𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 | 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

ততততত

𝐓 𝐎 𝐁 𝐈 𝐍

His crown would be so easy to steal if it weren't for Imogen.

Well, she's not here. She's in Adorid, so she can't shoot an arrow into my head if I decide to take Ruslan's crown.

For six nights, I scaled these castle walls and entered her bedroom to seek out the passages. I memorized the routes within them, and I reckon I can navigate this castle now without Imogen's assistance. Only problem I have is that I can't admit to Gareth how much I know. I've fed him lies all week about my progress.

A smart thief would break Imogen's heart now and disappear before she can return, but my soft heart refuses to listen to my logical brain, not even for Aspen. How can I break the spell Imogen's put me under? I should've never let her build a home inside me, because now there's a part of me that belongs to her. I may be a thief, but she stole a part of me as well. I don't think I can get that part of me back.

Somehow, by the grace of the gods, I forced my legs to enter Ruslan's bedroom—which is where I am now, staring at his goddamn golden crown. A crown like this would sell for thousands of coins, but that's not what it's intended for. The discovery of this crown would change everything in the war. It'd force Orion to spill truths about his kingdom that he longs to bury deep within the catacombs.

Take it, that little pesky voice inside of me whispers.

I can imagine the betrayal in those grey moons when Imogen discovers that I am the reason her kingdom fell. I can almost see the tears drawing rivers down her moonlit cheeks, taste them on my tongue as if I could kiss them away. My chest splits inside of me, just as hers will. She trusts me. That goddamn fucking sliver of trust is killing me whole.

TakeitTakeitTakeitTakeitTakeitTakeitTakeit—

Fuck.

I can't.

I can't fucking do it.

I'm a pathetic excuse of a thief. I can't even steal Ruslan's crown when the chance is handed to me on a fucking silver platter. I can't do it—not even with Aspen on the line. Maybe I'm a coward crumbling under the influence of personified moonlight, because that's all that seems to occupy my mind. Yet, I need to reroute my attention to Aspen.

It's supposed to be for her. All of this. Aspen's stuck in that castle with him too.

I retreat from Ruslan's room and descend back into the shadowed passages. The moments between then and now blur, and I burst through the passageway entrance in the closet, stumbling like a goddamn idiot into Imogen's bedroom. How could I fail as a brother? Every night I choose Imogen when I should be choosing Aspen. I fall asleep dreaming of twisting strands of golden blonde hair between my fingers and breathing in the vanilla scent of her flawless porcelain skin.

My soft heart has officially gone off the ship of rational thought.

I'm drowning, and yet I can't save Imogen from him. I'm only one man, and Aspen came first. She's always been first.

But I fear the threshold of emotions I've crossed with Imogen has grown over the course of these last few nights. She's not even here, and yet little trinkets and drawings she's left behind bring me closer to her. Unknowingly, I clench the crescent moon pendant around my neck, holding tight as if it contained her soul.

I just want a few more days of being next to her. Is that too much to ask? I need those lips calling me a 'petty thief' and those moonlit eyes gazing upwards at the beauty of her kingdom. I need her to tell me stories of her escapades while we sit by the firelight.