AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He sighs.
Rainer might not want to admit it aloud for whatever reason, but I hear what he’s not saying. My chest squeezes, knowing he has his own troubles that keep him up. Haunted by his own mind, like me.
Ken said his family is gone, and I’m betting it’s grief Rainer faces based on the way his eyes gloss over and he gets this hollow look. It’s not an expression of terror or pain so much as regret.
“There’s a tea that Das Celyn brings for me,” I say, trying to lighten the air between us. “It’s incredibly helpful.”
The air between us is so thick with tension and unspoken words that it’s hard to breathe.
“Though they forgot to bring it up tonight,” I say.
Rainer cups the back of his neck, offering me a sheepish grin, and my stomach flutters at the sight.
“Don’t blame Das Celyn for that,” he says quietly. “I was planning to bring your tea up myself—but time slipped away from me. I worried it was too late to disturb you by the time I finished my day’s duties.”
I dip my chin, hoping the night hides the blush overtaking my cheeks. I had a feeling it was him sending the tea up.
“So it’s your fault I almost got eaten by a creepy shadow monster?”
“Is this your way of admitting you needed me to save you?”
“Never.” I cross my arms, feigning annoyance, but I rather like bantering with the prince. “I’m not as weak or pathetic as you think I am.”
His eyes darken, a smug expression working its way onto his face. “You don’t like it when I call you that.” It’s not a question.
“No.”
“And why not?”
“Because it’s not true.” My fists ball up at my sides. He glances at my hands and chuckles under his breath. I hate that I love the sound.
“It’s true for the girl who asks what the point of fighting is.” He steps even closer, until we’re sharing body heat. “But it isn’t true for the girl who fights for herself. Now, which one are you? Because I’ve seen hints of both, but I have yet to figure it out.”
Thinking of his previous words—about how giving up is just as hard as fighting—and how empowering training felt today, it’s an easy decision. Despite my inability to even hold the sword, I felt renewed. Those failures still felt like successes, because I was trying. I was working toward bettering myself. It was a start.
“The one who fights,” I whisper.
Slowly, I tilt my head up to look at him. His eyes are hooded as he stares down at me. His gaze flits to my lips. We’re frozen in time as we share this moment, and I wonder which of us will close the distance.
But then Rainer sighs and steps back.
“The one who fights,” he repeats. “Then we shall make you strong, Alessia, inside and out.”
Hearing him say my name makes me giddy. Hearing him agree to help me toughen up? That’s the most beautiful sound of all—the sound of empowerment.
I should worry about his intentions. What does he get out of helping me? But for a moment, I simply exist in the joy of the moment. I’m safe. I’m fed. I have a renewed purpose.
“Join me for tea?” I ask, trying to wedge this door between us open even further.
Rainer hesitates, shifting his weight between his feet before turning and walking away. At first, I think he’s going to leave me standing there, but then he turns and calls over his shoulder, “You coming?”
Perhaps it’s not the tea that sounds nice, but the extra time spent with the prince in the middle of the night, with the castle quiet and only the moon’s attention on us. Perhaps I should be more hesitant, but then again, I’ve already experienced my worst fears and lived to tell the tale. There’s nothing he can take from me that I haven’t already lost.
As I follow him toward the castle, my scalp prickles with awareness. I glance over my shoulder, and beyond the iron bars, the shadowy figure stands—watching us. I swear it raises a wispy arm, reaching between the bars. I shudder, stepping closer to the prince as if he’ll protect me.
And when he lends me an arm, tugging me to his side, I know he would.
Perhaps the Prince of Fear is not that bad after all.
