Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter Fifteen: Baiting the Hook

Chapter Fifteen: Baiting the Hook

Anne

She shouldn't have said that. Oh, by the Aria, she really shouldn't have said that. She was already sorry. She might not have seen the hurt in Aiden's eyes but she'd heard it in his voice. A single harsh word and he'd fall apart.

Anne paced a circle around her room. The soft pat of her feet striking the tiles grew faster and faster, creating a demented beat to accompany her swirling thoughts.

She'd let her temper get the better of her...again. Getting angry never solved anything, she only ever dug herself into a deeper hole. Any deeper and she'd fall right into Remeria. She snorted. Maybe she belonged down there in the Depths with the bloody barbarians.

Especially, after how she'd treated Aiden. He didn't deserve that. He was a good man...no, a great man. He truly cared about her. They were the best of friends. And she loved him, more than anyone she'd ever met. They were the perfect match.

The Life Aria had chosen wisely. There were so many other women whose families needed them to marry cruel men they despised, so she had no right to complain, or lash out in anger against Aiden. Everyone had flaws. No one was perfect.

And Aiden was as close to perfect as she was ever going to get. Even if he could sometimes be utterly infuriating because he only ever saw her as his betrothed, his Fate's promised-to-be wife. His beloved. Not as Cezanne, and certainly not as a princessa, whose duty is to put her country first before all else.

Normally, she appreciated that he put his love of her before his duties. But today, the princessa had given the Knight Commander of the Sky Guard an explicit order and he'd failed her. Worse than failed her. He could be such a child! She came to a sudden stop in her pacing, her room shuddered. The panes of window glass shook in their frames. The chandelier above her head tinkled and swayed dangerously.

She shook her head and sighed. She had to stop. It wasn't Aiden's fault. Aiden was Aiden after all. And she hadn't handled that situation appropriately. If she couldn't count on Aiden to fulfill his role as Knight Commander Brena, then she'd have to find another way to get this information to her father.

She reached underneath a pile of pale pink pillows and pulled the enchanted flower out from underneath, then stalked to the balcony. Pulling the two glass panel doors open, she stepped out onto stone tiles, they were chilly beneath her bare feet.

Leaning her chest against the carved marble railing, she stared down at the twilight clouds beneath her. Night swept across the sky overhead. The first stars peeked through the darkening void. Birds were settling in trees and under the eaves of buildings for the night, their shadowy wings catching the night air as they swept from roof to roof far beneath her balcony. And Anne wished she could join them.

But, even if she knew a flight enchant, there were various barriers surrounding the upper balconies that would prevent anyone from approaching from below. She could see the line of golden bricks marked with the Barrier enchantments. It would keep her safe from intruders and even safer from escaping. With a defeated sigh she looked up.

Her brother's balcony was directly above her. The emperor's heir. She sucked at her lower lip. When was the last time she and her brother had actually sought each other out, besides exchanging fake pleasantries and angry glares?

She counted on her fingers. It had to have been her tenth or eleventh birthday that Izeal had slapped her in the hallway and called her a vain little bitch. After that, they'd avoided each other. Then there been that terrible dinner after the Summit of Holds and she'd been barred from family meals and high society events ever since.