Page 97 of A Clash of Stars

His stare was dark and alarming, and he was not the same Madok I once knew. “How could you marry him, Clara? It was supposed to be me. He even captured me. Held me captive.” He bit out at me again, his grip on my shoulder tightening.

I scoffed, “Are you serious? You know exactly why I married Evander. I did it to save our lives. You and I both would have died at that castle if I didn’t agree to marry him. I’m aware you were captured, I saw it happen, Madok, and it crushed me. I had no choice but to marry him.”

He took small steps towards me, closing the space between us, and his eyes tightened their focus on me.

“I would rather us both die than see you married to him. It sickens me. I wanted to stop the wedding. I guess Evander figured that out, so hecaptured me.”

His hands moved to reach behind my neck and grabbed me, yanking my attention to his face. My body stiffened and resisted his pulling me forward toward his snarling teeth.

“Tell me. Is he better than me? Does he know what you like? That you love to dance, eat late-night cookies, and stay up to watch the sky? Does he know those things? I’ve always made sure you were taken care of, and here I am, just allowing some man to come in and take my place?” He seethed at me with those words while he tightened his grip on my neck.

“Let go of me, Madok. You’re hurting me.” I choked out at him. My eyes were pleading with him to stop.

“I’m not going to let you go, Clara. I don’t give a damn about you being married. You are mine, and I will never allow you to stay with him. You belong to me.”

He said this with determination, but a new feeling overtook me. I wasn’t frightened anymore. I was pissed.

My eyes narrowed at his, and I could see my reflection of him. The glow started in my eyes, and the light radiated over my body. I was illuminated. The panic in Madok’s eyes told me I was reminding him which of us was more powerful.

“For the second and final time. Let go of me.” I bit out at him, and finally, he let go.

A knot formed in my throat as I tried to speak. In between my sobs, I finally got the words out.

“I…have always loved you, Madok, since we were children. I gave you a part of me the night of your coronation, and then you left me for three years. You left me. When I needed you. You weren’t there. I sat and wondered what I had done wrong. When in reality, you are the one who did wrong. You lied to me all these years because you knew I wasn’t your mate, yet you strung me along. Why? Why, Madok?”

His eyes were flaming, “Because I love you, Clara.” He spits out the words as vitriol rather than a proclamation from the heart. I took a step back from him and let out a soft laugh.

“Don’t you dare say you love me. You don’t love me, Madok. You wouldn’t have lied to me all these years if you truly loved me. Everything that has ever happened between us is in the past. Not the present and not the future. I kissed you goodbye in Aster, and afterward, I knew it would never be the same for us. You say you love me, but true love isn’t based on lies.”

He scoffed, “Hilarious you say that when your entire marriage is based on one.”

“What lie, Madok? Please enlighten me. You were there and knew I was forced into this marriage.”

He turned around, putting his back towards me. His head hung down toward the ground.

“This entire marriage is a lie. Set up by your mother and his. Do you think you had any choice in any of this? Your mother is just as bad as the King of Aster. Vile and Controlling.”

I stepped towards him, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn and look at me.

“Don’t you dare compare my mother to the King. She is nothing like him, and you know it.”

His eyes softened slightly for a moment before speaking, but what he said was dark and evil. “You are just a pawn, Clara. Someone of greater power controls every move in your life. Nothing you do is your own. You’ll realize I’m right. They’re telling you what you’re doing will save our land, right?”

My eyes furrowed with confusion. How could he know anything about that? Anything about what he just told me?

“The only thing they want to save is themselves. They are selfish and should be removed as rulers permanently.” My reaction was to slap him, so I did. He gripped my wrist and yanked me to him, inches awayfrom his face.

“You are the result of evil and hate, Clara. Your family is repulsive, and you’ll be destroyed when the rest of the land finds out that they are.”

I knew my eyes darkened with anger with his last statement. I wanted to get away from him. Who was this guy? He was not the same Madok I fell in love with. Why would he say these things that weren’t true, and how did he know about the plan?

He pulled me in even closer, and the grip on my wrist was crippling, shooting pain up my arm.

“The only reason I slept with you was for you to believe I truly loved you. When in reality, I despise you.” He laughed a short evil chuckle that sounded otherworldly. “But I warn you, if you tell anyone about this conversation, I will kill your parents, and then I will come for you.”

My head was spinning with confusion and hurt. It felt like my heart was literally being ripped out of my chest. He pushed me back, releasing my wrist, causing me to fall to the ground. He scoffed, then walked away from me.

Once he was out of my sight, I stood and ran. I ran until I couldn’t run anymore. I started to slow in the forest because I couldn’t catch my breath.

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