Page 54 of The Time Of Queens

Again, his answer first came with a sigh of frustration before he told me,

“I play no games with you, nor was there any fiancé to speak of.”

This time it was my turn to tense. For little did he know, but I had already played this deceitful game once before, and I let him win. But not again. My heart wouldn’t survive it.

“Then your lies told only add to your other sins, for I must say that your crimes against me mount by the minute, my Lord,” I said, making him scoff.

“And what, pray tell, crimes are those, for other than trying to spare you your feelings…”

“Spare me! Is that a joke?” I ranted, quickly back to being outraged and squirming to get free of his hold. Something he wouldn’t grant me, instead admitting in a regrettable tone,

“I am not…not free to be loved,”he told me, making me instantly still in his hold, at the same time sucking back a quick breath.

His reply took its toll on me in a way I didn’t want to allow. And thankfully he couldn’t see the pain on my face, or he would have questioned the depth of hurt his words inflicted. He wasn’t free to be loved by me, but the promise of this Chosen One he didn’t know, for her he would freely give her that right.

“Lest I recall, I did not declare my love for you, nor did I speak of any affections,” I snapped, making him scoff before whispering in my ear,

“You didn’t have to, for every look you gave me, told me all I needed to know.”

I huffed at his arrogant reply and lashed out once more.

“And what was that exactly?!”

“The exact same way in which I looked at you,”he replied softly, making me suck back a quick breath as he promptly took the wind from my sails, leaving me adrift in uncertain waters. Meaning I was left without words for fear of how my lies would fail me should I try to speak them. I found myself shaking my head, trying to tell him that he was wrong.

That I felt nothing.

Lies, lies, lies.

But in reality…I felt everything for this man.

“Do not try and deny it, you ran because I hurt you, something I would have not been able to achieve if you had felt nothing for me,” he argued, and I flinched in his hold because it was true.

The web of lies unravelled as quickly as it was spun, and in that one statement alone, he had stripped me bare of any way to argue against the feelings I obviously felt for him.

“Then this is all for naught, for anything I might have felt for you evaporated the moment you cast my feelings aside, calling them inappropriate,” I told him, forgoing all pretence and trying in vain to save my pride.

He flinched before admitting, “I was a fool.”

“That may be so, but nothing is more foolish than what you’re doing now by kidnapping me,” I retorted, still hoping to find some reasoning left in him so he would let me go.

“You are wrong, for preventing you from leaving me is anything but foolish,” he replied, setting sail to that argument and making me release a deep sigh with its departure.

“And what is your plan here exactly? To get me back to Witley Court and lock me in a room? Perhaps in one of the towers…? Is that it?” I asked. Knowing Draven, this was most likely an option he had thought about.

“In truth, I am hoping you will see sense by the time we return,” he admitted, making me scoff an outraged,

“Sense?!”

“Yes, sense! Sense enough to accept my apology!” he snapped back, now getting angry seeing as I wasn’t making this easy for him. But seriously, what did he expect? For me to fall to his feet and thank him for choosing me as second best? And what about the next ‘sighting’ of her…? Would he just cast me aside again, or at least wait until it panned out before doing so? How was he to be trusted?

But then again… how could I speak of trust, when I was the one lying more than anyone? Damn it, this was fucking with my head. I was getting lost in the reasons I was here… that was if Fate ever led me to the reasons why! I was getting sucked into this time and allowing my past fears to dictate my actions. Buteven now, with these rational thoughts trying to push their way to the forefront of my mind, it was still my heart that responded to him.

“Apology? You mean the one I am yet to hear? For I do not believe the word sorry has once come from your lips!” I snapped angrily, provoking his own frustrated response.

“I am sorry, alright? I am sorry I said any of those things to you. I am sorry that I left. I am sorry that you were made to feel any less than all that you are, and I am sorry that you were made to feel as if you meant nothing to me! I am sorry for it all… but most of all, I am sorry for the hurt I caused… however, if there is one thing I am not sorry for, it is what I do now,” he said, and this time when I gasped, it was from a breath I held captured. Because after he released a heavy, weighted sigh, he continued on, for he was not yet finished expressing his feelings for me.

“Because the moment I saw that you were gone, I could not bear it! I could not bear the thought of never seeing you again. The pain I felt was unbearable and what was worse, was knowing that I had foolishly brought it upon myself. I was the cause and there, too, I must be the remedy, and if that comes in the form of a kidnapping, then so be it!”

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