Page 71 of A Kingdom's Heart
It wasn’t all duty. But I kept that truth to myself as I turned away and walked back down the path alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
IRIS
I kept my eye on my plate. The side of my face was still stinging from where my father had struck me earlier. The red mark burned faintly, but what hurt more was the silence that followed. He hadn’t said a single word since then, and I didn’t dare speak first.
The meal stretched on. Every bite felt like it lodged in my throat. I tried to focus on the food, but my thoughts kept circling back to tomorrow. To the journey, the marriage, the prince I didn’t know. Each thought made my chest tighten harder.
When I finished, I reached for the small plate at the center of the table. Honey cakes. My favorite. Their scent was warm, sweet, almost enough to soften the ache inside me.
But before I could touch one, his voice broke the quiet.
“Leave that.”
I froze. “Why?”
He set down his cup, the movement sharp. “You are to meet Prince Lorenzo tomorrow. You will not go there looking like you cannot control yourself.”
I blinked, not sure I had heard him right. “It’s one cake.”
“You need to be in shape before you meet him,” he said flatly. “He cannot see a whale sitting beside him.”
The words hit harder than the slap had.
My throat closed up, and for a moment I couldn’t move. I lowered my hand slowly, the faint tremble in my fingers giving me away. The honey cakes sat untouched on the plate, glistening under the light.
I looked down again, fighting the sting in my eyes. “Yes, Father.”
He said nothing more.
The silence pressed in once again, colder this time. I pushed my plate away, my appetite gone, and waited for him to stand first. When he finally did, I rose too, keeping my head bowed until he left the room.
When the door closed behind him, I stood there for a long moment, listening to the sound of his footsteps fade down the hall.
I turned away from the table and walked down the corridor. The candles along the walls flickered as I passed, their light brushing against the stone. My reflection followed me in the tall windows, pale and small beneath the glow of the moon.
By the time I reached my bedchamber, the exhaustion had settled deep in my bones. I shut the door softly and leaned against it, my body finally giving in to the weight of the day.
The room was quiet. The fire had burned low, and the soft crackle was the only sound. I moved to the bed and sat down, pulling the covers around me.
For a while, I just stared at the ceiling, trying not to think of
tomorrow. But it was hard not to. My eyes burned again, but I was too tired to cry.
Eventually, sleep crept in, slow and heavy. I turned onto my side, curling into the blanket. The last thing I felt before drifting off was the ache in my chest and the taste of the cake that never touched my tongue.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
IRIS
Servants moved quickly through my chamber, their hands a blur as they folded gowns and packed trunks. All I could hear was the sound of drawers closing, fabrics rustling, and hurried footsteps against the floor.
Raven entered through the open door, her dark hair tied back, her expression calm but tense. “Are you ready to go?” she asked.
I looked around at the half-empty room, the pieces of my life being taken away one by one. “No,” I said quietly. “I don’t think I ever will be.”
I turned toward the window. Below, the courtyard was alive with movement. Horses pawed at the dirt, their reins held tight by stable boys. Carriages lined the path, their wheels gleaming in the morning light. Too many carriages. Too many people preparing for something I never wanted.
