"Willow," Caiden said, my name sounding like a burden as heavy as the crown he was destined to bear.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
I knew I was right, but I needed him to say it. I needed him to confess for me to fully believe it.
"Is that what's important at this moment?" Caiden was about to divert the question, and I could feel the anger beginning to fester within me.
"Answer me, Caiden," I demanded, raising my voice and clenching my fists so hard that my nails pierced the skin.
Caiden sighed, but I stood my ground. His royal title meant nothing to me right now. I deserved an explanation.
"We had been greeting the people of the Golden City from the light of the first dawn until the sun crossed the horizon in the west. The Crown Trials had barely begun, and I was already feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility."
I held my breath. Caiden wasn't looking at me. He appeared genuinely uncomfortable about my presence, almost ashamed.
"My father had arranged for us to stay the night at one of the local hotels so that we could rest up before going to the Valley Academy to witness the first contender earn a place in the Crown Trials. I snuck out after dinner to find one of my oldest friends who lived nearby.
"His mother was one of the engineers working on the new version of the H2O bike, and she had a prototype in their garage. I borrowed it to go for a ride and clear my head. I didn't anticipate it breaking down on me, and I hadn't counted on meeting anyone either, but I'm glad I did."
My stomach stirred when Caiden's eyes met mine again. A cautious smile tugged on the corners of his mouth, but mine remained a straight line.
"Willow," he sighed and stepped a little closer to me, only for me to step back. "Why is a stranger on a motorcycle so important to you?"
My eyes stung. "I don't care about a stranger on a bike, Caiden. I care that it was you and that you never cared to tell me about our first meeting."
"Does it really matter?" he asked, unbuttoning the cape connected to his uniform and gently placing it across the back of the chair next to him.
"Of course, it matters, Caiden!" I exclaimed, bringing my hands to my forehead, hoping that the contact with my own skin would stop my frail mind from shattering.
"You claim to have feelings for me, but if that meeting was all it took— If you think that those feelings are real because I helped you fix a bike... I swear to your ancestors, Caiden," I said, pointing my index finger in his direction, "if you say that, I became stuck on your mind like some broken record because you'd never seen a girl like me in your royal circles as Adriel told me the first day, I will lay ruin to this castle and everyone in it."
"Willow," Caiden said, but I wasn't done.
Tears were flooding my eyes, and I no longer had the resilience to hold them back. "You were probably the one who convinced the king to involve me in the Trials so you could trick me into loving you! I can't believe I fell for it! You're just as bad as your wicked—"
"Willow!" Caiden shouted, grabbing my wrists to twist my body to face him. "If you would let me talk, I can explain!"
I sniffled and forced the pout of pity into an expression of bitterness. "Then talk!"
Caiden was about to reveal the mystery of his mind when his eyes caught sight of my bleeding palms. My face constricted in pain when he spread my fingers and moved his thumb across the wounds.
The pain was instantly replaced by a feeling of relief, but I wasn't going to let myself relish the comfort of a healer's touch. Not now.
"I've done many things that I'm not proud of, Willow," Caiden said before I could shout at him again, "but I never lied about that day."
His voice sounded calm and collected. He didn't behave as I'd anticipated; instead, he appeared saddened and even scorched by my accusations.
"It was true that I was impressed by your remarkable skills, and I would lie if I said that I hadn't thought about you during our tour, but I had a duty to the Crown," he said while healing my other palm. "Yes, I was surprised by your appearance in the mansion. I hadn't expected to see your face again, and certainly not dressed the way you were, so I accidentally dropped my glass.
"It upset me gravely when you refused my help when I offered to heal your wound, but when you stepped in front of your mother to save her from that coward, Deveroux, it made sense."
My cheeks heated when he mentioned my outfit from the day of service. The tiny skirt I'd been forced into was undoubtedly not a memory I desired to remember.
I stood rigid when Caiden released my left wrist to wipe away a streak of blood I'd left on my forehead.
"My father wanted to send you and your family to the dungeons for breaking the rules of Heliac, but I talked him out of it.
"Your powers were much too developed and unreliable to keep contained, so I suggested we shipped you to the Templars to teach you how to control them. That's when he suggested the plan to include you in the Trials and have Uncle Art tutor you. That way, he could keep an eye on you."
The world began spinning before my eyes, and my chest suddenly felt a little too tight for my heart. "So, why? When?" I asked, short of breath.
"The day before the official beginning of the Trials — when we met in the corridor," Caiden said, releasing my other wrist so he could turn away to look out the window. "You hadn't changed anything about yourself during the styling sessions, and the way you were carrying those books—"
Caiden's laugh cut through me like a spear. My mind was being torn apart by feelings I'd never had before. I was angry in one moment, then happy in the next, only to be shot down by a stab of disappointment a second later. I didn't know what to do with myself.
"I admired that you dared maintain who you were despite your new surroundings, but what really got to me was when your chambermaid appeared. You didn't hesitate to protect her; you even seemed willing to accept a potential punishment in her stead. That was when I first started taking notice of you."
"But not when you fell in love with me?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Caiden shook his head and looked back at me.
