Page 144 of Enchanted Kingdom
I squinted at him. “Owennn.”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll quit. But I still don’t like him.”
I sat back in my seat. “Yes. Me neither. Obviously. Or I’d be married right now.”
Krew laughed while watching us. It caused Owen to stop glaring at me as we both looked at him.
“This is funny?” I asked him.
Krew nodded. “Yes. I’m entirely entertained. Mostly because most people don’t talk to Owen like that. Or me neither, for that matter.”
“Defiantly feisty,” Owen reminded him.
“I prefer feistily defiant,” I said with my nose in the air. And for the first time in what felt like days, I realized I was smiling.
* * *
The dingof the bell on the bakery door went straight to my heart. We might have only two hours, but for these two hours, I was home.
Home.
Mother was grinning as she turned, the bakery already closed for our arrival, and that was when I lost it. I couldn’t help it, nor did I even feel it coming on.
She was here. And she was all I had. Two weeks and all that had happened felt like an eternity. So while she looked at Owen quizzically, I sunk to the floor. Every brick I had put up in getting myself back together all came tumbling down in a heap. “Mother,” I choked out as the tears consumed me.
“What happened?” she whispered as she dropped onto the floor with me and began rocking me back and forth like she had when I was a child. “What happened, my darling?”
So I told her everything. Well, everything except what the princes were up to with the king. I didn’t care if I wasn’t supposed to tell her these things about the Assemblages. If Keir wanted to kick me out of his Assemblage for this, that was fine with me. I just needed to get it all out in a place I felt safe. So I told her about life at the castle, about the friends I was making, about my furry friend in the forest, and about Keir and Gwen.
An hour later we were still on the floor. “I don’t know what to do,” I whispered. “I thought I might be able to love him. But he keeps trying todestroyme.”
She wiped away my tears. “What do youwantto do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to come home and bring the king’s attention to our bakery, but I’m not ready to forgive Keir either.” I took a deep breath and added at a whisper, “Is love supposed to hurt like this?”
Owen, who had been quiet this whole time, said from his perch at the window, “No. It’s not.”
My mother sent him a smile. “No, but the situation you are in is also not normal. You are each playing so many roles it’s enough to make me dizzy just trying to keep up.” She paused. “But love is not always easy and on occasion you do hurt the person you care about most. Not even because you intend to, just because we are all flawed and different, all inherently selfish beings. Do you believe him that he loves you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He might.”
“And do you love him back?”
It should have been awkward talking about this in front of Owen, but at this point, it was just normal. I shrugged again. “I can’t. I refuse to.”
She smiled at me. “You can’t will love away, my stubborn girl. But you can let it go in demanding better for yourself. There is nothing wrong with that. Prince or not.” She paused. “Seeing how bothered you are, it only shows that you do care about him. That you possibly already do love him. The question is if he deserves it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I sniffed loudly so she moved to get me another tissue. “The worst part is that now I care about the castle. The forest. The kitchen staff. Rinaldi. The wolf I’ve been trying to feed. Silvia.” My eyes flew to Owen’s green ones and back to Mother’s. “Owen. Renna. Molly. And both of the princes too.” I wiped my nose. “Even if Keir allows me to leave tomorrow, I’m not coming home to you the same daughter. Keir aside, there are a lot of people I care about in that castle.”
She placed her hand on my cheek. “No, honey, you won’t come home the same, but you are coming home wiser.”
I smiled and again wiped at my eyes. “Just tell me what to do. Do I give him another chance? I know he is in an impossible situation, but this is twice now he has made me feel this way. Twice too many.”
She shook her head. “I cannot tell you what to do. That is your choice. Do you deserve better? Yes. Has he been in an impossible situation? Also yes. Either way, I think you are brave. Either way, you are a strong and capable woman. Either way, I am proud to call you my daughter.” She paused, her eyes going glassy. “So whether you wish to fight through this for him or not, I will not think any less of you, my dear.”
I wiped at more tears.
She continued, “The good news is that there will not be a royal wedding tomorrow. You have time. Time to be angry. Time to cool off. And time to decide for yourself what you’d like.”
