“Yes, but—”
“You should stay away from him. He’s a thief and a liar, Echo. You heard what Miss Othman said. He can hurt you, is that what you want?” Everlae’s hand came to my cheek and I pushed her sympathy away.
“No, he’s not those things by choice. We make him do those things, stealing and lying, just so he can make a living.” I paused. “Ever, he made me feel things I’ve never felt before. Is it even possible to be angry and so possibly in love with someone?”
Everlae slid off of the bed and shook her head at me. “You shouldn’t say that. In love, Echo? You are only seventeen and you want to talk about love?”
I frowned. “It’s not too early for my parents to marry me off for their own sake, though, is it? And I don’t know what love is, but Ayden just gets to me. I hate him with a burning passion equivalent to a thousand suns, but he’s all I think about. He’s different.” Speaking of him reminded me that in the past three days, he hadn’t been here at all. I watched for him outside my window, but he never showed. I wondered if it was because of me and I felt horrible for it. A small part of me still hated him for making me come back, but the bigger part couldn’t stand his absence. Ayden had quickly become a part of me, and now that he was gone, it was slowly killing me.
“He has a name now, does he?” Ever asked.
I sighed and said, “Yes, they have those things. And they have schools and houses, too.” I raked my fingers through my hair and pulled out the golden pins. “I want to go back with him.”
“Don’t, Echo. You’ve caused this family so much! Why?” Everlae pleaded.
“That’s what I want. And as soon as I find him, Ever, I’m going with him.”
A rap on the door made Ever turn from me and the young maid walked into the room. “They’ve requested your presence in the garden, Princess.” She noticed Ever in the room and bowed. “Oh, good evening to you Princess Everlae.”
I glanced over at Ever and watched her stare down at the floor with tears in her eyes. The maid watched her as well. “Please, just call me Echo. And who has?”
“Your father, the King.”
“I’m not going,” I said.
“Oh, but you must,” Ever retorted. “Three days have been long enough. You dare push Father’s patience?”
The maid took that as her time to leave and ducked quickly out of the room. “I’m staying right here,” I murmured.
“I don’t care if you have to put on a show, but you act happy and try your best to not ruin this family, for gods sake, Echo!”
“That makes no damn sense. How do you ruin something already in the process of ruining itself?”
Everlae fell silent and I watched her move to the door. She gripped the door knob tightly. “I once told you that I envied you, Echo, and that has not changed, But now I mourn you and fear the person you’re becoming.”
“I’m not submissive, Everlae. I’ll tell you the truth, I’m not sure whose blood runs through my veins, but it is not a Warrior’s, and it runs hot.”
Everlae shook her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and left. I refused to feel sorry for her or even myself. Whether she believed I’d chosen right or wrong, I’d made up my mind. I wasn’t going to be the little girl who did everything everyone told her to do anymore. I didn’t care if I was alone, cold, or naïve. I’d play along for now, but I wasn’t marrying Noah. I was sure of that.
I stumbled from the bed, the soles of my feet numb and raw from days of not moving. My mirror hung on the wall in front of me and I realized it was the only thing that survived my tantrum the night before. I swept my hair to one shoulder and touched my neck. I stared into my blue, bottomless eyes and wanted to cry again. The only thing that could have made the pain go away was Ayden. Ayden. He was all I could think about.
The last three days I had dreamt he’d been here in my room and beside me as I slept. He sung to me and held me close. Though I knew it was all my imagination, his hands—the feel of him—was so real. As I touched my lips, I imagined he was here again and that he was watching me in the mirror. For a second he was, his lips at my ear whispering promises of a brighter future. I didn’t think it possible to have such strong feelings for a stranger mere weeks ago, but now it was as easy to believe as breathing came naturally.
My imagination flickered, and then finally burnt out. Ayden disappeared from the mirror and I cried. All my life I’d been so lost and when I finally found someone who made me feel less of a pariah, he was taken from me by the stupid infatuation New Haven had with themselves.