My feet were glued to the ground. Even as Caiden started to approach me once more, I was unable to move.
"Love like this doesn't happen at one single moment, Willow. Love is a series of events leading to the realization that the person you can't stop thinking about will never leave your mind."
Caiden stopped so close to me that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. He looked frustrated and prepared to tear my mind apart to find the answers he sought, but not even I could make heads or tails of my thoughts right now.
"Willow," he said, placing his cool palms on my cheeks, "I don't love you because I can't have you. I love you because of who you are. You are a compassionate and kind woman who puts everyone else before herself. You won't hesitate to fight for what you believe in, even if it means sacrificing your happiness in favor of others. You are the queen our people deserve."
A salty tear fled the corner of my eye, caressing Caiden's fingers as gravity pulled it toward the ground. "Caiden, I can't—" I said, my voice drowning behind the crushing guilt of his words. "It can't be us. You already proposed to Piper; you're an engaged man, and I can't ruin her happiness—"
"Whose fault do you think that is?"
His heart was pounding steadily under the palm of my hand. The distance between us and the thought of hurting Piper were the only reasons I could keep my head straight; otherwise, I would've already surrendered to the Crown Prince's power, but if he knew— if Caiden knew about Alia's plan—
"I don't—" I said, not daring to allow my eyes to look at him. Their treacherous nature would reveal everything Alia and I had worked so hard to achieve. "I don't know what you're referring to, Caiden."
"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" Caiden asked, forcing my face upward, but I kept my eyes from seeing his. Then I shrugged.
Caiden sighed despondently.
I was acting like a child. He obviously knew that Alia and I had been plotting to set him up with Piper, but I did not want to admit it. I was already forced to live under the same roof as him for as long as it would take me to break my own engagement. I would never be able to look at him again if I admitted to taking away his freedom of choice.
"I clearly remember the look on your face when you protected your mother from Knox's destructive fire."
My body acted on its own, omitting every signal my brain sent about avoiding Caiden's gaze. His eyes were examining me like someone watching the colors of their first dawn. They were soft and made my heart flutter anxiously.
"At that moment, I could tell how much your family meant to you. Like Faye, you would've done anything to protect her, and I can only hope that one day I will be able to comprehend the suffering we caused when we forced you away from your family."
"Caiden—" I whispered, but he didn't let me talk. He had something to say, and I was going to listen.
"I realized what you were trying to accomplish when you helped Alia escape Miss Mays' Shadow Lightning, and at that moment, I gave up." Caiden's eyes turned as blank as a mirror, but he'd been raised not to let his emotions get the best of him. Those tears would never be bound by gravity like mine. "It has always been you, Willow, but I was willing to let you go if it meant you could get back to your family. I was prepared to let you leave and accept your request that I marry Piper, but then my father proposed to you on behalf of Calix."
My heart sank to my stomach.
Caiden's grip around my cheeks tightened, and his lips curled with disgust. He even closed his eyes not to look at me when he finally gathered the courage to ask the question that had, without doubt, been burning on his mind since this morning.
"Why Willow?" he asked, and I felt a prickling sensation shoot up my spine. "Why would you accept Calix's proposal and not mine?"
"It's not what you think, Caiden; I—"
I was barely allowed to explain myself before Caiden grabbed my left wrist, displaying the ring that exhibited my commitment to Tarkan like a beacon of light. "This ring certainly begs to differ. You claim to be angry with me based on lies I haven't told, but I would argue that claiming to love someone while loving another is a sin greater than any lie."
The fear and chaos that had clawed my mind to unrecognizable shreds mere seconds ago stabilized into a burst of rage and wrath.
The pale-blue blood on my hands stained his uniform as I forced his hands away from me.
"You have no idea what I've been through in this competition, Caiden!" I shouted with a piercing glare of warning. "I was presented with an impossible choice this morning when the king — the king, asked me to marry his son in front of millions of viewers. What do you think would've happened if I'd declined his offer? Are you so gullible to think I would've gone home to a quiet life?"
My mind was overwhelmed by anger, and the wind was gradually reacting to the disappearing veil that should've contained my growing temperament.
"I would've been looked at with contempt for the rest of my life. I would be branded as the ungrateful suitor who was not granted just one, not two, but three chances to become part of the Crown. I—"
A stab of pain in my chest stopped me from spilling more hurtful words, and I breathed deeply to contain my emotions.
"I do not wish to stay by Tarkan's side, and believe me when I say that he does not want me either. We'll figure a way out of this engagement in the most civil way possible so you and Piper can have a happy life without me in it. I promise to stay out of your way, Caiden, but if you ever hurt Piper, I will never forgive you."
I turned around, ready to leave his room and life, when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. "Caiden!" I squealed, but he made it impossible to pull away from his chest.
He wrapped an arm around my waist while the other hand slipped onto my cheek. "Not this time," he whispered, looking down at me with a gaze more determined than I'd seen it before. "I will not let my brother have you."
My eyes widened, but there was nowhere left for me to flee.
