122 | lament; in another life

A young woman fled from the castle in the dead night, weaving through the sparse patrolling guards and servants who had already retired for the evening.

A young knight, dressed in assassin's gear as if he came to commit a crime under the veil of darkness, pulled her over the walls, securing a rope to her waist and his.

His hair was closely cropped and his gaze stern, fixed in unwavering loyalty.

The woman recognized the young and loyal face, and sworn allegiance to the Crown. She had made a decision, hours prior, to which of the two evils she would place her life.

In the young prince who had secluded himself in his room, locking her in the cells after she'd told the truth of Kaden Chauvet's death?

He'd slipped away with mutterings under his breath and a paleness to his face that was almost frightening.

The woman had curled her legs to her chest, waiting in that dark cell. It was damp and humid, her clothes sticking to her skin and pain flaring in her loosely treated hand.

But she lowered her head, cherry eyes bright in the darkness. She did not despair or sob; her gaze revealed no fluctuations.

The only thing on her mind was the next step.

As chances would have it, there came the stumbling young guard who unlocked her cage and ordered her to follow closely behind. She'd hesitated, even in his anger and urgency.

She was to obey the prince's orders, the guard relayed insistently, indifferent to her thoughts.

She considered her options.

With Skye in the castle, it was unlikely she'd be able to obtain all that she wanted to. She caught glimpses of the papers in his hand—they seemed to be journal entries written in fading ink.

The second option was following the young guard.

The gears of her mind whirled and when he pulled at her arm to hurry her movements, she let out a purposeful yelp of pain, her beautiful features contorting as sweat beaded her forehead.

Tears pricked at the corners of her beautiful eyes, collecting at her long eyelashes.

He flinched and seemed to finally look at her. "What—what's the matter?"

This was Reed's loyal follower, Nicola knew. They worshiped him ceaselessly. What would happen when a drop of doubt fell into the lake of trust and admiration?

It would spill over the edges and taint the entire body of water in its murkiness.

Nicola had never gone against Reed.

She turned away from him, expressed her betrayal and disappointment and fought for Kaden's sake. But she did not fight Reed.

It was unthinkable, once. And yet the woman lifted her trembling gaze, displaying every inch of fragility that society forced upon her.

"My hand," she said softly, wincing in pain.

It had begun to form an ugly, twisted and protruding bruise. The knight flinched and blinked his plain but large gaze. "That—what—where did you, what happened—"

"The prince," she whispered, but did not say which. Suddenly, she tore away despite her pain and gasped, alarm filling her terrified eyes. "You aren't taking me to him, are you? Where are you taking me?"

The guard saw the woman's terror, drawing his own associations and conclusions to her words.

He hesitated.

But the prince had warned him to not underestimate the woman he was rescuing. The guard hadn't believed it would be any trouble, but he raised his vigilance, peering at the delicate and elegant beauty before him.

"I'm afraid, Miss," he changed the aggressive nature of his tone, but it sounded awkward and uncertain. "I need to follow my orders. You'll be safe."

"Safe," she said softly as if it were a foreign word. "And what do you know? Between a follower and a lover, who is subjected to truth of their character?"

The words struck the guard's thoughts, and he swallowed. But his devotion to the Crown Prince was a sturdy wall that would not flinch at mere words.

His tone suffused his coldness. "Please follow me, Miss. I will be required to apply force, otherwise."

There was no option for Nicola but to follow closely behind, closer to the man she once loved and now despised. But it was fine if this loyal knight didn't believe her; she never thought it would be easy.

But she was not to be messed with. And regardless of his plans, it would be his mistake to bring her to his side.

Her thoughts twisted when she was brought to the Crown Prince's camp, a far distance from the castle with a growing group of his loyal soldiers.

She stared in horror at the span of tents across the forest grounds, leisurely waiting for their orders.

What did it mean to gather this many people?

She was led to the largest tent, heavily surrounded by guards reducing any possibility of escape. She could proficiently use a sword, that was true, but against this growing mass of skilled knights?

