Page 124 of Between Sun and Moon

“Aurelius, I’m so sorry.” My voice cracked, emotion breaking my words apart, like the tide striking a wall of rock.

His nostrils flared. “How dare you strike me.” His lowered brow cloaked his eyes in shadow, but I didn’t need light to see what lurked in them—

Disgust.

He had never looked at me like that before.

And it was enough to destroy me. This was my king. My love. My husband.

Pain exploded across my chest as if he had wrapped his fist around my heart and was squeezing the very life from it. I felt lightheaded, my limbs suddenly weak.

He turned away from me. “Take her out of my sight. I can no longer stand to look at Death’s whore.”

“Aurelius, please.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tears welled in my eyes.

The guards grabbed hold of my arms, but I was too broken to fight them. They dragged me out of the room and shoved me into the hallway, slamming the door behind them as I ran towards it.

I pounded my fists on the door. “Aurelius!” I shouted, tears wetting my cheeks. That visceral pain continued to grow in my chest until it became so strong, it took the very breath from my lungs.

Sliding down the door, I fell to the ground. I curled into myself, wrapping my arms around my legs. I wept.

Aurelius had been with me since my creation. He was my closest friend. My lover. His arms were all I had ever known. And to feel him shut me out like this? It was like having the sun’s warmth stolen from me—leaving me in the cold, bitter darkness.

I was alone.

Completely alone.

I didn’t know how long I stayed like that, but it felt like eternity.

I was barely aware of the strong, steady arms that slipped around me and hoisted me from the ground, of the legs that carried me down the hallways, into a private chamber to a room I had frequented many times before. I had come here to play cards, or when I was lonely, or to enjoy the company of the only other friend I had in this castle.

“It’s going to be alright,” Arkyn said softly as he gently laid me down on the large bed, the fur blanket beneath me chasing the strange numbness from my skin. “He’s just . . .” He paused, searching for the right words. “He’s frustrated right now.”

I shook my head, my fingers weaving into the soft furs. “We’ve fought before, but he’s never looked at melikethat.”

“He will come around. He adores you, Aurelia. He gave his heart for you.” Arkyn sat on the bed beside me, his weight making it dip. He glanced at me, offering me a hint of a smile. “Don’t forget that.”

I wondered if Arkyn was not only trying to convince me, but himself as well.

Aurelius had avoided me for three days, and I’d had enough.

“You can’t go in there, princess,” said one of the guards as I burst through the double doors leading into the council room.

The council room was oval in shape, the ceiling—made of glass—bathing the room in brilliant sunlight, washing over the marble floors and gold brick walls. At the end of a long stretch of table that housed twenty other gods, two of which were Aurelius’s brothers, sat a large throne positioned at the head of the table. In it, sat my husband.

His wrist and ankles were still bound, the matching collar still wound around his neck. His demeanor towards me only seemed to hold even more disdain. I tried not to wince when I felt it fall on me. I tried not to show them the immense pain blooming in my chest—the visceral ache of a heart shattering.

“What are you doing here?” Aurelius said, his regal voice smooth but lacking in warmth.

I ignored the shiver that ratcheted its way down my spine as I stepped forward, my hands knitting uncomfortably, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. “I wish to speak with you.”

“And you choose this time to do so?” Aurelius said nonchalantly, turning his gaze to the men seated at the table. Each one of them had grown impossibly still.

“It cannot wait,” I offered honestly. Silently, I begged him to look at me, to give me something other than this cold hostility. Even his anger was better than this.

“Then have a seat,” he said. His eyes flicked to a younger god sitting to his right, just down from Arkyn. “Theofric, you are excused for the rest of the meeting. Give the princess your chair.”

That didnotsit well with me. I had never been allowed into the council meetings before. I had hoped by barging in here, Aurelius would see me and wish to speak with me . . . in private. Speaking in public?Thatwas not part of my plan.

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