Page 7 of The Forgotten Queen
“Cheney?” His chin rested on his arm as he considered her words. “Nah, she likes theideaof me.”
“What’s theideaof you?”
“You know.” He shrugged. “She likes who she thinks I am.”
“Who does she think you are?”
“I don’t know. The man I’ve shown her. But she’s wrong.” He stared at Sydria for a long moment, his eyes holding a seriousness that resonated deep inside.
“Then who are you?” It was the same question Sydria had been asking herself every day for the last three months.
His hands dropped, and he leaned back against them. “I see what you’re doing.” His lips eased into a smile, and the seriousness in his eyes vanished.
“What?” Had she said the wrong thing again?
“You use the high of rescuing innocent animals to get people to tell you their deepest, darkest secrets.”
“Oh,” she breathed out. He was joking. “Is that your deepest, darkest secret…that you’re pretending to be someone you’re really not?”
He looked back at her. “Haven’t you ever played a part, hidden who you are to please the people around you?”
He’d described her life every day since she’d come out of the coma.
He shrugged again. “Maybe everyone is pretending. Are any of us being who we want to be, or are we just being some filtered version of ourselves?”
The filtered version of herself was all Sydria had.
“I don’t even know who I am or who I want to be,” she said, holding his gaze.
“I hope you figure it out.” There was a softness in the corners of his eyes that she never got from Von or Edmay. She glanced away, not sure how to process the stirring in her stomach.
She watched the fire for a moment, letting silence soak in around them.
“I feel trapped.” She finally said, her eyes slowly drifting back to his. “That’s why I wanted to set the fish free. I can’t help myself, but at least I could help the animals in the bay.”
“Why do you feel—” Laughter in the distance pulled his gaze behind her, and Sydria stood before he could finish his sentence.
She looked anxiously around the beach. “I need to hide.” Her voice sounded panicky. That was a new tone she hadn’t experienced yet.
“Why?”
She didn’t know why. All she knew was that the thought of talking to such a large group of people made her uncomfortable. “I need to hide! I don’t want anyone to see me.”
“Okay,” he said, standing. “But why?”
Her breath came out deep and heavy. “I…I…” She couldn’t get a hold of her breathing. “I don’t know. I just do.”
He looked around before gently pulling her over to some of the rocks hidden from the firelight. “It’s okay.” His words were soothing. “Everything’s going to be all right.”
She hid behind the boulders, holding her knees to her chest.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked. “I don’t want to leave you if you’re not all right.”
She sucked in two breaths and nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
The voices were getting closer. He hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure what to do, but then he turned around walked away.
“Thank you,” she whispered, “for freeing the animals.”