Time stopped. My heart was beating so fast that I could hardly get a decent breath. Yet, despite all these daunting emotions, my chest heated as if a new sun had formed inside it.
Caiden's lips against mine were softer than the first snowfall to which he'd introduced me. They tasted sweeter than the sticky marshmallows he'd offered me when I was cold from the winter weather, and—
A horrifying sound escaped my lips, startling me awake from the spell of Caiden's embrace.
"It appears that I might not be the only one who has longed for this moment," Caiden mumbled against my lips as he pulled back without letting me go.
He smiled, amused, and I felt my face become warm with embarrassment. "Let go, Caiden," I whispered, forcing my eyes away from his charming gaze. "This isn't right. Piper will—"
"I couldn't let you go again," Caiden said, interrupting me as he tightened his grip around my waist. "I would regret it for the rest of my life if I did so again. Besides, can you look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't enjoy it as much as I did?"
It was like I was back in the room of a Thousand Worlds when Caiden confronted me for the first time about my feelings. I'd been saved by my own trauma back then, but not this time.
"Willow," Caiden whispered, guiding my face back to his with a gentle push.
I shook my head reluctantly. "But what about Piper?" I whispered, feeling the pain of the words.
Caiden smiled gently, stroking a strand of hair away from my eyes. "We'll figure it out, Will. Miss Weldon is a kind and understanding person and an even better friend. She'll understand, and then we'll make Heliac understand."
My breath of reluctance was cut short when Caiden leaned over me to cover my lips with his again. The kiss was deeper and gentler than before, making my chest flutter with thrill.
I should've denied him, but a fog of desire and longing clouded my ability to think with reason. Caiden was all I could think of. The taste of him, his warmth, the heat spreading from my chest.
My body began acting on its own, leaning into the kiss as my hands slowly crawled to his silky hair. I couldn't deny him anymore, and he knew it. This kiss proved it.
We were going to figure everything out. The engagement with Tarkan would soon be history, and we would make sure Piper—
The state of everlasting euphoria in Caiden's arms was shortly disrupted by a sharp pain in my heart.
My face constricted in pain, and I pulled away to concentrate on soothing the ache, but it was gone before I could focus on the origin.
"What's wrong?" Caiden asked when I brought my hand from his hair to my chest.
"I don't know," I said, closing my eyes to ensure the pain wouldn't return. "I just felt—"
Another jab of excruciating pain shot through my chest like a bullet; this time, it didn't stop.
I backed away and fell to my knees with an agonizing scream.
"What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"
I couldn't tell him; the pain was too much, and it only got worse with every beat of my heart. Pulses of electricity shortly numbed my body, followed by the feeling of a fire searing the insides of my body.
"Make it stop, Caiden!" I screamed, clutching the fabric of my dress as if I was about to grow out of it.
"Stay with me, Will!"
Caiden's voice faded, and the world blackened before the pain finally became so intense that I passed out.
I woke up covered in sweat, but the intense pain was gone. My head was still pounding like someone had been hitting it with a sledgehammer, and my body felt heavy, but it wasn't as unbearable as before.
"Can you hear me, Will?"
Caiden was standing beside me, leaning over me with worried eyes. Art was standing on my left, which meant Caiden had brought me to Art's studio while I'd been unconscious.
I nodded to answer Caiden's query but couldn't get up.
"Help her up, Caiden," Art said before turning around to search through his mess.
Caiden did as he was told and helped me to a seated position.
"Now, Willow, tell me everything that happened, and don't leave out any details," Art said, turning on the tab to drench a cloth that he then placed on my forehead.
I tried to talk, but my throat felt sore and dry. "Here," Caiden said, handing me a glass of water. I smiled to express my gratitude.
The drops cooled my burning throat like the cloth soothed my throbbing head.
"My heart—" I forced myself to say, but I couldn't utter more than a few words at a time without coughing. "Pain. Electricity. Fire..."
Art opened his eyes widely as if he knew what had caused the intense suffering.
I'd never believed in gods or that spirits were able to directly affect the living. Still, this experience made me reconsider everything I'd previously believed. I'd kissed another person's fiancé, and I'd been punished for it.
Art turned around and dug into a pile of random objects. "Give me your hand, Willow," he said, presenting his own hand for me to give him mine.
I hesitated, but I'd learned not to question my master in certain circumstances. He would take my hand by force if necessary, so I did as I was told.
Art smiled. "Thank you," he said before he drew a knife and cut across the palm of my hand.
I yanked my hand back without a sound passing my lips, but it was too late. The damage was done.
"Uncle!" Caiden exclaimed and was instantly by my side, ready to heal the new wound.
"It can't be," Art whispered with his back turned against us.
"What can't be?" I asked, hoarsely and slightly annoyed by the sudden act. He could've asked, at least.
Then Art turned around to show us the blade that should've been covered by my blood, but it didn't look like mine.
Golden liquid infused with something that once looked like my blood dripped from the blade — liquids mixing like oil and water.
"I've only seen this once before, long ago," Art whispered, his hand shivering like an old man's. "You're one of the Dragon Bound, Willow. You're a Golden Blood."
To be continued in book three: The Raven Flame.
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