Impossible. Her fingers pressed against the thin mattress, laid against the ground as her eyes skimmed a collection of dense notes on the thin metal table beside.

Calmly, as if she belonged, the woman took the papers into her hands and started to read through them.

This was the sight that Reed Chauvet saw when he pulled away the drawn fabrics of the tent, ducking his head inside.

Nicola's gaze lifted, steady and unwavering, before she finished reading the last page of notes and neatly placed it back onto the table.

The Crown Prince waited for her to finish reading his private notes before he entered, standing meters away from the bed.

Metal draped over the broadness of his body, covering him entirely as his sword gleamed at his side, heavy and deadly. They stared at each other quietly.

Then, Nicola exhaled softly. "Are you planning on heading to battle?"

He considered the question. "Not necessarily. But for humans intruding on those lands, it is impossible for them not to fight back. This is reassurance."

Within seconds, Nicola understood what was happening. From the notes she read and his gaze, she laughed breathlessly, shaking her head.

There were a few reasons her friends would go there. The most likely was that Noah was injured; he could not be cured by outside means.

And now Reed intended to confront them there, in those twisting, unknown lands.

"Why?"

"Because there's something I want in those lands."

His lack of hesitation to answer Nicola made her uncomfortable, and she flattened her lips into a thin line.

"Your greed, Crown Prince, knows no bounds. One day it will become your downfall."

Reed regarded the cold woman before him, any kindness leeched from her cherry gaze. There'd been a time, in their first year of studying, when they'd grown close.

He admired her gentle but tenacious spirit, her mind that whistled with ideas and sought to create change in the world.

Of the many people in his life, only two had wavered his heart. Nicola Akasha had been the second.

But it was for that reason too, that once her attitude flipped and she distanced herself, he did not chase after her. He did not attempt to draw her back into his arms, to rekindle the affections that had been brewing.

She was beautiful. The epitome of intelligence, the manifestation of persistence.

He had no use for such a character in the tale he was attempting to weave. It was good that she drew away first—because Reed wasn't certain of his ability to remain cold in the face of her previous kindness.

He walked closer and crouched down before her, lowering his head. If any soldier walked them, they would've cried blasphemy.

The proud and future ruler of the Kingdom with a lowered head. It was unthinkable. Even Nicola stiffened in surprise, shifting back where she sat.

"You are my bait, Nicola." His eyes were honest, hiding no more schemes or lies. "Soon, everything will come to an end."

The woman's voice wavered. She hadn't expected the blunt honesty of his speech. "To an end? An end designed to suit you?"

"Yes," he admitted.

She shrank back at his continued honesty, all his terrible truths laid bare before her. He reached forward and grabbed her curled hand. When she pulled back, his grip tightened and he pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

There was a mourning veil over his kneeling figure, lamenting on all that they could've been and all that they weren't.

Nicola stared with a trembling gaze. It wasn't as if years of love could be erased simply, deeply rooted in her core and intermixed with hatred.

She didn't protest being used as bait; if this was Reed's intention, then it would be impossible to flee.

She trusted the kindness of her companions, knowing they would reveal their location regardless of the cost if it meant guaranteeing her safety.

She scanned the room without hiding her intentions. It was easier to play the role of a frail woman before somebody who looked down on her.

It was not easy to play that act before Reed.

"The King," she began slowly, words trailing off.

A sneer flickered over his lips. "Soon to be dead. He's used all his resources to fight me, and now there's no holding back. I've slowly taken control of all his allies throughout the years."

The King and Reed had a terrible relationship, she knew that well. It was a constant fight from his very youth, a childhood of competing against a father who wanted to mold him into something he was not.

Every time Reed found something he wanted, the King could crush it before his eyes with laughter on his lips.

There was never an option for Reed to be weak, hesitant. Never time for him to think twice.

He would act, or not act at all.

Nicola knew all this, the truths whispered in the darkest nights as he lay by her side, a distant glaze over his eyes. She'd questioned, long after the truth was revealed, how much of it was lies.

