"K-kissed her?" Alia whispered, staring at Caiden with eyes of disbelief.
Her brow then furrowed less than a second later. "Against her wishes, Caiden. You kissed her against her wish?"
A blue streak of zigzag patterns shot from Alia's fingertips, tearing through the air with one goal in mind. It barely evaded my tense shoulders, the hairs on my skin rising as the air sizzled with electricity before it touched Caiden's hand.
"Ouch!" Caiden exclaimed, swiftly letting go of my shoulder to pull it back as Alia's powers zapped him.
"You don't kiss a lady without her consent! I thought Alaric raised you better than that!" Alia said, stepping closer to slap Caiden across his broad chest. "You don't—"
"It wasn't like that," Caiden said, catching Alia's wrist before she could slap him again. "I love her, Alia."
My body stiffened as Alia stopped resisting Caiden. A surge of excitement and unease rippled through my chest as Caiden's words echoed in my mind.
He... loved me...
I'd never heard him confess those words to others before.
Alia ripped her wrist from Caiden's hand before I'd recovered from the shock of surprise. "That doesn't excuse you from kissing someone who obviously didn't want it. She's an engaged woman, Caiden. Just because you're the crown prince doesn't permit you to—"
"What did you want me to do? Willow had already confessed that our feelings were mutual. Did you just want me to let her go and allow Calix to have her?"
"Stop it," I whispered, but not nearly loud enough for them to hear me through their raised voices.
Alia stepped past me, backing Caiden further into the corner. "Yes. If Willow really desired to be with you and be Heliac's golden queen, she wouldn't have agreed to help me pair you with Piper. Did you ever stop to think that love isn't always enough when—"
"Stop it!" I exclaimed, the ground rumbling under my feet as I turned around to face the two bodies who had stopped breathing.
"What Caiden did was not alright," I said, clenching the fabric of my delicate dress between my fingers. "But what we did to Caiden was not okay, either. Crown prince or not, no one should be forced to marry someone he didn't choose."
Alia's face displayed a variety of emotions as if she couldn't decide what emotion to settle on. "But he proposed to Piper. If he didn't want to be with her, why propose?"
I was about to open my mouth, unsure which answer would pass my lips when another voice interrupted me.
"That was my fault."
Piper stepped out of the shadow cast by the giant pillar supporting the empty balcony above the door. My heart skipped a beat before the dim light from the setting sun made her dress and tiara sparkle like the peaceful waves of the calm sea.
I hadn't even heard her enter. But, then again, I hadn't heard Caiden enter either.
"I asked him to propose to me because I knew King Alaric would propose to Will on Calix's behalf. I needed them both to see what idiots they were for not admitting they belonged together."
"You?" Alia whispered, her eyes wide with confusion. "Why? What good would it do to make Willow believe that the two of you were engaged and in love?"
I immediately looked at the white tiles we were standing on. Piper had explained her miraculously successful plan to me, but I still wasn't sure how any of it had worked out as it did.
I should've rejected Caiden. I should've rejected him if I'd been a truly good friend to Piper. Of course, I should've rejected Tarkan's proposal too, but... I wasn't even sure what thoughts had passed my mind back then anymore.
"—but I wouldn't have let Calix propose to her if I knew what he'd done to her before."
Piper already seemed to have explained her previous plan to Alia while I'd been trapped in my own mind, pondering my sins.
"And what exactly has Calix done?" Alia asked, crossing her arms.
My heart shot to my throat as images of Tarkan's smirking face flashed before my eyes.
"That's not why I brought you in here, Alia."
The words left my lips before I'd considered them.
Alia and every other eye turned to me, and I felt my cheeks heat. I hadn't meant to sound desperate, as if I didn't want Alia to know what kind of heart had been hiding in Tarkan's chest.
Alia crooked her brow and raised her chin. "What could possibly be more noteworthy than the fact that you're not marrying Calix, and Piper is not marrying Caiden? Has Caiden proposed to you?"
"No," Caiden and I exclaimed simultaneously.