I sighed and moved to the bathroom, stripped from my clothes, and hopped into the drawn bath. The water had been hot, but after minutes of just lying there and staring at the ceiling, it was colder than Noah’s heart. If he had one. Eventually I got out and dressed. It only seemed like routine as I did it, something normal yet forsaken. When I opened my wardrobe, the many different dresses plagued me. I cringed and dug deeper for the leather pants I’d worn to practice with Ezily and Shadow. I searched for the corset and decided that’s what I wanted to wear. For a change, I’d have a say.
When I looked into the mirror again, I still didn’t like what I saw. It’s my hair, I decided. I hated it, always had. The length bothered me, and for the longest time, I just wanted to hack it off. I found the pair of scissors in the mess on the floor I’d thrown from my dressers and raised it to my hair. I didn’t even know where to start. Though, as soon as I made that first snip, there was no going back until I finished it. I started with the front and cut my overgrown bangs to my eyebrows. I smiled at myself.
Finally, I can see.
When I finished, the scissors fell from my hands and I rushed to the bathroom to wet my hair. I gasped as I came up for air and my blue eyes stared back at me, happiness like I’d never known already beginning to glow within them.
This is your life, Echo. Own it.
I teased my hair with my hands and loved the way, for once, I could actually get my fingers through it. It was wet and short, just below my shoulders rather than down my back. I looked different, stronger. I looked…fearless.
I look like a Hunter.
My olive skin was peculiar and with my hair short, it stood out more. I refused to think anything of it, given that everyone in my family were pale blondes and brunettes, but it was a scary thought, nonetheless.
I left my chambers with thoughts of Ayden and Ayden alone.
The walk to the garden was terrifying, to say the least. The maids watched me and guards did a double take as if their eyes had deceived them. I knew I didn’t look the same, and I was glad. Their Princess was dead and I wanted to make sure they got that through their thick, stubborn heads.
The garden had been transformed into gold, glitter, and silk. Lights hung low in trees, chairs were covered in fine fabrics, and bleeding hearts were just about everywhere. The cobblestoned pathway was now glass, and it shimmered in the sunlight. The garden was naturally big, but the decorations and preparations for festivities made it seem colossal. Evening nightingales greeted me, their songs a lot different than those of Old Haven. I would have admired it, had it not all been in vain.
“What is this?”
I stopped gawking at everything and realized I’d just walked in on Mother and Father talking with Noah and his parents. At first Mother’s outburst didn’t make sense, but then I remembered my wet, freshly cut hair and my leather outfit that showed too much skin. Noah’s eyes met mine and he sized me up before smiling. The King and Queen of Delentia only stared in disappointment.
“Echo, your hair!” Mother screamed. She rushed to me and began pushing it behind my hair and tugging it roughly as if that could make it magically grow back. “What have you done? What are you wearing?”
“Abriel,” Father murmured. His eyes were distraught, and they seemed to burn holes into me.
“I needed change, Mother. If you don’t like what you see, then why are you looking?” I said between clenched teeth.
No
ah’s mother gasped and moved to sit down on one of the benches. I could tell Mother itched to slap me again, but she wouldn’t dare in front of them.
“Young adults, eh?” Father said, eyes on me, but a smile on his face for show. He now had two things to be furious about and I knew he wouldn’t let them go unsettled for long. Mother I could handle, but I wasn’t sure how well things would go over with my father. “Please, Abriel, another time.”
She nodded and looked back at me. She whispered, “You’re playing with fire, Echo. Please, be mindful of what you’re doing while you are ahead. Do not make the same mistakes as me. You will get burned.”
I couldn’t even begin to make sense of that, and I didn’t want to try. It reminded me of the crazy woman my mother had evoked days ago, ranting on about a missing picture and ‘Aleksandria’, a name so unknown, and yet oddly familiar.
“Okay, let us begin. Noah, if you would please show Echo where she is to stand, that would be wonderful,” Father said.
