The Princess and the Bard (Royals of the Realms #1)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Confession

Alori stared at the ground. Her skin was burning hot, but an icy stone weighed on her chest. The frozen grass wavered through the tears collecting on her eyelashes.
"I know. It wasn't real, but it might as well have been."

"No, I don't believe that." Yet the expression on his face said that might have been a lie. "It was a curse within a dream. Yuka didn't touch you, not really, but I might still kill him."

"Please, don't. Don't end your friendship over this. Yuka was as influenced by the curse as I was. His reputation may not be the cleanest, but he'd never have seduced me. He values your friendship too much."

Taelan sighed, his shoulders slanting in defeat. "I know."

"So... what do we do now?"

It was possibly the hardest thing she'd ever forced herself to ask someone. She needed to know how Taelan felt, other than betrayed, but she was terrified of his answer. All her hopes and dreams about the future were balanced on his decision. Ever since the first time she'd heard his music, played by her father on the piano in the observatory, a look of pleasant surprise and then growing admiration on the king's face as he played through the sheets, she'd wanted to know Taelan. She'd told herself that his music wasn't of greater importance than choosing the bard whose personality appealed to her, and that was still true. But it had felt like a miracle when it had been Taelan who'd impressed her most in every category. 

To come so close to what felt like destiny only to lose him now, would devastate her.

"I don't know what we do now." He lifted his cap and ran a hand over his head, scraping the longer strands of hair out of the way before pushing the cap back down. "I suppose we might never have an easy go of it, will we?"

"No," Alori agreed. "The jobs of kings and queens and their consorts isn't easy. I wish I could say there will be a long period of peace ahead of us, but if Dantalion is the first in a wave of disgruntled demons harassing the borders, there's no guarantee. All I can do is try to stop them before they cause harm."

"All you can do?" Taelan leaned forward in his boots, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. When I'm queen my father will take a step back. He deserves to retire and enjoy his life."

"And you're assuming you'll be alone then?"

Alori huffed, turning back toward the main path. Why did he have to act so obtuse? He knew very well what she was hinting at.

"Not as such," she muttered, crossing her trembling arms. "I'll have the paladins and royal guard. My patrollers and shieldmages."

"Hmm..."

He massaged his chin, where a faint sheen of stubble stood out along his jaw. She wondered if Melbak had forgotten to put razors in the bards' rooms, in a hurry to accommodate their late-arriving party last night. Either way, she didn't mind the effect. Quite the opposite, really. She wanted to run her fingers across that dark shadow, and–

"Aren't you forgetting someone, my lady?"

Alori's nails bit into her palms. "I don't know, am I?"

He took a step forward, holding out his hand. She unfolded her arms and let him pull her toward him.

"You didn't do anything wrong." His cool fingers slid across her knuckles in a gentle caress. "I am hurt, because it hurts to think of you with anyone else, even if it was just a dream. But it doesn't change how I feel about you. You're hurting too, so what if we do the hurting together?" A tender smile highlighted his dimples she loved so well. "That's what my mother used to tell me, when we were both missing my father."