"Piper knows," I whispered, repeating Caiden's words so my tongue could taste them.
Piper knew about us this whole time.
My body suddenly felt cold and empty - as if my spirit had left me to travel where the lost wandered aimlessly for all eternity.
"Will," Caiden said.
His voice was faint, the sound not louder than a whispering sigh.
I stepped back, but my knees were too weak to carry me.
"Careful, Will," Caiden said, grabbing my elbows to keep me from tumbling to the floor like a lifeless doll.
I clutched his sleeves, afraid if I lost my grip on him, I would lose grip on reality. But if I looked into his ocean eyes, I was afraid I'd lose myself and forgive him. I couldn't do that - not yet.
"Please, say something," Caiden whispered when I kept staring at his chest, my eyes not troubled by tears but something worse.
Lies... more lies.... Was it ever going to stop?
"How long?" I muttered, a mild breeze curling around my ankles as a tiny flame ignited in my chest - a flame that slowly spread, easing the spiking nerves pricking my skin.
The wind tried cooling my feverish skin, but my body rejected its soothing promises. I didn't need gentle and delicate right now. I needed answers - no matter their hurtful nature.
Caiden's lips turned to a thin line as his royal hands held my elbows tighter. The answer I sought had to be far worse than I'd dared to assume.
"How long, Caiden," I asked through clenched teeth, furrowing the lines across the bridge of my nose.
No. I didn't merely request his silenced answers to be spoken - I demanded them to be.
Caiden clenched his jaw, averting my piercing eyes.
"I don't know, but she came to me only hours before the official conclusion of the Crown Trials," Caiden whispered, straining his voice. "Before the proposal and before I kissed you."
My blood turned to ice, and the smoldering heat growing beneath the surface of my skin erupted into the shadow of fury. It was almost too much for me.
"How could you not tell me!" I screamed, pushing Caiden so hard away from me that he stumbled backward, barely able to regain balance. "How could you not have told me, Caiden! I've loathed myself ever since that day; I've hated myself for what I did to her, and I've allowed that hatred to consume me from within.
"I believed I deserved to be suffering alone because of what I did and how I still feel about you. I thought I deserved these wounds scaring my heart, and now you're telling me that she knew all along?"
It was too much. I had to find Piper. I had to ask her if what Caiden was saying was true.
"She asked me not to tell you, Will," Caiden said, reluctantly stepping closer.
Lines creased the space between his bushed eyebrows. He'd raised his hands as if he was trying to calm an aggressive animal, threatening the lives of those around us.
"Why would she do that?" I whispered, stepping backward until I could feel the wooden door against my back.
My hand blindly searched the rough surface for the metal handle. When my hand couldn't find it, I turned around, desperate to locate the golden object that would let me out of this suffocating room.
"Hold on," Caiden said, slamming the door back into its frame with a ruthless hand. "You can't storm out there in your condition. Let's wait until you have calmed down. Then we'll-"
"No," I said as Caiden's body heat merged with mine.
Caiden stopped, his body rigid as if it had been frozen in time.
He was trying to be the light in my darkness, but the light was too bright for my eyes. It was as if the sun had dared itself too close to Heliac's mountains and lavish grounds, scorching my skin and depleting me of strength.
I needed him so bad it felt impossible to live without him, but I couldn't think straight with him beside me. I couldn't confront Piper the way I needed to.
I'd been terrified of my feelings, frightened to hurt the person I thought I owed so much. Apparently, she'd been lying to me too. I needed to know why, and I didn't want Caiden to see what emotions this wrath squeezing my heart could evoke in me. I didn't want those hopeful eyes to change.
"Let me go, Caiden," I said, urging my voice to stop trembling. "I'm not going to ask again."
"Will," Caiden whispered, placing his hand on my shoulder.
His touch burned like a thousand falling stars, and I couldn't contain myself.
"Let go!" I screamed, turning around to push him away.
I only wished to push him off me so I could run out before he could catch up with me. Instead, I felt the warmth from before exploding in my chest.
