Page 128 of The Promised Prince
Why did she even want him to write? It’s not like they could be together, not after everything that had happened to Seran.
58
Trev
“Iheard you were back from your campaign tour,” Drake said, walking into Trev’s office. He casually sat down in the seat across the desk from Trev. “How was it?”
Trev looked up from the paper in his hands, the most recent report from Axville. “Good. Really good, actually. I spent a lot of time with the people, learning about their ways of life, finding out their needs. It’s given me a lot of ideas for the Council of Essentials.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Assuming I’m the one going to the Council of Essentials.”
“I think it’s safe to assume you’re going. The high rulers have reviewed Joniss and his father’s case. They’ll be executed in a few weeks.”
Joniss’s life as payment for Seran’s hardly seemed like justice. She was so young and so ready to give her life to serve a kingdom that was new to her. Joniss was cunning and despicable.
“So...did you...hear from anyone while you were gone? Write any letters?”
Trev rolled his eyes. Drake was clearly being coy. It didn’t suit him. “Just ask what you want to ask.”
“Have you written to Renna, or has she written to you?”
“No.” Trev went back to looking at the paper in his hand.
“Why not?”
Drake could be so annoying when he wanted to be.
“Why would I?” It seemed absurd to contact Renna. He was still grieving Seran. Even though he hadn’t loved Seran, he still felt an incredible amount of pain at how her life had ended, how he hadn’t saved her.
Drake persisted. “I don’t know, maybe because you love her? I’m just taking a stab in the dark here, but that’s my best guess.”
Trev set the paper down and rubbed his forehead. Drake gave him a headache. “There’s no chance for us now. We can’t be together after everything that’s happened. I couldn’t do that to Seran.”
“What do you mean you couldn’t do that to Seran?”
“You know what I mean. I can’t dishonor Seran’s memory by running off to Renna. I already dishonored her when she was alive.”
Drake’s eyes softened. “You need to forgive yourself.”
“What about King Bryant?” Had Drake even thought about him? Because Trev had every day. “I can’t do that to him. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“King Bryant doesn’t expect you to be single your whole life.”
“I agreed to marry Seran, and in all honesty, I wasn’t even going to do that. I won’t disgrace their family further by being with Renna. He’s a good man who’s just lost his daughter. I don’t want to complicate things more.”
Drake stood. “I hope you change your mind. I know you miss Renna, and I hate to see you so unhappy.”
Trev shrugged. He wasn’t going to change his mind no matter how much he missed Renna, even if it was every second of every day.
When Trev didn’t answer, Drake stood to leave. “You should write to her.”
* * *
Trev tossed andturned in his bed that night. So many things had happened in the last few months.Bigthings he wished he could talk to Renna about, but he couldn’t. There was no future for them. Trev’s guilt, his shame, his errors would always be in the way. But none of that stopped his mind from racing with words he’d never get the chance to say. All those words had been keeping him up night after night.
He threw off his covers and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his drawer. He would write a letter.
Renna would never read it because he would never send it, but maybe the writing of it would be enough.
To the lovely Renna,
