by Nina Walker
“We will win the war, take back what’s rightfully ours, and unite West America and New Colony under one prosperous kingdom.” His voice was strong, determined, and the guests ate it up. They cheered with shining eyes and nodding heads.
He motioned to us once again, a glass of champagne now in his other hand. He raised it high. “To the happy couple, may you live long and be prosperous.” He winked. “And give this kingdom lots of magical little heirs.”
“To the happy couple!” The crowd cheered, a few snickering at the joke.
But it wasn’t a joke.
Lucas and I smiled wide at our guests, but inside, I burned with anger. Richard’s speech had once again shattered the illusion, waking me to my true reality.
I wasn’t here to play house with Lucas, or to make alchemist babies for the Heart family. I wasn’t here to be friends with the royals and I refused to play right into Richard’s hands as I’d always done.
No. I’m here to complete my mission for the Resistance, gain control over Richard, and end his corruption once and for all.
I owed it to Jasmine. To my family. To everyone who’d lost a life because of King Richard.
“All right you two lovebirds.” Richard strolled to us, microphone now gone. He seemed a little steadier on his feet, as if the speech had sobered him. “It’s time for you to retire for the night.”
But I could still smell the acrid scent of alcohol on his breath.
“I want grandkids, it’s true.” He laughed, patting his son on the back. “But don’t worry, I don’t expect any for at least a few more years.”
Embarrassment washed over me as Lucas tensed at my side. It wasn’t the thought of being intimate with Lucas that bothered me, though I hardly felt ready. It was the fact that Richard was joking about our children as if it were a done deal. And he was right. If things continued the way they were, I eventually would have to produce an heir for this family.
Lucas grimaced and hushed his father. “That’s enough, Dad.”
“Let’s go,” I said, tugging him back. I couldn’t stand the sight of Richard for another second.
As Lucas and I strode from the ballroom, hand in hand, the guests cheered in a wild frenzy of hoots and hollers. It seemed as if their party was just getting started, judging by the amount of energy they exuded. The second the ballroom doors clicked closed, another flurry of nerves erupted within me.
Lucas took my hand and led me down the palace hallway, a security detail close on our heels. We moved quickly through the palace, toward what I could only assume was his bedroom.
No, not just his bedroom anymore.
Our bedroom.
18
Lucas
I never thought I would become a romantic. The entire notion of romance felt antiquated and too vulnerable for my taste. And yet here I was, asking my wife if I could carry her over the threshold of our shared suite. Nobody warned me that love came with embarrassing moments like this one, I grumbled inwardly.
She looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. Maybe I had.
But she also looked gorgeous.
I laughed. “So what? It’s our only chance to do something this corny. We have to take it.”
She lifted her arms and giggled. “Okay, fine, but if you drop me I’ll kill you.”
“There will be none of that tonight.”
I picked her up, kicked the door open, and stepped over the threshold. Then I set her down gently and closed the door, locking it. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
She shook her head but smiled the biggest smile I’d seen all day. That was good. That was more than good. Ever since our conversation in the car on the way back from the ceremony, a flame of hope had rekindled that I didn’t know was still there. And I liked it.
“Since when are you such a romantic, Lucas?” she teased back.
I smirked. What could I say? I’d had relationships before. And I wasn’t a total jerk, but I’d never fallen in love with any of those girls. “The lovey-dovey stuff is reserved for you, Jessa.”
She rolled her eyes. But it was true. She brought something else out in me; I guess that something was romance.
I shook my head, a tad shocked with myself as well. Eight months ago, she’d taken my world and turned everything upside down. And now, she’d made me a married man. She tilted her head to meet my gaze. Some of her hair had fallen from her braid, brushing the side of her neck.
A nervous hush fell over us as she turned to take in the room.
The bed was in the middle, with a loveseat and small desk by the curtained window. Across from the bed a wood fire burned in the fireplace, casting the room in flickering orange light. On one side was the closet door, and on the other the bathroom. But I didn’t think it was the layout that had her chewing her bottom lip and her cheeks flushing pink. No, I’d say it was the satin and the red rose petals strewn across the white bedspread.
I gulped, my body instantly tensing.
“Okay,” I said, “I swear I didn’t have anything to do with that.” I motioned in a circular motion at the general area of the bed, but we both knew what I was talking about. “That must have been one of the servants or something.” I coughed.
She turned a scathing look on me, and then busted up, doubling over at the waist. When she looked up at me again, a few loose tears streamed down her face. “Oh my gosh, you should see yourself right now, Lucas,” she said between bouts of laughter. “I’ve never seen you blush like this before!”
I shrugged, but inside I fought a torrent of emotions. I didn’t really think any of this was a laughing matter. It was a lot of things, but funny wasn’t one of them.
She met my eyes again, and instantly shifted, her laughs catching in her throat as she gasped. I couldn’t help it. Her dress fit her like a glove, perfectly cut to show off the curves of her body. Her elaborate hair and makeup were starting to come undone, which was only making me come undone.
“Oh,” she breathed.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, so I beat her to the punch.
