Page 23 of Façade

He bowed and finally took his leave, leaving me alone to ponder the moment we’d just shared—one that, despite the snippets of tension, had been both amiable and even friendly.

I couldn’t help but reluctantly admit how much I’d enjoyed it. It almost made me desire to forge a friendship to serve as a glimmer of light after all I’d already sacrificed for duty. If not for the conversation I’d overheard between Ryland and Prince Lucian, I might have been tempted.

But despite him holding me while I cried, comforting me with warm milk, and sharing a rare moment of ease, in the end, the man was still my kingdom’s enemy, a role that for the sake of my kingdom he’d undoubtedly always retain.

CHAPTER9

RYLAND

My fingers curled around the vial tucked inside the pocket of my cloak as I made my way through the labyrinth of corridors, a habit I’d developed in the week following our marriage to assure me it was still there, waiting for me to summon the courage to finally use it.

I slowed outside my study door. The memory from the night before of finding my wife lingering suspiciously in this section of the palace returned. Following my escorting her back to her room, I’d spent hours perusing my study for any clues as to her reasons for snooping.

But other than the strangely alluring floral perfume that seemed to linger that I couldn’t help but also notice had surrounded Evelyn when I’d stood so close to comfort her, there’d been no indication she’d been in the room at all. She’d been careful to leave everything in its proper place, providing no hint as to what she could have possibly been looking for.

The lack of evidence only escalated my suspicions. I couldn’t even begin to guess what she was up to, though part of me feared she suspected my ill intentions towards her and her kingdom. I hastily dismissed those paranoid assumptions. She couldn’t truly be worried, else she wouldn’t have put herself in such a vulnerable position by marrying me.

What, then, could she possibly have been looking for?

The sound of footsteps tore my attention away from the study door. I turned to find Lucian approaching, his strides purposeful. My stomach knotted in anticipation of his urgent question before he even asked it. “Did you get it?”

I could only shake my head. He cursed.

“We discussed this, Ryland. The situation is too dire to delay any longer.”

I knew he was right, yet no matter how tempted I was to use the vial, somehow I could never bring myself to do it.

Unbidden, his admonition from that tense conversation the night before returned: it was imperative I make Evelyn trust me, and if that plan failed, then I would need to take her magic by force.

Regret cinched my chest even as the vial in my pocket seemed to burn, but my reservations were nothing to my urgency to do that very thing, whatever it took to stop the blight afflicting our land.

My eyes lowered to the missive clutched in Lucian’s white-knuckled grip, and the apprehension knotting my gut tightened, making me sick. “Is that—“

He nodded once, his expression grave. “Another village. Gone.”

I sucked in a harsh breath, horror rendering a response impossible. For a moment a solemn silence settled around us, punctuated only by my brother’s heavy sigh.

“This can’t go on much longer. We need her magic.”

“I know.” How well I did.

Lucian leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I don’t blame you for your reservations, but the time for hesitation is long past. Remember, I only agreed to disregard the protocol of waiting for Father for your hasty union to the Estorian princess because our situation is so dire, yet you’ve been married for a week only for us to havenothing. We need to access her magic as soon as possible.”

“Especially so we don’t risk losing such power to another kingdom should this union fall through.” Particularly to one as formidable as Thorndale. My conscience prickled, an unwanted reminder that my intentions towards Princess Evelyn were just as dishonorable as our enemy’s. I forced the thoughts away before they could dissuade me from my necessary course.

It’s different, I assured myself.Thorndale would only use such power for evil, and we need it to stop the curse in order to save our people. Surely our noble intentions excused the less-than-noble means to do whatever it took to fulfill them…right?

Yet despite my attempts to quiet my conscience’s urgent warnings, deep down I knew that regardless of the excuses I used in a vain attempt to reassure myself, in the end I was just as dishonorable as our enemy: I would use Evelyn for her magic. No one deserved such a fate, yet I walked towards it anyway, determination filling every step.

Once more, my fingers grazed the vial hidden within my cloak; the glass almost tingled against my touch, a reminder of the power that would steal any magical force it came into contact with. Lucian had followed me and noticed my fiddling with it.

“Use it if you must.”

It was as good as an order: if Evelyn wouldn’t give me what I needed, then I would need to take it. I sucked in a shaky but resolute breath before meeting my own gaze in the looking glass we passed adorning the wall.

You must do the duty required of you.

I gathered my resolve like a protective shield to block out all emotion, particularly the guilt fighting to dissuade my determination, before reluctantly seeking out my wife.

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