The sound of chairs and tables being pushed across the hardened floor and papers curling in the air struck fear in my troubled heart. Caiden and Art stumbled back, but I didn't recall summoning my powers.
My heart thundered as I witnessed the sliver of chaos escaping my control.
"I-"
I stopped myself before I could apologize. This was my chance. If I wanted to find Piper on my own, now was my chance.
My breath hitched when Caiden looked up at me, his eyes wide and haunted. "I'm sorry," I whispered before I twisted the handle and ran out.
"Willow!"
Caiden's voice was like a knife stabbing my heart, but I kept running. Teleporting would get me where I wanted to go much faster than my feet, but after what I'd just experienced, I didn't dare risk it.
Piper wasn't in her room. She wasn't in the Parlor either or the dining hall.
The door to the Battle Arena towered above me, its cracks and aged lines watching me carefully as I pressed my burning palm against its worn surface.
"Piper," I whispered as I found her dressed in her elemental uniform, effortlessly commanding the water to obey her will.
"Will!" she exclaimed once her eyes found my rigid body standing in front of the entrance. "Look! I think I-"
"Why, Piper?" I said, my voice loud like the roaring thunder.
Piper blinked a few times, lines forming between her blond eyebrows.
"I thought you were my friend!" I shouted, stepping forward to support my trembling body.
She chuckled, still looking more confused than I could remember seeing her before. "What are you talking about, Will?" she said, returning the water to its home in the peaceful channel below her. "We are friends."
"You knew, Piper. You knew, and you told me nothing. Do you know how much pain you've put me through? I've hated myself and beat myself up because of what I thought I did to you."
"Did to me? What-"
Piper stopped talking and stiffened as realization dawned upon her like the first flickering lights of a new day.
"So Atlas told you, didn't he?"
I forced myself to nod, clenching my jaws so tight I feared my teeth might shatter. "Why, Piper? Why would you let me believe I'd betrayed you?"
Piper's smile disappeared, and her eyes became glazed as a pearl of salty water united by her tear duct. "I never meant to hurt you, Will; I just did what was necessary."
"Necessary?" I said, a strained laugh teasing my throat to hold back the itching tears. "What made you think it was necessary for you to tell Caiden about this and not me?"
It was the first time I'd ever referred to Heliac's crown prince as Caiden in front of Piper. I'd never wanted her to know how different my relationship with Caiden was from hers. Now, I couldn't care less.
"Will-"
"How long have you known?"
If I took one more step toward her, I would lose all sense of self-control.
Piper bit her lip and averted my gaze. "Since the day I came looking for you after the second trial. I saw your bag behind the pedestal, and I realized why Atlas had sounded so strangely amused when I'd asked him about your whereabouts. He was hiding you in there with him."
My heart sank as her confession hit me like a fist to my gut.
"Wh-why not tell me?" I whispered as the entire world started crumbling before my eyes. "I fought for you. I did everything I could- Why would you-"
I could hardly form the words threatening to suffocate me. I hardly even knew which words I needed to ask the question I desperately needed answers for.
"Would you ever have admitted your unmistakable feelings for Atlas if I'd confronted you?" Piper asked, dropping her furry bracelets from her arms. "Or would you have denied them, just like you did to yourself?"
My anger wavered, gradually being replaced by chaotic confusion. "What about your feelings for him? What about the crown?"
Piper snorted. "Please, Atlas eyed you every chance he got. He was as easy to read as the pages of a children's book. I never had a chance, and I was fine with that. The love you two have for each other is more unique than the petals of a Midnight Tear. I just needed you to realize that too."
"But you said yes to Caiden's proposal, and I would've gone home even if you didn't. Did you know about Tarkan's proposal too?"
Piper nodded reluctantly, and the wave of betrayal made me step back until I landed on the floor.
"I'd initially planned to ask Atlas to propose directly to you during the official conclusion of the Crown Trials, but then Eos told me that she'd convinced the king to make Prince Calix propose to you," Piper admitted, slowly approaching me. "So, I told Atlas that I knew about the two of you and that I supported your relationship.