“You’re my wife,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean I expect anything from you, now or ever. I won’t push you into something you don’t want, no matter how I feel about it.”
“And how do you feel about it?” she asked shyly, her eyes fluttering. I groaned inwardly. She really needed to stop that.
“Do you really have to ask that question?” I wanted her. We both knew it. But I also didn’t want to be teased for it. I had some pride left in me somewhere.
She chewed on her lip again, and it took everything in me not to pull her into my arms and kiss her until her body agreed with mine. “I’m not ready,” she finally said, sighing and walking to the bed. A tingle of disappointment tugged at me, but I ignored it. My feelings didn’t matter here. What mattered was winning Jessa back. I wasn’t going to blow it.
She sat on the edge of the bed, twiddling her fingers for a moment. Then her face tipped up to study me, a touch of embarrassment rimming her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t ever be ready,” she added. “It’s just that you were my first real boyfriend, you know? And everything happened so fast with us, and then the attack happened…” She paused and studied her nails, the blush in her cheeks growing. “Our engagement was so quick, and the surprise wedding threw me off, too.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” I said. Even though she hadn’t, I could hear it in her tone. “This isn’t your fault. This wasn’t even what you wanted.”
Bitterness rose inside me, and I pushed it down to hang out with the disappointment. I’d do anything to avoid her getting upset with me again. We’d finally turned a corner today. I really was okay with waiting, given the circumstances, but I wasn’t okay with ending the night in another argument.
I stepped forward and gently tilted her head up to me, cradling her warm cheek in my palm. “Let’s just get our pajamas on and go to bed.” I held her gaze until she nodded.
I strode to the c
hest of drawers, pulled it open, and tossed cotton pajama pants and a t-shirt at her and found some long athletic shorts for myself. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we can do what you said. Let’s start with rebuilding our friendship.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled as she shuffled into the bathroom to change.
I changed quickly and brushed all the rose petals into the small trashcan. I closed the thick curtains and climbed under the heavy comforter, taking the side I was pretty sure she didn’t prefer, and tried to relax. The fire was dying down; it wouldn’t be long before the room would be completely black. That would help.
A few minutes later Jessa peeked her head out of the bathroom. “You ready for this?”
I sat up. “Umm…”
She threw open the door, sprinted across the room and jumped onto the bed. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, then slipped under the covers. Her sweet rose water smell wafted through me so intensely that I had to ball up my hands. I wasn’t going to touch her. As much as I wanted to, I needed to respect her feelings more.
“Goodnight, husband,” she said, rolling away and burrowing into the blankets. I stared at the back of her head for a long moment and then closed my eyes. The familiar dragging sensation of sleep tugged at me, as I sank deeper into the mattress. Today had been an insane day. Sleep would make everything better.
“Goodnight, wife.”
I woke with a start, my heart pounding. I reached out.
Jessa was gone.
Blinking away the sleep, I turned on the lamp. Still gone. Panic prickled at the back of my neck as I stood up and checked the bathroom. I even opened the closet door, but she wasn’t there.
Did she already leave me?
No, that was stupid. But the fear was real and the thought nagged, like a little prick in my brain. So small and insignificant, but enough of a sting to demand attention. I went out into the hallway, peering around but she wasn’t there either. It was getting late in the night. A guard was posted just outside our door.
“Have you seen Jessa?”
“Said she needed to get a snack.” He shrugged, leaning against the wall. One hand was tucked on his gun, the other rubbed the side of his face. He was obviously tired, and that didn’t bode well with me. “One of the other guards escorted her and then on her way back Richard stopped to chat, and they left together.”
I stilled. “Where’d they go?”
He shrugged again. Useless. I glared at the guard, making a mental note to get him moved to another service, and went out in search of them. Richard’s room was just down the hall, so it was the first place I checked. But there wasn’t anyone in there.
What’s going on?
I grabbed an ugly purple pillow from his bed and tried to reach out to Jessa through our mental link, but it didn’t work. I didn’t have that ability. It seemed she’d have to initiate the telepathy. But she didn’t have her necklace. She’d taken that stupid diamond necklace off in the bathroom earlier, her normal necklace probably back in her dorm.
I threw the pillow at the wall and stormed back into the hall.
I racked my brain for possibilities as I paced the hallway. A faint sound of muffled voices filtered from a nearby room. I pressed my ear to the door, and recognizing Richard’s voice, threw it open.
I nearly exploded into a rage at what I found.
Jessa was on the floor, cowering. Her hair was a mess, arms up in defense, whole body shaking. He stood above her, his hands in angry red fists.
“What’s going on here?” I yelled.
He spun on me with murderous eyes. “Why don’t you ask your wife to tell you what she just tried to do?”
I dropped to my knees to gather her in my lap. Her body still shook wildly, defenseless, and I kissed her forehead. “It’s okay, baby,” I murmured. She turned into me with a pleading expression and my eyes latched onto the beginnings of a purple bruise blossoming across her jaw.