Our eyes met for a brief second before I forced mine away from him again. It sounded as if I didn't want to marry Caiden, which hadn't been my intention.
"Not yet, anyway," Caiden muttered, making tiny butterflies awaken in my stomach.
"Were you planning—"
"Hold it right there," Alia said before I could finish my sentence.
She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "None of you are proposing here. The two of you are still engaged despite Piper's blessing and whatever is going on between Calix and you. I still have to wrap my head around this, so please, no one proposes tonight, and someone — for the love of Pavo's spirit — tell me why I'm here."
I bit my lip and turned my gaze toward the unbroken skin of my palm. I hadn't brought a blade with me this time, and nothing immediately around me could be used as one either. Words would have to suffice this time.
"I— um..." I started, my eyes following the pulsating vein visible beneath my delicate skin. "S-something happened when Caiden kissed me."
The whisper was as low as the reluctant sigh of a defeated soul.
"M-my blood changed. We're not sure what it means yet, but—"
"Changed how?" Alia asked, stepping closer to me.
I hesitated — not because I was afraid that Alia would storm out and turn me in, but because I wanted her to understand why we needed her.
"G-golden," I said, evading her gaze. "My blood turned golden."
"I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say, Will," Alia said, chuckling as she placed her hands on her slim waist. "There is no such thing as golden blood."
The lip I held between my teeth screamed in pain as I bit down to swallow the jitters shaking my hands. "Cursed—"
I wasn't allowed to finish my curse before Alia's warm hands grabbed my jaw and lifted my chin for her to examine my throbbing lip.
"Your blood is golden," Alia whispered when I realized the warm feeling by the corner of my mouth wasn't the tip of her finger. It was my own blood. "How is that possible?"
Piper came to my aid before Caiden could touch me. "We don't know yet, but Prince Arthur has a theory."
I wrinkled the bridge of my nose and sucked in a sharp breath between my clenched teeth as Piper healed my broken lip.
"Uncle Art believes the Golden Cave could hold answers to Willow's golden blood. He also theorizes that the blood could have something to do with my mother's disappearance."
Alia crooked her brow again. "But no one knows where the Golden Cave is."
"Prince Arthur knows of some secret map located at the Inferno Royals' palace in the Ember district that should point us in the direction of the Golden Cave. We plan to travel there tomorrow, but none of us has great knowledge of the Ember Region, so—"
"So, you intelligently reasoned that you'd need me," Alia said to finish Piper's sentence.
"We would never ask this of you if we didn't think it necessary," I quickly added when Piper let go of me. "But we understand if you can't join us. You have a home and a life in the Inferno Realm. We'll be known as traitors after tomorrow, and I'm sure Eileen will—"
"Eileen is dead."
I resisted the urge to gasp as I fought back the tears for Alia that were welling up inside of me. My lungs burned as if those tears threatened to drown me if I didn't release them.
"I'm so sorry, Alia," I whispered, reaching out in an attempt to comfort her.
I wasn't a healer able to heal the wounds carved deep into Alia's restless soul. I don't think any healer — no matter their level of expertise — would be able to heal wounds like that. Only time would — and knowing people were here to support her.
But Alia stepped back before I could touch her.
"It happened before the end of the Crown Trials," she said, rubbing her bare arm. "Eileen was sick, and I didn't know. Not even our best healers could cure her, which is rarer than finding a fire flower outside the Ember Region. She died a month before I arrived home. My parents aren't exactly speaking to me, so I have absolutely nothing keeping me here."
Alia chuckled, but her trembling voice made the pain easy to detect. She couldn't hold the tears back either.
"So, of course, I'll join your stupid mission to find answers, but you better have some answers for me too because—"
A quiet cry drowned her words.
I didn't care how tough Alia was trying to be. Even the strongest warrior needed support, so I wrapped my arms around her before she could reject me again. "You're allowed to cry, Alia. Your heart has been through more than it should be able to carry. It's okay to break."
And she finally did.
"P-please, take me with you," Alia whispered through her falling tears, grabbing my shoulders and pressing her face into my neck.