"Then I asked him to propose to me anyway because I had a plan, and if that plan didn't work before our wedding, we'd reject each other together. I never told him about Prince Calix's proposal, but I needed him to be jealous, and I needed for me to stay by your side until you could finally admit these damned feelings to yourself."
My chest hurt. Piper had known for so long, and she'd been able to keep quiet about it just so I could figure out how much Caiden truly meant to me.
"What about Tarkan?" I said as my skin cooled. "What would you do if I'd fallen for him instead?"
Piper snorted again. I adjusted my position on the floor with a wrinkled brow.
"You may have been able to keep many things from me, but how you feel about Prince Calix has not been one of them. You resent the guy. I don't know why or since when, but you're very unsuccessful in suppressing that disgusted frown every time I mention him."
Piper crossed her arms as my cheeks warmed.
"He had it coming," I said, pouting. "He hates me as much as I hate him. He only tolerates me because he enjoys seeing Caiden in distress."
"Since when?" Piper said and pulled me up from the floor.
"Since he admitted to being responsible for the Raeewh attacking me during our first trial and tried kissing me, so he had leverage for me to keep my mouth shut."
Piper covered her gaping mouth with her hand. "What kind of leverage?"
I sighed, my brain hurting just thinking about it. "We didn't kiss, but he had a picture where it looked like we did. He said that if I ever told anyone about him, he'd show it to the king."
Piper's brow turned into a wave. "What's stopping you from marching into King Alaric's office and telling him now, then? I mean, you and Prince Calix are engaged, after all."
"He's also threatened to expose my relationship to Caiden if I said anything. I didn't think you knew, and I didn't want you to learn from that bastard instead of me."
Piper suddenly pulled me into her embrace, squeezing me tightly. "I'm sorry that I put you through all that," she whispered, burning her face in my neck. "I only did it because I was trying to help you, but I didn't know you had so much working against you. Sorry."
I smiled and returned her hug. "You don't hate me, and you know. That's all that matters now."
A silent tear dampened my skin as it ran from Piper's cheek to my neck.
"That's right!" she exclaimed, pushing me away to look at me with widened eyes and a broad smile. "I do know, so you can tell the king about his wretched son without worrying about hurting my feelings!"
My smile disappeared as I felt my heart beat loudly. If this golden substance hadn't been flowing through my veins, then maybe.
"What's wrong?" Piper said, her smile fading. "I thought you'd be happy. You can be with Atlas now."
I sighed, grazing the pulsing vein on my wrist with my fingers. "Something happened to me when Caiden kissed me," I said, looking up to meet her puzzled eyes.
"What do you mean?"
My eyes scanned the floor until they caught a glimpse of Piper's belt.
"Can I borrow that?" I said, pointing at the brown hilt of her dagger.
Piper looked down and realized that I was referring to her dagger. "Sure, but why? I didn't think you liked pointy thi-"
I didn't hesitate before I sliced the palm of my hand with the blade once I had it in my possession.
"Will!" Piper exclaimed, grabbing my wounded hand with her healing claws. "Has the heat made you mad? Why would you-"
The first drop of golden blood fell from my clenched hand, the sound piercing the silence between us.
I didn't look away from Piper's startled eyes and ignored the pain of squeezing the blood from my body. She deserved to know.
"What is-" Piper gulped. "It's golden."
I nodded. "My blood changed after Caiden kissed me. I can still wield the air, so I don't know what it means, but Art seems to have a theory."
"What kind of theory?"
"That this blood had something to do with the queen's disappearance and that our answers can be found in the Golden Cave."
Piper held her breath as another drop fell toward the ground. "Does he think the queen was like you?"
I shrugged. "I think so, but we're not sure. And we don't know where the Golden Cave is either, but Art knows that clues to its whereabouts can potentially be found in the royal house of the Inferno Realm."
Piper's eyes suddenly turned wide again. "Alright, but then we'll need someone who knows the Inferno Realm inside out," she said with a smile.
I crooked my brow. "Okay? Who?"
Piper's smile became even bigger. "Alia arrives the day before our weddings like the rest of the suitors, and I don't think she'll be able to resist an adventure like that."