“Did you hit her?” I glared up at my father in horror. I’d never known him to hit a woman; if this was his doing, it would be his last.
“Tell him what you did, Jessa!” He growled again. “Tell him now!”
“I–I tried to use red alchemy on him,” she cried, bursting into tears.
For a split second, I didn’t believe it. And then the world lost its balance. “Oh no. Jessa, you didn’t.”
What was she thinking? Now he would really treat her like a prisoner. Or worse. Obviously, whatever she’d done had failed miserably.
“Oh yes,” he said, pacing in front of us. He strode to the open door and slammed it closed. We were in another one of the palace bedrooms, this one apparently vacant. “This little witch saw blood on me and assumed it was mine. She said she needed to talk to me about something in private, got me alone in here, and then proceeded to put her hand on the blood, spewing some nonsense about turning myself into West America and ending the war!”
He cursed and glared down at us with a fury that I’d never seen before in him. If I wasn’t holding her at the moment, I was sure he’d hit her again.
“You need to get a hold of yourself,” I snapped. “This is my wife!”
The silence stretched between us, thick and heady.
“Lucas, you need to take your new wife back to your room before I kill her,” he finally replied between heavy breaths. “I’ll figure out what to do with her in the morning after I’ve had a chance to discuss the ramifications of this treasonous act with Faulk.”
That would make things so much worse for Jessa.
But not waiting a second longer for him to change his mind, I pulled Jessa to standing, half carrying her
“Come on,” I hissed at her. “We have to get back.”
“Be careful with that one, Lucas. It seems she’s a traitor not only to her country, but to her own father-in-law,” He spat the words as we stumbled from the room together.
This was bad. This was so bad.
The second we were back in our suite, I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug. She sobbed against my chest.
“I’m sorry. He seemed a bit drunk and when I saw the blood, I thought the two things combined would be the perfect opportunity to end all this right here and now.”
I couldn’t emotionally process this disaster. I shut that side of me down, and instead jumped into fixer-mode. If there was one thing that needed to be done, it was to get Jessa the hell out of the palace before morning.
“Use your purple,” I whispered against her ear. “We need to talk.”
She nodded and walked over to the chest of drawers, rummaging around in frustration until she found her stone necklace. So it hadn’t been left in her dorm after all. Her clothes had been moved over since the wedding, luckily, it had been brought along.
Okay, what is it? she asked, and the link between us snapped to life.
I know where a Resistance safe house is, I said. I also have a few addresses of people throughout New Colony who’ve agreed to help you. You need to go down to a farm in the south and from there you can make contact with West America. They won’t be able to get you out up here; there’s just too much going on with the war for you to be safe in the Capitol. But I think they could help you if you make it down there.
She stumbled back and stared at me in complete bewilderment, her eyes wide. Lucas, how long have you been planning this?
Ever since Jasmine died. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed heavily. Then I strode to her and pulled her close to me again.
I’m not ready to lose you. But this was a reality I’d accepted long ago, though I hated it. The only way you’d ever forgive me was if I showed you that the choices I’ve made really are for you and not just me. She sunk into my chest, brought to tears again. The whole thing with Jasmine had been a stupid mistake, a plea of a man desperate to be with the one he loved.
Her mouth found mine, initiating a kiss, confirming what I knew.
To win her back, I had to let her go. And it rippe
d me apart. But I took her lips, her body, her soul and held it close, savoring every moment I had, even if they were our last.
Thank you, she said, releasing me. I’m so sorry. I messed up. I was so close and I had to try. If only that had been Richard’s blood I would have been able to do it! That was Jasmine’s plan all along, you know? Get your dad alone and turn him around. I actually think she wanted me to reform him, but with the war I thought it would be best just to surrender.
I wanted to know about the blood, too. Whose was it? None of it made sense. But Jessa’s foolhardy idea that Richard turning himself in to West America would make everything better? It was too risky. I wish she would have discussed this with me first. How would surrendering to our enemies be safe for her or for me? We were royals too! I didn’t press the issue. It was pointless.
She was going to end up in West America anyway, and soon.
We’ll use my white and your purple to get you out, but we have to go now. The safe house isn’t far, and the gate should be open, as people will be cleaning up from the reception. A few of the guests probably haven’t even left yet, if I know how these events can go. I’m taking you out the same way I took your dad out.
She frowned, questioning. How do you know where a Resistance safe house is?
How do you think your sister broke out? I added with a shrug. I helped her. Anyway, we need to move. I need to get back before I’m locked out and have to climb that damned wall.
You helped my sister? Her face fell. I underestimated you, Lucas. I’m sorry.
I reached out and took her small hand in mine. It’s time to go.
There was nothing worse than a goodbye kiss.
I delivered her to the safe house and before I took her inside, she kissed me deeply. Her lips curved perfectly to mine, her body following. We stayed like that for far too long, lingering in each other. The regret between us was palpable. It buried me in what might have been. Finally, she pulled away. She reached down and opened my hand, placing something gently in my palm. I felt the cool metal, the cut of the stones, and squeezed.