Noah had a smile on his face as he came to me and took my hand in an iron-vise grip. He led me up the glass pathway and to where the bleeding hearts garden sat, hidden in the back of the palace.
Noah stopped and turned to me. “You look great,” he whispered.
I looked up at him and frowned. “Don’t talk to me.”
“Still upset, I see.”
“Still an arrogant idiot, I see.”
He laughed and gripped my hand tighter. “What happened to the smiles and giggles from the night of the Ball? I know you enjoyed yourself.”
I glanced over at the palace and thought about leaving him standing in the aisle alone. If my room hadn’t been here of all places, I probably would have locked myself up and willed myself to sleep for years. But then there was Ayden. “I’ve met someone else, you should know. I’m not marrying you.” The words slipped from my lips so effortlessly I hadn’t time to rethink them until they were out.
“You’re kidding? Echo, you can’t just marry someone else, we’ve been through this. You have no say.”
I pulled my hands from him and took a step back. “Shut up. Don’t act like this is a burden for you, you want this, Noah! I did enjoy myself at the Ball, the first ten minutes. I didn’t want to meet your damn family, I didn’t want to dance, and I honestly didn’t care who loved me there. I just…wanted to talk. We never talk!”
He stepped towards me and caressed my cheek with his hand. I shied away. “I just don’t want you with him. You deserve more, I can give you more.”
“I don’t want more! What possessed you to think that I do? I want what you can’t give me: happiness.”
Noah’s eyes sunk into a darker hazel. “Do you know how incredibly annoying and cute you are when you rant like that?” He smiled as he inched closer to me.
I cringed as his hands snaked around my waist and left goose bumps on my bare midriff in its wake. I tried to push away, but fighting him was useless. “I hate—”
Noah’s lips crushed against mine and, it being my second kiss, I still didn’t know how to react. His hands on me made me feel disgusting and his lips, though warmer than last time, moved over mine sloppily and greedily. I pushed at his chest, desperately wanting to come up for air. I stared at him with his eyes closed and wondered if I, too, was supposed to close mine. I just wasn’t feeling it and Noah was making me feel like one of his wenches.
I shoved at him and Noah finally let go. I was getting ready to scream when I espied someone plowing through the dirt in the side yard of the palace. Even though we stood behind the thickest of bushes, the man’s hair and physique seemed so crystal clear.
My heart skipped a beat and suddenly I was running.
Ayden.
I pushed through the bushes and over the garden fences and ran to him. I knew Noah was chasing me down, but that didn’t matter now that Ayden had come back.
“Ayden!” I yelled. I slowed as I came to him and he turned around. I was just so happy—so utterly happy—that when the man turned around and it wasn’t Ayden, my heart just about dropped to the pit of my stomach.
“Can I help you, Princess?” the man, who looked so much like Ayden from the back, said.
I shook my head at him and he continued to plow the gardens. I glanced around and wondered if it had all been in my head. The palace resided on a hill and the street ways and dirt paths down below were void of Ayden. I wanted to cry, but my anger left no room for it.
“Why do you keep taking off like that?” Noah said from behind me. He breathed heavily, and when I turned to look at him, his face was red from the run.
I grimaced and slapped him in his face, my frustration level seemingly going down a bit. My palm stung from the contact, but I’d never been so happy to hit a man in my life. “Put your hands on me again and I’ll slowly cut off each of your fingers and feed them to the dogs.”
“Noted,” he whispered, laughing as he held his cheek in his hand. “Feisty, I like it.”
I pushed him to the ground and trudged back to the palace, every now and then looking behind me for Ayden. Gods, if that really had been him I wouldn’t have left his side. I would have apologized for saying I hated him and told him how I really felt. Not that I knew how I felt, but words would come at the right moment. Despite Everlae’s words, I knew what I felt for Ayden Grey was akin to love.
