Page 77 of Façade

But a new emotion that had been gradually growing in my heart to eclipse all sense, nourished by my every interaction with Evie. This had a power of its own, weaving together images of a far different future—one not of duty but of joy and light, spent not at the Estorian princess’s side but at Evie’s.

Why did she have to be the fake princess?

I managed to tear myself away from these unproductive thoughts attempting to seduce me away from my duty to find the priest studying me carefully. “It’s strange you voice your reasons to annul your marriage so adamantly, yet you don’t seem happy.”

I gritted my teeth. How frustrating that he’d noticed the very thing I was doing my best not to examine within myself; circumstances made such self-reflection dangerous. “Why wouldn’t I wish to annul my marriage, especially when my wife married me under false pretenses?” The irony of such a question wasn’t lost on me.

“For the simple reason that you love her.”

My heart jolted, its frantic effort to tell me something. No, I couldn’t admit it, not even to myself. It would ruin everything. I forced myself to scoff. “You think I havefeelingsfor mywife?Are you mad?”

His lips twitched. “It’s more unusualnotto love your spouse, so if anyone is mad here…”

“I’m a royal,” I interrupted. “In my world, love is rarely an aspect of marriage. Thus I can assure you that our marriage has never been based on love, merely politics.”

“Which is truly unfortunate. For all their wealth and position, nobility live a life absent the greatest treasure of all.”

Love was a luxury those with title and power often couldn’t afford, especially my brother and me. Romantic love would do nothing to save our kingdom; it’d be selfish to put my needs above the love I had for my people. And yet…I wanted it, more now than I ever had, especially considering it no longer remained a vague concept but had a face.

Evie…

I swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat just from thinking about her. “There are different types of love. It’d be selfish to claim romantic love for myself at the sacrifice of the love I have for the people I serve.”

He frowned. “It appears loveismotivating your decision, just a different type…and your wife is an obstacle to a much greater need.”

Though I hadn’t disclosed my plan, my position as the prince of a cursed kingdom had likely given him enough context to guess it. He might have even learned Evie’s true identity as a decoy and better understood my reasons for separating myself from her; such news had likely reached the monastery before traveling beyond Estoria’s borders to our kingdom.

The priest studied me a moment more before heaving a weary sigh. “Though I don’t entirely agree with your motives, I understand them. If only each choice was black and white rather than riddled with shades of grey. I do not envy your position.”

His insights reminded me of the conversation I’d had with Evie several days ago while wading in the stream. If only there was a clearer distinction between right and wrong in the situation in which I currently found myself. I hadn’t realized until now just how much I’d been hoping the priest could offer a solution I couldn’t see, a loophole or alternate path I might have overlooked,anythingto remain married to Evie even when duty to my position dictated otherwise. The disappointment was far more acute than I could have ever imagined.

The priest tugged me from my depressed feelings with a gentle hand on my arm. “I will respect whatever decision you make, but I urge you to take the time to carefully consider your choice and what you truly desire.”

Time was rapidly dwindling away, but I had at least a few days of recovery before I’d be well enough for the annulment ceremony. I prayed it’d be enough to find a way out of my current predicament, even as I feared no length of time would ever be enough.

The priest’s words and the unwanted emotions they’d created lingered long after he’d departed, leaving me thoroughly lost. Before, most of the disappearing villages had only been numbers on a page, ones I could analyze logically…but everything had changed. It was one thing to hear about the blight’s devastating effects and quite another to experience them for myself. I could still feel the cold sensation trickling over my skin, the sharp panic at seeing myself disappear, the terror at feeling my sense of self slipping away from me, and my desperation as I’d tried to cling to it like struggling to capture fog with my hands.

My experience with the disappearing curse had only strengthened my resolve to do all I could to fight against it. Standing idly by as my people endured such a frightening thing as countless villages, lives, and supplies vanished…our kingdom could not survive it. Yet I could think of no way to fight magic than with magic itself, a resource rare in the surrounding kingdoms save for Estoria, even as I still hoped to find another. Could there possibly be a source other than Estoria?

I glanced towards my nightstand, where Evie had carefully arranged several rocks from my saddlebag, as if she thought that they’d brighten my sentence trapped in bed…and they had, though not in the way she likely suspected, considering her gesture caused me to think more about her than even my precious collection.

I picked up the jasper we’d found within the stream and I lost myself in the memory of that moment, one of many where the masks we wore had been stripped away to reveal our true selves. I turned the rock over in my hands, admiring the way the sunlight glistened across its hazel-patterned surface. The color was similar to Evie’s eyes while the glistening sunshine reminded me of the way they lit up in my presence, even after I’d been vulnerable enough to share my dull interest.

Nothing had been the same ever since. Stripping away our façade had caused the defenses around my heart to crumble, walls I hadn’t realized I’d erected to protect myself in my marriage of convenience to a decoy…a marriage I desperately needed to annul for the sake of my kingdom.

With a sigh, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, as if the gesture could block out the images of Evie filling my mind…but instead, it only invited more to grace my mind’s stage in an endless performance. My yearnings grew, an emotion I couldn’t identify.

I set the jasper down and picked up another stone. I’d always found rocks interesting, each possessing its own story. At first I collected them for the thrill of the hunt or to feel connected to the locations where I found them. The older I grew, the more I’d come to appreciate them on a more scientific level, their unique uses, and eventually for their beauty—many were shiny or lustrous, some had perfect facets and crystal structures, others were uniquely shaped or particularly colorful. Every specimen possessed different features that made them visually appealing, a unique contribution to my vast collection.

And others contained surprises, for sometimes a rock’s true value remained hidden…such as this one. On the outside it was grey and unassuming, while the inside…I carefully cracked open the rock along its seam to reveal glistening purple stones. A geode.

I’d always been fascinated by this rock that held such a precious secret and often wondered who’d been the first to discover such worth lay hidden inside. It served as a constant reminder that one could always discover something extraordinary, even in the most seemingly ordinary places…just like the fascinating woman who was my wife.

Once more my heart twinged, aching for the woman slipping away from me. The main barrier between our being together was magic. I’d initially believed it could only come from one source, but perhaps that wasn’t entirely true. My studies of mineralogy contained countless examples of people discovering both new minerals and unique uses of existing ones. Could the same also apply to magic?

This monastery itself served as a testament that magic existed outside Estoria, as did the disappearing curse, an example of magic gone rogue. Perhaps there was a hidden source that would save my kingdom. Yet even if it existed, like all precious minerals it’d require time to mine, time my kingdom no longer had…but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try.

And I would, for I knew what I wanted:Evie. While my yearnings didn’t mean I’d be able to have her, finally admitting my desires, even to myself, created a powerful determination to find a way—any otherway—to be with her. This resolve seeped into my heart, causing it to awaken from the strange slumber it’d been under for far too long.

---