Page 66 of A Kingdom's Heart
He turned sharply to the servants standing beside me. His hand cut through the air in command. “You two. Go start packing her belongings—and mine. Tell the others to help you.”
The servants bowed quickly and hurried out of the hall, their footsteps fading into the corridor.
I stood there frozen in place. My throat burned as I tried to speak. “Please,” I whispered. “Don’t do this.”
His blue eyes stayed fixed on me, cold. The same eyes that belonged to my own father. They looked through me now, like I was nothing more than a piece of his design.
“It is done,” he said. “We leave tomorrow.”
Something inside me cracked.
The sound of my heartbeat filled the space where his words had been. Tears blurred the world until the throne, the banners, even the light itself dissolved into one unrecognizable haze. All I could
could see was him. Distant. Unbending.
“Do you even hear yourself?” I whispered. “Do you even care what this does to me?”
He didn’t answer. Didn’t even blink. The silence between us was the cruelest reply of all.
The tears burned hot now, spilling before I could stop them. “I hate you!” I said, the words breaking, trembling, but loud enough to echo through the hall.
For a moment, he just stared. Shock flickered behind the anger. But then his voice thundered across the room. “Iris! Come back here this instant!”
But I was already moving.
The skirts of my gown tangled around my legs as I turned and ran, my slippers slipping on the polished floor. The air tore at my throat, my breath uneven as I pushed through the heavy doors. The guards outside startled, glancing at one another, but none dared to stop me.
The courtyard opened wide before me under a dull, gray sky. The wind hit hard, cold against my face, and I didn’t slow. My feet struck the stone, then the dirt, then the grass. The sound of my heartbeat roared in my ears until it drowned out everything else.
I didn’t know where I was going. Only that I had to keep moving. Away from the throne. Away from the walls that had held me my entire life.
Away from him.
And still, I ran. Faster. Harder. Until the air burned in my lungs and the tears blurred the path ahead.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
WILLIAM
The summons came before sunset.
A young guard stood at the barracks door, his voice tight with nerves. “The king requests your presence in the throne room, Sir William.”
He left before I could answer.
Eric was sitting on his bunk, sharpening his blade. He looked up when he heard the door shut behind me. “The king, huh?” he said, leaning back slightly. “Good luck, man. His temper’s not something I’d want pointed at me.”
I gave a small nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
The walk to the throne room felt longer than usual. The corridors were silent save for the faint echo of my boots against the stone. Sunlight crept through the tall windows, streaking the marble floors with pale gold. I tried not to think about why I’d been summoned, but my mind went there anyway.
Two guards flanked the tall doors when I arrived. At the sound of my approach, they stepped forward and pushed them open. The hall inside was vast and cold, every word and footstep swallowed by the emptiness.
I walked until I stood before the dais, then dropped to one knee. “Your Majesty.”
The king who was shitting on his throne, regarded me quietly before speaking. “Rise, Sir William.”
I obeyed, standing straight but keeping my gaze low.
