The Beauty in Pain | Book One of In Pain Trilogy *EDITING*

1.3. Betrothed

So caught up was she in trying to beat him at his own game, that Mynera didn't notice they had made it to the garden until the heady scent of the flowers hit her nose. She stopped, taking a deep breath as a smile flickered over her face, her eyes closed.

"I did not come out here to watch you sniff the air."

The peace dissipated. Mynera opened her eyes and looked at him. "I think you've mistaken. I do not really care what you came out here for."

"All the better, little lady."

"Little what?" Mynera blinked at him.

Saenar's back was to her, his hands on his hips, his head down as he observed the flowers. At her question he looked up. "Little. Tiny. Small. Am I getting through to you?"

"I know what it means," she snapped. Her ladylike façade was fading more and more as the prince got on her nerves. In the back of her mind, she knew speaking to him in his manner should not be tolerated. But Margot's teachings were slipping away by the minute as her true personality shone through. "I'm not little."

"And I'm not the stunningly handsome Prince Saenar of the Five Nations."

"You're beginning to sound very cocky to me, Saenar. Not very befitting of the future king."

"If you only knew." Saenar bent at a cluster of red roses. "The past kings have been much worse, I assure you."

"King Damon doesn't look cocky." As a matter of fact, he looked like the complete opposite. He looked like a king that would much rather live in a tiny home in a village than in the castle.

"My father is an exception." Saenar plucked a rose from its bed and rose. He handed the rose to her. "For you."

Mynera stared at it for a moment, dumbfounded. Was this some sort of peace offering? Mynera stared down at the bright red rose, as her mind whirred with the possibilities of what it meant, contemplating whether or not she should accept it. She went for the safer choice, ignoring her instinct to slap it aside rudely out of fear of what such disrespect might cause.

"Thank you," she said, taking it from his fingers.

"You can show that to your father," he said as he walked away. "Say that I gave it to you so this walk won't look like a complete waste."

Damn him, she thought immediately, anger surging in her. He wasn't offering it to her out of kindness. He was just putting on a show for their fathers. Mynera looked down on the rose and felt a sharp pain. She held up her thumb to see a dot of red coming from the surface. 

Serves me right for trusting him for even a second, she thought.

"How clever of you," she said dryly.

"That was not clever but mainly common sense. I'm sure you have it somewhere in you."

Mynera gripped the rose hard, welcoming the stinging pain that exploded on her palm as way of holding back her screech of rage. 

A lady never shows too much of her emotions, Margot whispered in her head, but she could get angry.

"Tell me," Mynera bit out. "Do you want to get married to me?'

"Not in the slightest."

"Then why are we doing this? Why didn't you say as much to your father?"

"Reasons your simple mind wouldn't be able to comprehend, little lady. And you? Why don't you tell your father you don't want to marry me?"

"I never said I didn't want to marry you."

"Your words may not have said it, little lady, but your attitude toward me clearly shows your true feelings."

Mynera stiffened in her anger. She tried breathing slowly through her nose, just as the priestesses had taught her. "My name is Mynera, Your Highness, not little lady. And yes, you're right. I don't want to marry you. I dread it with every bone in my body. Just the thought of it makes me sick."

Her harsh words didn't faze him. He continued looking around at the flowers on his slow stroll. Mynera hadn't noticed that she had been following along.

"I repeat," the prince said. "Why don't you tell your father?"

"Marrying the Prince of the Five Nations is a large accomplishment for a lady" she said simply. "No matter how repulsive it is to me. My father would never forgive me if I gave up this opportunity to become queen and to join families with his dear friend. As a matter of fact, he would not even allow it. So telling him is no use."

"Sounds like a hard burden to bear."

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Saenar stopped and she stopped too. He looked at her. "I was being sarcastic."

Mynera nodded. "I know you were, but 'tis still the truth. I am being forced into a loveless marriage. Don't you think that's burden enough?"

Saenar looked at her a while longer, his brown eyes glinting as if they were sending her a silent message. She didn't know what they were saying and he turned away before she could figure it out.

"Some people would kill to be queen," he said calmly.

"Unlike those people, I have no interest in the title." After a moment, she plowed on. "Why don't you want to marry me?"

"Same reason."

"Same ..." She was shocked. "So you don't think I was being overly romantic?"

"Not quite."

Mynera frowned at that. Not the answer she had been expecting. "Saenar, do you wish to be married to someone else?"

Saenar stopped and turned to her. His eyes held a mixture of annoyance and mirth. "Enough questions," he said. "We should be heading back now."

She blinked, masking her surprise with a nod. "Ah, yes. I believe we should."

They returned to the castle in silence and it was until they made it back that Mynera realized she had not shown him her favorite flowers.