Page 4 of Fated Flames: Volume Two
“And?”
“And the eastern gardens aren't there anymore.”
“Those were the eastern gardens?”
Another nod is the answer, and maybe I’m still dazed, but I feel more disappointed than anything. I didn’t even get to see the gardens in the light.
Tilly is still staring into her lap.
“That's not all, is it?” I ask.
She gives a slow shake of her head.
“What is it?”
My cat friend wakes and slinks his way onto my lap. I smooth down a patch of rumpled fur on his back as he curls up.
“Tilly?”
The words tumble out of her like a confession. “There could be challenges.”
“Challenges,” I repeat when she doesn’t elaborate. “Do you mean with the king, or—?”
Her eyes squeeze shut. “I mean for the throne.”
“What?”
She opens her eyes and her mouth to say more, but that’s when the door opens as well.
And a very different man from the one I danced with last night darkens the doorway.
2
Soren
I could have lost her.
The thought plagues my mind with all the persistence of a shadow as I stride down the echoing corridor.
Again and again, I see her glide to the open door leading to the gardens. I taste unknown satisfaction as she glances back at me. I start to follow her, but I tell myself she’s safe. I tell myself she’s still within my grasp.
It’s a mistake I won’t make again.
A sharp turn brings me to my chambers, and I move with steady determination to the door between our bedchambers to press my ear there just as I have every hour since I carried her within. Tilly told me she would send for me, but I’ve come here anyway.
There’s a beat of silence, then a voice, and now a second one—soft and surprised—answers.
She’s awake.
I don’t think to knock. I only think to restrain my first form and push the door open.
She’s propped up in bed, and when I meet her eyes, it’s not with any of the warmth I showed her last night. I know what I’m here to tell her, and only cold indifference will do. She’s bewildered; I can see that. It might affect me more if I hadn’t prepared myself for this.
It’s a good thing I did because the sight of her darkened bruises sends rage blazing through my lungs.
The one who did this will die, my first form snarls.I’ll crush his bones between my jaws. I’ll tear his limbs from his—
I silence the beast within and fold my hands behind my back. “I’m glad to see you awake, Princess Serah.”
