Royale (Book #1 Royale Series) {Under Revision}

Chapter 43: This Means War

No.

"I don't understand."

It sounded like such a trivial thing to say in the wake of such vital information, but what else could I have said? What would have made sense? I'm sorry? No, 'I'm sorry' would have been a terrible thing to say because what could my sorrow do to fix things? To fix Samuel's heart? To fix Taylor's and Aspen's and Lilac's? And what about Scott's family? Skylar and Alice and Marianna?

Then again. 'I don't understand' didn't seem a very good way to go either.

"What are you going to do?" I asked Samuel, before anyone could elaborate on my misunderstanding of the situation.

"I don't know," he answered. "She didn't mean for it to happen. She was aiming for Katherine, but anyone who knows how to aim a gun could see that it was going to hit Taylor. And then everything happened so fast and it was like one minute Scott was diving in front of Taylor and the next he was on the ground bleeding."

Aspen stood a fair distance away, not giving his assertion on the matter. I could guess that he was torn with his feelings. He knew that it was an accident, but still couldn't stop his anger.

"She won't talk to me. She just shuts me out. I even tried to bring our son in there to see her and she just slams the door. I honestly don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how I can help her."

He looked so saddened that it broke whatever was left of my heart to be broken.

"I can't-I can't tell her that it isn't her fault, as much as I want to. But I think that's the only thing that I could tell her to make her feel better."

He was right. He couldn't tell her that.

"Make her remember that she didn't mean to do it. I know it sounds ridiculous, and maybe it won't do much, but no matter what happened, she did not mean to kill Scott. And yes, Taylor is going to have to hate her for a little while, but she will get through it. And so will Lilac."

"What makes you so sure?"

I took a deep breath. With so much going on, I hadn't thought much about what I had done to the Isolian rebel leader, but I could remember it vividly.

"It was dark and I was scared. Of being raped and being pushed to my limits. I had already been beaten, I didn't think there was any way I could possibly survive being sexually abused. I was afraid of dying. So I did the only thing I thought I could do and I killed him. With my own hand. On purpose."

I looked from Aspen to Samuel, examining their reactions. Samuel looked sad. Aspen looked furious.

"Samuel, I need to speak to you outside." He said through clenched teeth.

Samuel gave my hand one last squeeze before obliging.

They both walked out and Aspen shut the door behind him. The walls of Aspen's palace must have been impossibly thick because the only sounds that could be heard were the beeping of the heart monitor beside me and my labored breaths.

Was it mistake divulging that information? Instead of trying to help, did I just make things worse? Like always?

The eavesdropper in me longed to know what they were talking about. The coward in me was afraid to find out.