Suddenly, a larger shadow wrapped its arms around the both of us, and Caiden's familiar warmth heated my back.
"You're part of our family, Alia. We couldn't leave without you."
Piper joined us soon after.
"We'll meet early tomorrow morning in front of Prince Arthur's studio."
***
I could not be in this room a second longer.
There were too many people and too much noise for me to think.
Alia had agreed to join our mission to find the Golden Cave. Our team had been assembled, but the circumstances had been much less than ideal.
Eileen was dead. I'd never met her, but as far as I understood, she'd been the love of Alia's life. I couldn't imagine the pain I'd be in if Caiden died, and Alia hadn't had anyone to comfort her in her grief.
It would still be hours before this rehearsal dinner would be over, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to answer one more question with another lie in front of these people. Tarkan hadn't been anywhere to find since we'd joined the party again a few hours ago, so I'd been forced to manage the answers to our fake future alone... bastard.
Art was still part of the party, so his studio wouldn't be available to act as my sanctuary. Faye would be in my chamber, so it wouldn't be possible for me to find peace there, either. The only available room I could think of was the Battle Arena.
The only problem was the enormous mass of people still aching to catch me for their personal entertainment. I would never make it to the Battle Arena unscathed on foot.
I trapped the nail of my thumb between my teeth as I remembered the last time I'd tried teleporting in Art's studio — the pain and the failure to hit the attended mark. I hadn't missed by a lot, so if I only imagined the entire room, I could be okay. However, the pain still terrified me.
"Miss Aldwyn!"
I looked up, catching a glimpse of a gray-haired lady vying for my attention.
No. No more questions. No more lies. I couldn't take another second of it.
I hurried behind a corner, gone from every prying eye in the room, and closed my eyes to visualize the Battle Arena. Then I summoned my powers.
Time was limited. It would be a matter of moments before the curious lady found me, and it would be too late. So, I pushed myself to seek inward until I felt the heat sprouting from the core of my beating heart.
Art had said the pain arose when I tried to suppress the new powers trying to emerge, so if I let them rise to the surface with my existing powers, the problem should be solved.
The warmth spread from my chest toward my arms, following every tiny vein circulating my vibrating blood. Then my limbs turned cold as a shade of fear touched the corners of my mind.
I didn't know what this warmth was or what it wanted from me. I didn't know what consequence it had to let it consume me, and then the pain emerged, but it was too late.
My body split into atoms, traveling at the speed of light through any obstacle that kept me from my goal until I reappeared as a whole body again.
I fell to my knees, gasping for air and clenching the fabric surrounding my chest as if it was suffocating me.
"I understand that you find me alluring, but I hadn't expected you to follow me here so recklessly."
My body stiffened, and I stopped breathing. I'd teleported to the Battle Arena, but instead of finding myself in the middle of the actual arena as planned, I'd missed my mark and ended up in one of the dressing rooms.
Reluctantly, I forced my chin up and saw Tarkan smirking gleefully down at me.
His entire torso was exposed, and only a white towel covered the rest of him.
Blood rose to my cheeks as my eyes analyzed the carvings of his chiseled muscles, the water racing across his bulging chest. My heart shouldn't be racing like this, but it was hard not to think that he was potentially completely naked behind that towel.
I forced my gaze away from him and placed my damp palms against the tiled floor to push myself up. "I hadn't expected anyone to be here. Especially not my future husband, who I thought had drowned in the sea of guests only here to see us and the other engaged pair."
It was impossible not to spit that word, husband. I didn't want him to even slightly think that I liked the thought of being bound to him for eternity.
Tarkan chuckled. "Shouldn't you be there as well?"
"I'm not the one who has been raised to handle gatherings like this, so I—"
Tarkan's hand suddenly wrapped around my arm as if he was trying to be helpful.
"Let go of me, Tarkan," I hissed, pulling my arm away from him without success. "I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."
Tarkan chuckled again, tightening his grip on my arm. "Sure, Wildcard. I thought you'd gotten a handle on your teleporting abilities, but I see that the stunt you pulled at the final trial may have been pure luck."
