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Mare pulled on her aubergine-coloured silk pyjamas, exhausted from the day. As with every day before, it had been riddled with fear and panic and guilt and longing. So much longing. The feast had felt somewhat like a dress rehearsal for the wedding banquet, and the thought of that had Mare’s mind positively spinning.
On the surface, her mind was occupied by thoughts of her own impending nuptials to Maven. It was unspeakably bizarre to marry someone under threat, especially because she barely knew him. Not that her feelings toward him mattered when the options were to marry him or die.
But deeper down, Mare was troubled by thoughts of Cal’s wedding. She couldn’t help but imagine him swearing to honour and protect Evangeline, to love her and be true to her. She had spent all day imagining him dancing with his new wife the way he once had with her, pressing his lips against Evangeline’s. And she was more upset by it than she had any right to be.
Mare tried to banish her jealousy as she climbed into the plush bed and curled up beneath the quilt. She had no business feeling it and it wouldn’t help her deal with her present situation. So she allowed herself to sink into the softness of the bed and closed her eyes, exhaustion lulling her to sleep within minutes.
Mare sat in a spindly chair between Maven and King Tiberius, watching the front of the the Royal Court where Cal stood, holding hands with Evangeline. She looked terrifyingly fierce in a gown made of metal, needle-like spikes waiting to pierce anyone who dared to intervene in her perfect wedding. Not that she cared about the wedding or the marriage; Mare knew that Evangeline only cared about becoming queen.
She didn’t care about Evangeline though. Not when half of her heart was standing opposite her, looking like he was about to dive off a cliff into the depths of the ocean and drown.
Mare didn’t know what to do. Seeing Cal like this was killing her, breaking her heart more than she had thought was possible. She wanted to make it stop – for his sake and for hers.
Don’t do it, Cal, her mind screamed at her. You can’t do this.
She felt her hands shaking and plastered them to her thighs to keep still, hoping that neither Maven nor the king noticed anything was amiss. Her betrothed glanced at her, offering her a smile that seemed to promise to take care of her once it was their turn to be wed. Mare’s stomach turned, sour bile rising in her throat.
The judge began to speak, but his words sounded like a muffled jumble in her head. All she knew was that her heart was screaming and without even realising what she was doing, she found herself standing, the only one in the middle of the crowd.
Every head turned to face her, some expressions twisted with confusion while others were marred with anger. Evangeline looked like a fury come to life, and Mare was certain she could see the sparkling, needle-like flakes of metal on her dress growing and shifting into thin daggers. The heat enveloping her from the king was suffocating, while the air around Maven had become icy cold. But none of that mattered to Mare, because the only person she cared about was Cal, and he was staring at her like she was his saviour.
His brows were furrowed and his lips curved down at the corner, but in his bronze eyes, she saw a glimmer of hope, begging her to stop him. Begging her to keep going.
“Cal,” she said, her voice hoarse and barely more than a whisper. She doubted that anyone but those closest to her heard her.
She stepped forward, silently glad that she was in the front row. The king grabbed at her wrist to hold her back, but Mare shook it off easily, purple sparks along her skin shocking him into releasing her. She cleared her throat. It didn’t matter if anyone else heard a single thing she said, but she needed to make sure Cal heard her. She needed him to know. And then… and then he could do what he wanted, but she couldn’t quite help the hope that flared in her stomach. Maybe he would choose her.
“Cal, you don’t have to do this,” she said, her eyes fixed on him. “You deserve the chance to be happy. Take my hand, Cal, and we can leave here. We can be happy together.”
She saw him hesitate for just a minute, but then he reached out, wrapping his fingers around hers. They ran as fast as they could, down the aisle, through the doors and out into the sunshine. Cal paused, pulling her into his arms. He cupped her cheek as he looked at her like the sunlight around him was emanating directly from her, and then Cal leaned down, capturing her lips with his.
Mare felt like she was melting into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed and her body softening against his. She could easily stay like this forever, content in his arms. It didn’t matter that there was a horde of angry Silvers just inside the Royal Court, waiting to tear them apart.
Mare woke covered in sweat, the sheets stuck to her body, and her lungs laboured as though she had just run from Archeon all the way home to the Stilts. She thought about the words she had said in her dream and how she wished they were things she could say in reality. She wished she could ask Cal to choose her. But he would never do that. He would never leave his country and his duty behind for her, no matter how much they both wanted it.