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

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Good Reason

She peered absently at the floor as she walked the memorized path back to her apartments. Her emotions felt misshapen and foreign, as if they belonged to someone else and didn't quite fit inside her. When she came to her door, her fingers hovered over the knob. She wanted to hide, wanted Taelan to go away so she wouldn't have to face him again with that dreadful chasm between them. But she also wanted to run to him, wrap herself in his arms, and cry along with him.

How could someone be both the problem and the solution? It made no logical sense.

Liahfey stood opposite her in the hallway outside their respective doors. When they were younger they'd spent most of their nights in Alori's apartments together, but lately they'd stopped seeing as much of each other. They were growing up and facing new responsibilities, now. Alori regretted the time they'd lost, and hoped that one day they would be close again. Maybe they could have a sleepover soon to discuss their unlucky love lives, but tonight was not that night.

She glanced at her sister fondly. "Lia, don't fall in love. Relationships are too complicated."

Liahfey leaned against her door, grinning. "You know me, big sister, I flourish in complication."

Alori scoffed, shaking her head, but she couldn't disagree. Liahfey had gone through more friends than Alori could count on two hands. Things had been quiet recently, but where her sister was concerned, that probably meant a storm was on the horizon. She could only imagine the drama that would ensue when Ville-Saseum's most influential beauty queen found herself a beau. The fallout was likely to be epic.

"Thank you for trying to cheer me up," she whispered. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you. My situation is a bit off the hinge right now, and I don't know how to fix it."

"Maybe you don't need to fix it." Liahfey shrugged, crossing her arms. "You might not be able to close a door off its hinge, but there's never a problem opening it."

"Are you making up nonsense proverbs now?" Frankly, Alori was impressed her sister had come up with such a clever quip.

"It's not nonsense. An unhinged door is only half broken, which means it's worth repairing. That's the way I see it."

If only it were that simple.

"It's a nice sentiment, but I wouldn't go around repeating it." Alori slipped around her door. "I'll see you tomorrow... Oh, and Lia?"

Liahfey turned back from within her firelit antechamber, her sandy eyebrows arched.

"Sorry, but you'll have to find someone new to set your sights on. Reeve already has a partner he's madly in love with."

♪♫♪

"Tomoko!" Alori jolted away from the door as soon as it was closed. Her heavily pregnant lady's maid was in her bedchamber, tiptoeing to hang one of her traveling gowns back inside her wardrobe.

She hadn't expected anyone in her apartments, and certainly not Tomoko, who was supposed to be on maternity leave.

"Heylin's hope," Alori muttered to herself, a hand pressed to her heart, "you scared me. Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

Tomoko's long black hair swayed around her body like a cape as she turned around. The young woman's stomach looked even rounder than it had five days ago when Alori had left for the Conservatory.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry for frightening you. I was asked to deliver a parcel to your room and noticed your trunks were still packed."

"I don't like you going up and down all those stairs. The baby must be coming any day now, you should be resting."