?”

She blinks. “What?”

I laugh, the movement bizarre given our current circumstances. I make a show of looking around the courtyard before speaking, “It’s just us two here…there’s no need to hide.” Her tired eyes narrow as she crosses her arms, covering a small book she holds. “Elowen informed me that your blade missed every organ and vital piece of internal flesh. That you’d merely scraped inside enough that I coughed blood.” She shifts, pursing her lips as she avoids meeting my gaze. “Angel. She said the chances of that happening incidentally are nearly zero…”

“Okay, and? What the fuck do you want from me, Caspian? It doesn’t matter what I did—I was not lying when I said your entire family will pay.”

“I know.” She huffs, rubbing a hand over her face. A haunted glimmer passes through her eyes when dried blood flakes into her hands, but she quickly stifles it. “I want to help you.”

She chuckles cruelly, stalking past me once more. “I’m serious—I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I wish to figure it out just as much as you do.”

I swallow thickly when she spins to look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Her eyes flit to my abdomen where spots of blood appear on my cream shirt. “You misunderstand me, prince…I don’t fucking care about figuring out whatever it is your father is doing.” She’s so close—her blazing eyes glaring up at me—that the heat of her breath fogs the space between us. “I’m going to kill him.”

I search her eyes for a deeper meaning, or evidence of a lie, but there is neither. This beautiful, deadly woman is threatening to murder my father—the king of Eldoria.

The confession should anger me. It should provide my addled heart with enough evidence that she must be stopped. She’s openly threatening my family…

And yet…

My attention catches on the book peeking from under her arm. I stiffen so quickly that I feel my stitches strain. I am certainly the most foolish prince to ever live.

Lord Erendor Mistaire. Written carefully across the leather is the name that has created an unstable wedge between my fatherand me for years. Just because he is king does not permit him to give orders above the law. My head tilts to the cloudy sky, the murkiness a mirror to every nerve alighting under my skin.

Above the law…says the prince who has fallen for the assassin.

The daughter of the man my father executed just outside the gates behind me. How did I not piece it together before?

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I nod weakly, dropping my chin as I attempt to breathe through the uncertainty warring through me.

“I will not help you kill my father, and I will interfere if I catch you. I intend to learn what he’s hiding, not take his life. I know what he’s done, but he’s still my father, Ariella…and as much as it goes against everything I’ve been raised to be, it’s not my place to deny you a chance at revenge.” She bursts out laughing, throwing her arms out dramatically.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I just told you that I’m going to kill your father—the king, Caspian—and you still wish to care for me?” She’s right…it’s crazy for me to stay.

“No,” I state darkly, and her head whips to face me again. “I don’twishto care about you. I have begged the Angel to remove your presence from my mind after eliminating you from the competition was no longer an option. Fuck, Ariella, we should hate each other! We come from opposing backgrounds—I should want your head for everything that you’ve done…especially now that you’ve threatened my entire familyaftershoving your fuckingblade into me.” I’m nearly shouting, my heart beating up my throat.

I don’t think as my hand reaches for her face, wrapping to cup the back of her head and tug her to me. She doesn’t resist. I rub away flaking blood as I search her eyes. “I don’t want to feel this way about you. I shouldn’t—I can’t. But I do…and maybe my feelings are far too intense to be normal, but I don’t fucking care.” Her forehead creases before I graze my lips over her trembling ones. “Did you think I was lying when I confessed that I wish to bathe ineverydepraved part of you?”

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