I wanted to dance. I wanted to be swept up in the long desert night, sending a farewell to the fallen and embracing the living.
Recklessness had a price. Always.
Cheer is for fools with idle minds. I am neither a fool nor idle.
Our history told of kings that smiled and kings that conquered. He was the latter.
They are brothers,” Benny repeated softly. “That is a bond you cannot break.
Well, future apprentice or not, no one is going to sway me but me.
He kept me up against the wall, kissing me like he couldn’t fight any longer. Like he was me, fighting himself and losing to a fervor that would burn him alive.
People make mistakes all the time –some of us just are in more of a position to leave an impact when we do.” Impact. Influence. Somehow along the way I had joined the circle of people whose actions dictated change, and it scared me how easy it would be to make the wrong one.
He was a prince. There was no hope in saying yes to the boy with the garnet eyes who left me reckless and confused at every turn. There was no future with him. None. Darren had duty. To the Crown. Gods only knew Priscilla and Blayne had spent enough time reminding me of that.
I had trained my whole life as a warrior. But in that moment I was the damsel-in-distress.
I don’t want to choose him. I know a future with him would never be what I want it to be.
Warriors dealt with pain every day, and now that the worst of mine was gone, I was determined to do the same.
I’m not like you. I’ve never cared about keeping relationships or sparing people’s feelings. All I’ve ever cared about is power: how to get it, and how to keep it. I told you as much when we met.
Pain will come and go, and you need to learn to push past it. If you are overwhelmed you won’t be able to do what needs to be done.
Love Darren? Of course not. Love is for fools not smart enough to see the path in front of them. That’s the difference between you and I, Ryiah. I see the truth and accept Darren for what he is. You just see what you want to see. It’s why I will wear the crown and bear his children while you are left wondering why you were never good enough.
The girl wouldn’t last the year. Girls like her were soft and easy to break. Lowborns always wanted glory until they realized the hard work it entailed. Darren had worked hard for everything, and a girl who tried to take that away? Well, she wasn’t worth very much.
My magic was a wild stallion raging within, rearing up against its prison of ember.
It had been an assault of everything wrong and right, right and wrong, wrong and right.
I never got a chance to ask,” he said quietly, “how you were faring. After the battle.” “Are you asking me now?” “I am.” “I’m fine.” I couldn’t think of what else to say. Anything else felt like a betrayal. “I’m glad.
This wasn’t supposed to be how our story went. In fairy tales, the prince saved the girl. In mine, the princess destroyed him.