Page 45 of Enchanted Crown
I hoped Esta would come to my room when she was done. I had her present waiting. A necklace, bracelet, and ring combination with the color of the stones matching my Enchantment, the set of the jewelry black to match Esta’s crown.
Dex didn’t even let her knock when she arrived, just opened up my door for her.
“Hi,” I offered from where I sat at the foot of my bed where I had been unbuttoning my shirt. “Wasn’t sure if you’d be too tired or not to show up.”
“I don’t want to be here,” she began, looking rather flustered.
“I’m sorry?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
I handed her over the wrapped present, compliments of John, and patted the bed for her to sit and open it.
“I—” she let out a sigh as she sat. “What is this?”
“Your gift. We give gifts for Winter Solstice in Wylan.”
“Where did you get this gift?”
“Open and I will explain,” I urged her.
She did so, gasping as she saw the three pieces together.
“This is too much,” she said even as she clutched it tighter.
“On the contrary, it is not enough. How do you give someone a gift that accurately explains how you feel about them?” Words seemed to evade her, so I kept blubbering on. “I had them make it when I was in Wylan. The royal jewelers have been somewhat bored, Jorah is rather easy to please, so I commissioned this.”
She ran her hand over the blue stones gently. Incidentally the exact color of her dress.
“Es?”
She snapped the box closed and stood up abruptly. “Do you know that you’re a terribly difficult person to be mad at?”
“Do you not like it?” I asked.
“No. I love it. That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
She purposefully strode for the door, clearly bothered by something. When I’d left the ballroom with John and Emric she hadn’t been mad, she’d been speaking to Nana and her parents.
“Did I make some sort of mistake at the ball tonight?” I still did not understand all of Dra Skor’s ways. It would take me awhile.
“No.” She exhaled a breath that seemed to deflate her entire being. “The point is that I am trying to be angry at you and you are making it so damn difficult!”
I almost wanted to laugh, but I had learned from a young age that laughing at a mad woman was never a good idea. “Esta, come here.”
“No!” She stomped down with one of her heels. “No. I have to say this.”
“You are angry and frustrated, and I do not know why, but I want to figure it out with you. Comehere.”
Instead of coming toward me, she sat in the nearest chair. “It feels like we are trapped in some sort of barren land, one misted in cruelty and filled to the brim with nothing but monsters. You showed up here, and you showed me otherwise.”
“And this is why you are mad?” I asked softly, taking one slow step toward her.
“Yes. This is why I am mad. You showed me the light I’d been aching for my whole life. You call me your sun, but the truth is that I was the moon! I was idly spinning, lost to the dark until I found your warmth. And now I know I’d be damaged beyond repair without you.”
I didn’t move. Didn’t dare breathe. I thought I knew where Esta’s feelings were, but she was unleashing them in a torrent in which I would gladly stand before and take.