But the tremble in his voice could not have been; his resentment for the King was the truest thing about Reed Chauvet.

She swallowed, one hand limp on her lap.

The papers on the table were evidence of Reed's plans to start violence in the Dragon's Treasure.

It was evidence, thought Nicola as her eyes threatened to wander but instead remained on Reed's lowered gaze. They had to overturn him so that he could never return.

In the last, Noah's efforts were not enough, and the public opinion swayed, and Reed was allowed to reclaim the empty throne.

Who would be King, taking the role so no other could?

How would she whittle away at Reed's loyal guards, eating them away from the inside and then out?

Reed saw all the schemes running through his almost-lover's cherry gaze, a flicker of stern cruelness. He'd seen such hardness in the rumoured gentle and kind women at their first meeting.

She'd been arguing against an unfair school system, a rule he barely remembered because to him it was insignificant.

Her eyes had burned with resolution. Those bright eyes had remained in his memories for so many years.

Now, rather than seeking to overthrow the discriminatory Academy system, she sought to bring upon his collapse. And he would welcome it, not with open arms, but with admiration.

For the sake of saving one man.

Reed almost laughed, pressing his forehead against her smooth hand, shoulders trembling with both madness and amusement.

In another world, would they have remained side by side?

He released his gaze, slowly pulling away.

He thought about that question in regard to the scowling and sneering prince who followed him. About the woman before him and the little brother who ran away.

He thought about that question far too often.

Reed fiddled with a bandage and carefully grasped her limp hand, wrapping it around with practiced skill. It was the skill of a person who'd wrapped wounds many times.

Nicola sat deathly still, pursing her lips as she watched him carefully.

His head bent, and she could see the whorl on the top of his head. His voice was lowered. "Your friends will reveal their location soon. Their sources are quick—I'm certain they would've been preparing to steal you from the palace."

"They are not foolish, Crown Prince."

"They would be fools to leave you behind."

"No," her tone was measured and light. "Because they know that so long as you exist, no real harm can come to me."

The man wrapping her wounded hand stilled. Then, a breath of laughter escaped him and he sighed quietly. "You are cruel, Nicola Akasha."

"They say that similar people attract one another." She flinched at a light touch, forcing herself to swallow down the pain. "You are crueler, Reed Chauvet."

He smiled. "Your friends will come. Even if that is the truth, they will not risk the slightest possibility of your harm. That is the faith I have in your companions, Miss Akasha."

In the lonesome tent, one man and one woman fell into a deep silence. Only the sound of moving fabrics could be heard, sourced from the carefully wrapped bandaging of the other.

In another life, perhaps this would be a tale of a woman who came from nothing and a man who had everything. A tale of romance between the brightest star and a man who could only covet that star.

But this was not another life.

The man stood up once the hand was neatly and securely wrapped, saying nothing. He rearranged his stack of papers, leaving them for her to read.

Then, he gazed at her quietly for a second more, as if to contain every second in his mind, before he turned to leave.

The woman watched his disappearing and vulnerable back through the loose fabrics of the tent, lowering her gaze to her bandaged hand.

She lowered her head, curling into herself.

In another life...

...it was not only the prince who imagined such things.

———xxx———

Lukiyo says,

It is only Nicola who remembers the days of their romance, their endured hardships and the extent of trust she had placed in him when the entire world said otherwise. It was only him she trusted her tears to, exposed her vulnerabilities and her past.

That's why, I think, no matter how deep her hatred bleeds, there will always be a part of her that longs for the beautiful past.

I've been meaning to ask, do any of you guys have particular quotes/sentences/speech that you liked throughout this novel so far? Of course, it's hard to remember so it's totally okay if you don't! I just really like quotes LOL.

I hope you're all having the most wonderful of days! And reading super cool and tragically beautiful books with happy endings! I'm reading Death Spiral right now, it's very, very different I think. The essence of infinite flow survival games is the same, but the characters in particular are very curious.

I've directly ran through 100 chapters in a day and a bit instead of doing my many due assignments hahahaha.

See you Sunday!