Page 61 of The Scarlet Star

“Kill her now!”

Ryn shook the dark noises from her head, the chaos from her ears.

They burst from the stairwell into the palace hallway, and Xerxes slammed the door shut. He leaned back against it,pressing a hand over his heart as he caught his breath. “Don’t irritate the voices, Ryn,” he warned. “Don’t do that to me.”

Ryn took in his rising and falling chest, his glazed eyes. “You must be exhausted hearing that all the time. I bet you can’t even sleep.”

Xerxes ground out a despicable laugh. “You have no idea.” He pulled himself off the door and turned, gazing down at her with drooping eyelids. “Sleep is one of many things I want.”

Ryn raised a brow. “What else do you want? Aren’t you the King? Can’t you have anything?”

Xerxes took in a deep breath. He studied her for a moment, then he let it out slowly.

He turned and started walking down the hall. “Well, for many years, I wanted to laugh,” he admitted. “And then a maiden appeared who started making me laugh all the time.”

“Wait.” Ryn tilted her head as she scurried to follow. “Are you talking about me?”

He spun, and she almost walked into him. “Of course I’m talking about you,” he stated. “And while I’m talking about what I want, I want these Heartstealer trials to be over, and I want to never have to think about spending an entire evening dancing with maidens I can’t stand to be around again.”

The statement sounded like Ryn was at fault for something, though she couldn’t imagine why.

“And I want everyone to stop trying to force me to take another wife,” he added, his voice rising. “And I want my kingdom back! And I want somewherequietI can go in this cursed palace where I won’t run into peopleall the time. And I want…” Xerxes realized he was shouting. His chest fell as his wild blue stare settled back on Ryn. Her knees weakened when his gaze dropped to her mouth. But he tore his eyes back up to hers just as quickly. “Divinities, I don’t know what I want anymore,” he rasped.

He stared at her. She stared back.

Finally, Ryn looked at the floor and folded her arms. “I know of a quiet place where no one in the palace goes,” she said.

When Xerxes didn’t reply, she took his hand. He remained silent as she led him down the halls, creeping along on her tiptoes and avoiding nearby guards. After a few turns, she ducked into a side passage.

Minutes later, they stood in the narrow arch of the Abandoned Temple.

“It’s wet,” Xerxes remarked, dropping her hand. “That’s why I don’t come here.”

Ryn stepped inside, letting the water trickle over her Folke boots. “Yes. It’s also whyno one elsecomes here,” she said.

Xerxes’s mouth twisted as he eyed the river on the floor, and Ryn chuckled.

“Are you scared of a little water, King?” she asked.

His jaw slid to the side. “You do know I can get you in trouble for referring to me as ‘King’, right? The proper address is ‘Your Majest—'”

Ryn kicked water at him. It splattered up his Folke jacket, over his neck, and across his mouth, cutting off his words. His eyes widened. “Did you just…”

Ryn flung a hand through the air. “You complain too much.”

His blue gaze narrowed, and he was still frowning. So, Ryn kicked water at him again.

Xerxes ducked this time, springing backward through the arch with his arm raised like a shield. He lowered it slowly, dark lashes blinking, a bead of water trailing down his neck.

Ryn wound up to do it a third time, but she waited, giving him a chance to try and talk her out of it.

His jaw clenched. “If youdare—”

Water sprayed over his body, soaking his hair, and sprinkling his shoulders. Ryn’s laughter soared into the temple heightswith the birds, and she slapped a hand over her eyes. She didn’t even know she had a habit of taking things too far until this moment.

She dropped her hand. “Fine, stay over there and be grumpy—”

Xerxes grabbed her waist, sloshing through ankle-deep water as he hooked his boot behind hers and kicked out her foot. Her legs buckled, and she dropped. Xerxes must have meant to throw her into the water, but he changed his mind at the last second and held on. His eyes rounded as he sailed down with her, using one hand to brace against the floor and the other to catch her, breaking her fall.

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