Page 82 of The Curse of a Kingdom
He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a shaky breath, the black tendrils of his power coming closer to his body as he regained some of his control. “You can’t be here. I need to get you out of this castle unharmed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the enemies I have inside these walls! The people who tried to kill my mother when she was pregnant.”
Oh, that was rich. “So yesterday you didn’t care when you told me we should go to your father and get married, but today you want me gone so you can keep going on your solo mission?”
“I was not in my right mind yesterday!” His voice might have been the coldest she had ever heard. “This place is too dangerous for you because it’s not only my father who has his eyes on you.”
She brought the sheets up, trying to shield herself from him. “I won’t leave without you, and even if I wanted to—which I don’t—I couldn’t. We would both die.”
“You said the king had taken me from our home, that he knew who you were the whole time.” Arkimedes’s tone dropped, and she met his gaze. “And you didn’t think to tell me we are bonded?”
Her lips shook, and desperation clawed at her from within. “That is why we have to leave,right now. Back to our home. We can put Devon back in the prison. Roman might not even be mad since it would’ve been just a few minutes for him. Next time we will be prepared if they come for you—”
“Back to our home? You mean a place I have no recollection of, to a life I don’t remember?” He looked away from her to the side of the bed, his jaw coiled with tension.
Nava gripped her hands, and the prickle in her eyes told her she was close to losing it. This was going wrong. She needed to fix it. Rushing up to her feet, she shuffled to him. “You will love it there like you did before.”
“And I’m just supposed to blindly believe this?” Arkimedes scoffed, shaking his head. “I have been alone without a family my whole life, wondering why I’m this way.”
“You know a portion of what they tell you here is not true,” Nava said. “They are lying to you. They kidnapped you from our home. Took away your memories and our lives together!”
“And you haven’t been?”
She flinched, her shoulders tensing. “I have not lied to you until this moment, and even now I was going to tell you as soon as I thought you were ready.”
“What gives you the right to choose when I’m ready or not?”
The words got stuck in her throat. She lowered her face, and tears fell down her cheeks. “I was afraid. This has also been a tremendous shock to me, Arkimedes.”
“The Arkimedes you knew is not me, and it is about time you understand that.” A cold mask descended over his features, and she knew the conversation was over. “In this castle, I’m Prince Orion, and I will not follow you blindly across the world. I’m not leaving.”
Tears swelled in her eyes as her heart split open. It was as if she was losing him all over again. This kingdom had stolen him from her. Stolen their memories, their lives, their identity.
Now it was her and him. A sob escaped from her lips, and his already closed expression softened.
His pain and confusion swirled within her, and even though she didn’t want to go, she knew they needed space. It hadn’t been easy for her when she accepted that Arkimedes was her soulmate. Even then, she’d had an entire month to fall in love with him. He’d had but a handful of days to fall for her. She was asking him too much.
He needed time. The one thing she didn’t know how much she had left to give since the king might strike her at any moment. She guessed that now that Arkimedes knew of the danger they were both in, things would change.
Maybe he would tell the king, and the two of them might lock her away, safe from physical harm but away from him. No, Arkimedes wouldn’t do that to her, even as angry as he was.
She swiped at the tears that wet her cheeks. “Even if you don’t remember, you have had a family for some time now, and you are not alone.”
With those parting words, her body became air, pollen, and dust, floating out of the window and toward her room.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
ORION
Asoulmate. He’d had a goddamn twin soul all along, and no one had deemed it important for him to learn the truth.
His blood boiled as he stormed into the solarium. His brother sat at the table, drinking tea from a small bone cup. He raised a brow as Orion loosened the button of his coat and shrugged it off. It was too hot to be wearing so many layers outside in this sweltering heat.
“Did you know?” he demanded, tossing the offending piece of clothing over the black painted metal chair.
Devon placed the cup on the table, his face giving away nothing. “So I'm guessing the solstice brought the truth out,finally.”
