Page 172 of Enchanted Kingdom
He stood up also and tried to approach me. “Jorah, please.”
I took a step back. “Do not touch me. Do not come near me.”
He put his hands in the air. “Fine, but I will not let you go either! Once you are gone you cannot come back, Jorah. So you might be done right now when you are mad at me, but maybe when you have cooled off, you’ll change your mind. I cannot let you go. I won’t.”
I shook my head. He was just going to continue to cage me here, wasn’t he?
“Jorah,” he said gently. “I love you. I know I’ve hurt you. I’m sorry. Please.”
I closed my eyes as another round of tears threatened to drown me. “This?” I gasped. “This isnotlove. You do not love me.” I shook my head. “You will make a great king. The games of court you have mastered. But this is not love. You do not do this to someone you love. I never would have done this to you.”
He moved to come closer again, but in one smooth motion, Owen moved between us. “Don’t,” he snapped.
“I won’t let her end this,” Keir said as he tried to look at me from around him.
“Haven’t you done enough?” Owen said cruelly. “Are you really going to force her to stay when she doesn’t want to?”
Keir rubbed a hand down his face.
“I am done,” I told Keir again. And then I headed for my room.
I sat on my bed and felt nothing. I was numb. Keir had been kissing Aiyana the entire time? He’dsleptwith Aiyana the night we met. And kissed how many others? Did I even want to know? His court games were far more complex than I had ever wanted to know.
“Stay away from her,” I heard Owen snap. “You go near her, and I do not care if you are our future king, you will find yourself on your ass.”
As they continued to argue, I saw my future flash before my eyes. Keir never letting me go. My being forced to attend ball after ball. My being forced down an aisle. A marriage that was strained at best. And I saw myself standing in a portrait above the fireplace, giving only a half a smile in warning to the next queen to beware.
And I wanted so much more for myself than that.
No one owned me but me.
Moving quickly, I rummaged in my wardrobe. Silvia had put a bag in there at one point. I knew I had seen it once. It was a gray leather bag.
Still rushing as fast as I possibly could, I found my coat and threw it on. Then I grabbed two dresses and jammed them into the bag. I used the lavatory and then grabbed the healing ointment. For what reason? I wasn’t sure. Just in case?
All I knew was that I was running.
I would miss the castle. I would miss Renna. And Molly.
I tasted a salty tear as it ran over my lips. I would never get to say goodbye.
Rafe. Krew. Owen. Nara. Maurice. Even Gwen.
I would miss them all, but I could not accept this fate. I would not accept this life. So I would run. In my absence, Keir would either turn me in to his father or he would lie and say he let me go.
If he fancied himself in love, I was hoping for the latter.
Bag packed, I took some heaving breaths.
Now I just needed to get away from Owen and Keir, Owen being the tricky one. If he had any part in my escape, the king could punish him. And I was not going to be the reason he was sent back into the mountain. So I needed him to disappear.
But what could make Owen disappear?
Then it hit me.
Me.
I could.
