Page 7 of A Clash of Stars

His golden eyes that I had grown to love and admire were burning into my soul, begging me to give him a response. I didn’t know how to react. I knew I loved him, but we were only sixteen years old. So much could change between now and the time we went to the capital city of our Land of Carondelet, Sefida, to train with the other heirs. What if—what if he changed his mind about me? What if I changed my mind?

He took a shaky breath, “I want to kiss you… May I?”

I had never kissed anyone, but I saw it plenty of times to know how to try.

Madok clasped onto my face with his soft hands and placed an ever so gentle kiss upon my lips. My heart was beating a million miles a minute, and I thought it could burst right there in that garden. His soft lips brushed over mine again as he tilted his head to the side. His lips warmed mine like the sunshine that lived in his eyes, and it traveled through my body. A first kiss that could not have been any more perfect.

His eyes glanced at mine, cloudy with an unclear thought. I wondered if he noticed that he looked at me that way. Almost as if disgusted with me or full of hate. Seeing someone you spent most of your life pining over treat you like a stranger was demoralizing.

“Hello, Madok, lovely to see you this morning.” I choked out. Trying not to show my uncertainness about sitting by him.

Gods, I want this breakfast to be over.

Ting, Ting, Ting.

The crystal glass of our charismatic instructor was struck to get our attention as I looked around at all of the faces of the royals who would soon be my competitors in the Variance. I couldn’t help but connect their faces to the Kingdoms they represented.

Madok of Ophera, Griffin of Rhysette, Luke of Thea, Evander of Aster, and Clara of Artesia. Anyone who knows how to count will realize only five of us are sitting at this table. As we were taught, our sixth Kingdom had fallen into destructive hands, leaving no one left to carry on the bloodline. I called bullshit on this.

They say that the Aster family took over the Land of Claiborne to contain the “wickedness” inside the Kingdom. No one has heard from or has spoken about the Kingdom of Claiborne because of the Aster royals. Therefore, the excellent distaste for Evander comes full circle while we sit at this table together.

His entire family is full of malice and are control freaks. I haven’t heard one good word about the family, and mostly I think everyone is terrified of them, and for a good reason. Although speculated, they did wipe out an entire Kingdom—just because they disagreed with them.

In addition to this thought, I am the only female at the table. Not by choice. I am the only child of my parents, the King and Queen of Artesia. So, I must represent them even though it is not my genuine desire to win the Variance and ascend to the Carondelet, joining the throne. Yet, here I am.

My mother explained to me that every royal would be required to spend a minimum of a year training in political and tactical practices and building relationships across the Kingdoms. If a family requested a change to the joining throne for all six Kingdoms, they could only do that during the training of the new royals.

“Today, we will be running through some etiquette training to prepare for the opening ceremony.”

The ever-so-lovely voice of Instructor Edward took over the room, and everyone turned to listen. I giggled at myself internally for calling his voice “lovely.”

I wish he would choke on that muffin and save us all the trouble of dying a slow and painful death by listening to him speak.

I smiled, but when I looked up, my eyes connected with the ever-so-blue eyes staring directly into mine with a knowing smile and an eyebrow raised, Luke.

Almost like he could hear what I said, my cheeks tinged a slight hue of red with embarrassment, and he smiled. I turned my attention to Instructor Edward when I heard the final part of his winded speech, “...and let’s eat!”

Thank goodness.

After finishing our meal and small lessons incorporated within, we moved on to the next portion of our training. As we stood to walk into the ballroom space, I heard a voice behind me. Trying to whisper, but I could still hear it.

“Instructor Edward, she should not be here. She is a distraction to us, and she cannot stay.”

My stomach dropped as I placed the voice, although I always knew deep down that he requested my isolation.

“I understand your concern, Madok, but she has to train with all of you since we will be together for the opening ceremony,” husked out Instructor Edward.

A large sigh was breathed, and the words that were spoken next almost took me out, “Fine. I will have toendureit.”

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what he meant by ‘enduring it’. As the wheels started turning in my head, I started to form a small conclusion. Not the best conclusion, but at least there was one. It must be his powers. Another obvious answer would be that he hated every fiber of my being and didn’t want to be around me. I wouldn’t say I liked either answer because it didn’t change the fact that he had broken me and left me alone, wondering what I did wrong to make him not want me anymore.

My more intellectual side did lean toward the idea that it has some tie to his powers because he could see into the dreams of others and understand their most authentic desires and even their futures. I am unsure how my dreams or desires would bother him or make him distance himself, yet here we are.

Our steps slowed as we entered the ballroom and approached the crest of Carondelet, which had woven illustrations representing each Kingdom. A deer represented mine. It was meek and mild but necessary for nature. Without it, the rest of the structure of nature would fall.

The Lion represented the Ophera bloodline, the natural leader, and the trustworthy bloodline. Funnily enough, he didn’t seem very trustworthy. The Wolf represented the Rhysette bloodline, cunning and ferocious creatures. With them on your side, you are undoubtedly protected.

The Owl represented the Thea bloodline, wise and all-seeing, silent majority of the time unless they see something worth telling. The Snake represented the Aster bloodline, sneaky and powerful. It reminded me of the torque viper that almost got me that day near Serena Creek. Horrid but served a purpose.

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