The scent of blood clung to the back of my throat long after the maids had left with the soiled sheets. I stood in the middle of the room, heart still pounding, the silence around me somehow deafening. My body felt weightless, but my chest ached with the weight of what had happened.
Liora.
Her name tasted like sin and salvation all at once. I could still feel her lips on mine, the warmth of her skin beneath my fingertips, the way she'd looked at me hesitant, brave, burning. And now she was gone.
I hadn't heard her leave. Hadn't felt the bed shift. But I knew it was her blood, not Claire's. And now I was tangled in a lie far more dangerous than any political scheme this palace had ever bred.
The Queen's voice echoed again in my ears from earlier so casual, so assured: "Claire didn't tell me she was sleeping over… you'll be getting married anyway." She had no idea.
I was still staring at the empty space where Liora had been lying when the knock came again. A hesitant tap, followed by the creak of the door as one of the guards poked his head in.
"His Majesty requests your presence in the royal wing."
I blinked slowly, still half-draped in the fog of the night before. My lips parted to speak, but no words came. Instead, I nodded.
"Right away."
He left, and I forced myself to dress. The ceremonial robe felt heavier than usual. My collar itched with guilt. My fingers moved mechanically, brushing back my hair, fixing my sash, but I wasn't present. My mind was back in the garden, back at the water's edge, back to when Liora had whispered, "I want you too."
Gods.
I walked briskly down the corridor, avoiding the eyes of the maids, the guards, anyone who might catch the turbulence in my gaze. When I finally reached my father's chambers, the thick oak doors opened into the low-lit space where the King sat upright, legs covered with a thick velvet blanket.
His recovery had been steady, but he still carried the pallor of illness across his features. The crown rested on a side table, as though waiting for someone else to earn it.
"You're late," he said, voice gravelly but not unkind.
"My apologies, Father," I said, stepping inside and bowing slightly.
He motioned me closer, studying me with eyes that looked too deeply.
"You look... torn," he said.
I swallowed. Torn didn't begin to cover it.
He gestured to a chair across from him. I took it.
"They say you've been distracted lately. That your interest in your fiancée is minimal at best. That you leave events early, walk the halls late at night. Are you hiding something, Elias?"
I met his gaze. I couldn't afford to flinch.
"No. I'm adjusting. That's all."
He nodded, but I saw the hint of doubt in his expression.
"Adjusting is expected. But you don't have the luxury of indecision. You are the heir to this throne. The kingdom watches your every step now."
He leaned forward slightly.
"You must marry Claire. The arrangement has been set. She is intelligent, poised, and will serve the realm well."
My hands clenched over my knees. I wanted to scream. To confess. To explain that the only person who made this place bearable was the one woman I could never have. That I wasn't sure I belonged here at all. That maybe I wasn't ready to be anyone's prince.
But instead, I nodded again. Like a coward.
"I understand."
His eyes softened just a fraction.
"You will. In time. Love can be learned, Elias."
I doubted that.
As I stood to leave, he added, "You'll announce the date at the next court banquet. It's time we stopped dancing around the inevitable."
I left in silence, my stomach turning. Outside the chamber, I nearly collided with Liora.
She froze.
Her hair was swept up, her face paler than usual. But her eyes those honey-brown eyes met mine with a fire I knew too well.
"I've been looking for you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I didn't know if you'd come back," I replied.
She glanced past me, then gestured toward a side passage.
"Not here."
We ducked through the corridor that led to the abandoned wing of the palace, where forgotten tapestries hung and the silence was sacred. When we finally stopped, I turned to her, but she was already speaking.
"I left because I needed to breathe. Because I couldn't believe what I'd done what we'd done."
I stepped closer.
"And now?"
She met my eyes again. "Now, I know I meant every second of it. But I also know this can't happen again."
Pain stabbed through my chest. "Why not? You know the truth. We're not siblings. We owe them nothing."
"They've raised us as such. The court won't see it the way we do. The Queen "
"Thinks I slept with Claire," I said bitterly.
Liora looked shocked. "She saw the sheets?"
I nodded. "Assumed it was Claire. Congratulated me."
Her expression darkened. "Elias…"
"I'm not ashamed," I said quickly. "I regret nothing except that you left before I could tell you."
I reached out and touched her hand, trembling slightly. She didn't pull away.
"We don't have to obey them," I said. "We can figure this out. On our terms."
But I saw the doubt in her. The fear.
She stepped back, voice strained. "We can't fix this by pretending the world doesn't matter."
Silence stretched between us.
"I'm being forced to marry Claire," I added.
She nodded once, then turned to leave.
I watched her walk away, every step a blow to my chest.
And for the first time since I returned to the palace, I wasn't sure who I was walking toward anymore my destiny, or my own destruction.
I felt as though i had ruined everything even before it started, i was definitely not not right for anything good, i just got the perfect life and am already ruining for the ones i love.