Page 10 of Broken Star

Something in my chest splinters open, breaking free before I can stop it.

“You would know a thing or two about forgetting,” I shoot back at him, the words dripping with the pain of every cruel thing he said to me after he erased his so-called love for me.

Lysandra ignores me, remaining focused on Riven.

It’s humiliating. As if I’ve walked into a court where I’ve unknowingly been assigned the role of jester.

“Oh, I like you,” the queen tells Riven, as if he’s a rare piece of art she’s decided to acquire. “Now tell me, Prince Riven Draevor—what did you do to earn such heartfelt loathing?”

Riven doesn’t miss a beat. “I saved her life,” he says. “Multiple times. However, she took issue with my methods—particularly the most recent one. As you can see from, well…this.”

He motions to me, as if I’m the problem. As if my rage, my grief, and my agony is something unreasonable.

As if it’s not something hecaused.

“You manipulated me,” I say, and my magic surges, wind rattling the vines that coil around the marble columns. “You lied to me. You pretended you cared?—”

“I cared about keeping you alive,” he snaps, frost crawling from his fingertips up to his elbows. “And I succeeded. Which is how we’re here right now.Alive.”

Emptiness shoots through my chest as he unleashes the final word.

Alive.

As if he doesn’t care that hismethodsto keep me alive shattered my heart. Which shouldn’t be surprising, since he didn’t care about my heart in the first place.

Lysandra hums, tilting her head as she studies me. “And yet, for all your survival, you both seem terribly upset about it,” she says. “Why does this hatred for the prince burn so brightly, child? If he’s as awful as you claim, why do you waste such passion on him? Suchfire?”

I scoff, but it comes out sharp and broken, like laughter carved from glass. “This isnotpassion,” I say. “It’s just what happens when you’re forced to be in the same room as someone so insufferable.”

Riven studies me, his eyes lingering on every curve of my body in a way that makes my heart race. “And yet, you always find yourself so worked up in my presence,” he says, sounding more entertained than anything else.

I round on him, my hand moving to the hilt of my dagger. “Don’t tempt me,Prince Riven Draevor,”I seethe, a second away from stabbing him.

“I didn’t realize you enjoyed my title so much,” he says lightly. “You never used it while we were?—”

“Stop,” I snap, although from the way his sentence hangs in the air, we all know what he was about to say.

My cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“As entertaining as your lover’s quarrel is,” Lysandra breaks in, although her smile suggests she’s far from done with the subject, “perhaps we should discuss why you’re really here.”

Riven shifts his attention away from me, and just like that, he’s back to business.

“Your Majesty, recent events have made it clear that we face a threat greater than either of our courts can handle alone.” His voice is pure ice—controlled and measured—whatever emotions he let slip through a minute ago gone. “And now that I’m aware of Sapphire’s true heritage, I’ve been struck with an idea that will greatly strengthen what we journeyed here to request.”

“Proceed,” the queen says, and I keep my hand on my dagger, disliking the look in Riven’s eyes even more than I normally do.

“I’d like to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

His words crash into me with the force of a hurricane.

“What?!” The sheer intensity of my rage sends a burst of wind slamming through the throne room, rattling the chandeliers overhead.

Riven, intolerably composed, merely raises a brow. “You heard me.”

“You—” I whirl to fully face him, my pulse hammering so fast it’s making me dizzy. “Are you out of your mind?”

Lysandra’s bubbling laugh echoes through the room, yanking me out of my shock.

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