Page 55 of The Prince from a Cruel Summer
After ten years in the new world, around the time I gained enough confidence to sing and became famous, I expected him to finally visit. Finally write. Even call. Anything.
If only to get closure.
I wrote to him when his father died, but he only sent back a polite thank you for my well wishes. The impersonal, somewhat cold response wrecked me formonths. I’d always thought it had been his way of telling me that our past was better left unmentioned. Thanatos knows I’ve tried to forget him, though I failed.
It always cut me to the bone that he didn’t chase after me once the heat died down, but what if he just…didn’t remember?
I bite my nails, desperate to soothe the anguish twisting my heart, unable to walk out of my hiding place and into the dining hall to face Aidan again.
Elio finds me a minute later, sniffing out my cowardice as if he had a special radar for Winter Fae who chicken out of following their king’s orders.
“Good morning,” I say, playing coy.
“Beth,” he sighs. “You promised.”
I hide my face in my hands. “I can’t.”
“We have to tell him. It’s not right,” he pleads again, his opinion unchanged since last night. “If his memories have been altered, he deserves to know.”
“He’s getting married in a few hours.” I don’t have it in me to rush into a difficult conversation that might ruin his current relationship. “It’s too late.”
What Aidan doesn’t remember can’t hurt him anymore. I can’t let myself be tempted to put my own selfish need to make him remember above the new life he’s built for himself. However awful it feels to know we might have been cheated out of a life together, his present happiness needs to be safeguarded.
“I disagree. Marriage is a forever business where we’re concerned, and you can’t tellmeof all people that marrying the wrong person isn’t a big deal,” Elio says.
A needle of doubt stings my heart, and I turn away from him. I pick an aisle at random and peruse the books, skimming the edges with my fingers. “Fuck, Elio. How could I even begin to tell him? Why would he even believe me?”
“We’ll find a way. Together.”
“You stayed at the academy after I left. You ought to have noticed well before now if Aidan didn’t remember me.”
“Lots of stuff happened that year. Ezra left school right after you, and Aidan and I were not close. It’s not impossible that a sudden memory lapse would have gone unnoticed.”
A few guests stream across the room to reach the dining hall, and a confident set of footsteps approaches. I stiffen, knowing who it is before he even turns the corner, his presence filling the air with a disarming warmth.
“Good morning. Elio, can I have a moment alone with Miss Elizabeth?” Aidan asks quietly, his voice lower than usual.
“I’ll leave you two to talk.” Ice shines in Elio’s sharp gaze, the King of Death mightily intimidating when he means to be, and the underlying message is quite clear.You better tell him, or I will.
Aidan flattens himself to one of the bookcases to let Elio pass, and joins me deep in the shadows of the towering furniture. “It isMiss, isn’t it?”
The air grows sparse, but I keep my expression as neutral as possible. “Yes.”
Aidan is not the only man who’s asked for my hand in marriage, but he is the only one I’ve ever said yes to. For him to ask if I’m married feels like a knife scraping against bone.
“I have a question for you.” He steps closer, his gaze searching mine. “I checked the archives last night, and I saw you attended the academy the year I was a guardian.”
“That’s right.”
His eyes narrow slightly, as if he’s trying to piece together a puzzle. “We must have met, then? Seems silly to think we didn’t cross paths for an entire year. Go ahead and call me out on it if I forgot.”
The smile he offers is meant to be disarming, but I glimpse at the tension beneath it. There’s something in his tone, a hint of worry—or perhaps guilt.
By Thanatos…
“We did meet,” I confirm, my throat tightening around the words.
He chuckles softly and runs a hand through his hair. “By the Flame, I thought I was going crazy. I bet you thought I was a pompous tool and didn’t give me the time of day.”