I clenched my teeth and narrowed my eyes at him. "I said: let go."
I pulled back again, but my strength was too much to handle. Tarkan didn't let go. Instead, we both fell backward until my back was pressed against the floor and my face squeezed by his chest.
"Always full of surprises, aren't you, Wildcard?" Tarkan said, chuckling without moving.
"Get off, Tarkan," I hissed, pushing his chest away from my face with my hands, so I could eventually roll aside.
"That wouldn't be much fun for me, would it?" Tarkan asked before his giant hands wrapped around my frail wrists and forced them above my head.
I gasped as he settled between my legs, his face stopping mere inches from mine.
"I wasn't the one who rudely intruded on a half-naked man in the middle of his shower. What exactly did you think was going to happen here, Fiancé?"
My heart was skipping like a flattened rock on the surface of endless water. I couldn't show him the fear prodding my gut. He was like a fearless predator; one trace of the prey displaying reluctance, and he would strike.
"I didn't know you were in here," I said, furrowing my brow. "Now, let me go so that I can leave."
Tarkan's smile only widened, and my throat thickened. "You can't run forever, you know," he whispered, leaning closer to my ear. "The two of us will be married tomorrow, and you will be mine."
"We'll see about that," I hissed before I filled my lungs with air and released a wind that forced him back.
I'd so badly wanted to headbutt him, but I couldn't risk him seeing my blood.
Tarkan fell sideways, exposing his back.
A mighty, four-legged creature decorated his lower back, its antlers stretching into a crown of a large oak tree that covered the rest of his entire back. It was beautiful, but I didn't have time to sit here and admire it. I had to get out before Tarkan recovered.
Desperate, I stumbled to my feet, running toward the exit. However, before I could reach the corner, thorned branches destroyed the tiles and formed an impenetrable wall.
"Cursed blood," I whispered, stepping away from the long needles.
"Why are you resisting me, Wildcard?" Tarkan said, his laugh deep and malicious. "You can't run from your fate."
Before I could turn around, Tarkan had my chin captured in his hand and raised for my eyes to meet his.
"One kiss now or tomorrow, the outcome will remain the same."
Then he closed his eyes and leaned closer.
I was not going to kiss that bastard, even if it meant injuring a golden prince to the point where he would need to be taken to the infirmary.
Without hesitation, I rammed my knee upward between his legs. He immediately let go of me with a suppressed cry of pain, but before he could bend over, I clenched my hand into a fist and thrust it into his cheek.
Tarkan darted through the air until he landed on the ground, brown color tainting the white tiles.
My knuckles hurt, and it was likely that I'd broken a few of the bones in my hand. I wasn't used to fighting like this.
"That is one mean punch you throw, Wildcard," Tarkan said, spitting out a pinch of blood before he forced himself back onto his feet.
Panic surged through me. I had no chance against Tarkan once he began fighting seriously.
Recklessly, I turned my back on him and darted toward the thorned wall. I forced the wind into a rotating blade and began cutting, but it took seconds for the wall to mend itself again.
Then a green vine sprouted from the ground, wrapping itself around my wrist and forcing me out of balance.
Pain shot from my cheek, followed by the familiar warmth of blood trailing down my skin.
I became unnaturally still before reluctantly moving my free hand to my chin. Golden blood colored my fingertips. I'd come too close to the thorns.
Tarkan had stopped moving and was now watching me with care. He'd seen it. He'd seen the golden blood flowing through my veins before he was meant to.
Without another word, I felt the vine pull me forward until another took hold of my other wrist. Tarkan was forcing me away from the wall.
"Tarkan," I whispered, turning my head to see him getting dressed. "Tarkan, please. I can explain."
He showed no mercy and uttered no more words before he began running toward his wall.
The thorned wall opened for him. He was going to warn his father.
"Tarkan!" I shouted again, cutting the damned vines to free my hands, but it was too late. He'd jumped through the thicket, and it was already mending its gap behind him, trapping me here.
My heart was racing faster than I thought possible. Tarkan knew. He knew and soon would the rest of the royal family.
We were so screwed.