Page 52 of A Tale of Treachery

“Aiden. I don’t want this,” I croaked, holding back tears.

“Give us a moment,” Aiden said to his father as he walked around the desk and grasped my elbow, leading me out of the office.

Ryken stood in the doorway, blocking our exit. His hooded gaze narrowed on the prince. My breath caught. Sometimes, it was easy to forget how large and intimating he was, but now, seeing him block the door, filled with ire and wrath, it was apparent.

Aiden choked, briefly caught off guard by the hooded male blocking his path but managed to quickly compose himself. “Move, assassin,” he demanded. “I need to have a word with Lady Dahlia.”

Ryken remained unmoving, and Aiden shifted his gaze to his father, a look that begged the king to control his unruly mercenary.

“Oh, for God’s sake! Move out of the way, Ryken,” King Drake thundered.

Ryken slanted his head at Aiden, an animalistic movement that gave away his true nature. A promise that the prince would not get his way so easily.

I was disappointed when he stepped away from the door and let us through. I didn’t know why I thought he would stop this from happening. He was probably just as much a prisoner as I was, maybe even more so.

Aiden tightened his grip on my arm and led me through the door, past the sitting room, and into the king’s bedchamber. Once we were alone, he released his grip and plopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh. “Come sit with me. We need to talk.”

“I don’t want to sit with you! I don’t even want to look at you, Aiden. How could you have your father demand this of me? I would never have taken that step with you if I’d known you would flip my life upside down.” My voice broke, and a feeling of panic washed over me.

I felt trapped and had to get out of this room. The king’s bedchamber reeked of alcohol and sex, and the room was slowly closing in. Was this my future?

“Is this because of him? A few weeks ago, you were sure you wanted to pursue things with me, but suddenly, he’s in your room and at your side. All. The. Time. Now the idea of being with me suddenly appalls you. Are your feelings for me so fickle?”

I didn’t need to ask who he was referring to when he saidhim. “What? No, it’s not about him.” It was a partial lie, but I continued with the truth. “It’s about the way you went about things. You know me well enough to understand that I would never approve of this. I don’t want a place at court. I like my life. I’m surprised that you’re supporting this idea.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and released a heavy breath. “I did this to protect you. I saw you the other night, sneaking into the dungeon,” he said, grimacing. So that had been him following me. “I know you went out, doing God knows what, last night. If anyone else had seen the things I’ve seen, you would be dragged to the dungeons and prosecuted for treason. I need you to be protected and watched. I need to know that you aren’t sneaking off and causing trouble. If my father caught wind of your activities, it would be over for you, Dahlia,” he begged, looking into my eyes. “Please forgive me.”

“How much did you see?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t seen me use magic last night. He couldn’t have seeneverything, right?

“I saw enough, and when I told you that you could tell me anything, I meant it. I will do whatever it takes to protect you, even knowing that it might result in you hating me. This arrangement won’t be as bad as you think. I won’t touch you unless you want me to. I won’t completely take away your freedom, I promise.”

“You’re engaged, Aiden. Since when?” I asked.

“Since I went to my father to ask for his approval in marrying you. Do you think any of this is my idea?”

“No. You would never come up with such a vile idea.” I agreed. “I can’t do this, Aiden. I really can’t.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “You don’t have a choice. You must. It’s too late to fix my mistake. My father is hell-bent on this decision, and there is no turning back,” he grumbled and twisted his body, locking eyes with me. His lips formed a sad smile. “I promise I’ll wait patiently and give you the space you need. This will only be temporary. I have a plan to take care of this whole mess, and I can promise you that my father won’t be in power much longer.”

I stilled for a moment at his treasonous words. The Aiden I knew would never dare to speak against his father. “What does that mean?”

“You know what it means,” he whispered. “My father is leading our kingdom down a dark path, and I can’t sit back and watch him destroy it anymore.”

I shook my head, trying to make sense of things. “A coup…”

Aiden held his finger to my lips and shook his head. “Don’t say it out loud. Just promise me that you’ll trust me and play along for now. There’s nothing we can do to stop this from happening now.”

There was no choice in the matter when it came to the king’s demands. Aiden was right. This was the only choice…for now. I still needed to speak with him about the shift in my feelings, but now was not the time or place.

With a heavy heart, I nodded and accepted the proposal with one condition. “I have your word, Aiden, and you can’t back out. I can accept the terms if this situation is only temporary, as you claim.”

Something flashed in his eyes, something I’d never seen before, but it quickly disappeared. His face lit in a smile, and his blue eyes locked on mine, pure and honest. “I promise.”

A voice inside told me not to believe him. My gut roiled and protested. Something was off, but I couldn’t trust my instincts and didn’t want to. Aiden was my friend and only wanted to change things for the better.

“Fine,” I said in a resigned tone.

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