Noah got through rehearsal with all of his fingers, and Father held back his anger the best he could. He tried to talk to me before I escaped to my chambers, and so did Mother, but I locked myself in my room and curled up on my naked bed for another lonely night. Shadow had gone into town with Ezily and Everlae had left with Silas to Kylon to visit his family for a day.
I had no one.
My brother Caesar, the idiot, was never around to begin with. He was first heir and yet I knew nothing about him, or his wife. I figured I would eventually have to face them all, but for the moment I didn’t dare think about that.
The King of Delentia had given Noah and me five weeks to get to know each other before the wedding and we now had days that I could count on my fingers. The idea was for us to fall in love and grow accustomed to one another. Instead, I’d fallen in love with a Hunter.
S I X T E E N
Ayden
Mother lay in her room, motionless and cold. I’d asked how she was feeling the day before to make sure she was taking the vitamins, but of course she had lied. Sometimes I wondered what went on in her head. It was like she wanted to be sick, and the thought of that horrified me. Milo and Misty needed her, I needed her. As stubborn as Father was, I knew he needed her as well. She’d been sick for forever, and medication wasn’t a possibility.
From the living area I could hear her coughing into her pillow. Father was talking to her about the weather, but she could barely keep her eyes open. Hearing her that way, so despondent and depressed, instilled a new kind of fear in me—a fear expected by a motherless child. It made me regret my decision to stop working for the King. I hadn’t worked in days, actually, and I was beginning to see it wasn’t one of my brightened ideas. I sighed and moved from the couch.
“Ashlynn asked for you today, Carys,” Father whispered to her as I stepped into the small room. Mother said nothing to him in response, not even a murmur. Her eyes stared vacantly at the wall in front of her.
“I’d like to talk to her. Alone.” I dug my hands into my pants pockets and stared down at my Father, who at that moment looked sick himself. He nodded and kissed Mother on her forehead. He said nothing to me as he left. I stood by the door several moments more, working up the courage to say something, anything. There I was, speechless, and my Mother was dying.
I grabbed the chair beside her bed and sat in front of her, perched my elbows up on my knees, and held my hands under my chin. A single tear fell from my eye. “I remember when I was sixteen, that day we had to move, and you told me to follow my heart and it would never steer me wrong. You knew you were sick then, though you always reminded me that family was mo
st important and we only had each other.” I shook my head and looked at her. She laid still, eyes far off. “I’m angry with you. You want to be sick, and it’s killing me more than it is you. I’m afraid, and even though Milo and Misty will always have me, I don’t want to be alone.”
“Ayden…” she murmured. Her eyes moved to mine slowly, and she whispered, “I-I’m sorry. It’s time…”
I wiped the tear from my face and glanced away from her. It wasn’t fair, but I always knew that. Life was, by nature, not fair and the happy moments that made it seem anything different were always short-lived. Words weren’t enough. No matter how much time you spent with someone, when they were gone, they were gone. And it hurt like hell.
I took my mother’s hand in mine and said it. “I think I’m in love. I-I’m not sure how strong the feelings are, but they’re there. I can’t get her out of my head.”
A faint smile played on her lips and she murmured on, though I couldn’t tell what about. I sat staring at her, wishing so badly that my confession weren’t true. But Echo drove me to the point of insanity, and that look in her eyes when she’d yelled that she misjudged me still burned in my memory. It felt forever ago, but when I thought about it—which was all the time—it made breathing impossible. Echo Abbey would be the death of me. A girl.
I smiled to myself and shook my head.
“Ayd,” my mother whispered. Her eyes seemed brighter, but she still looked consumed by the illness. “Then why are you here?” she asked silently.
I laughed and rolled the idea over in my mind. It was crazy, absolutely insane, but Echo’s face appeared and pushed out any sudden doubt. Could I just go back to her? Was it that easy? If I explained, would she forgive me? It was ridiculous, I knew. I had only met her weeks ago, and yet I was making promises of love I didn’t even understand. I felt like I knew her, really knew her. She wasn’t a princess—heartless and cold—but a dreamer and a girl soaring through life with all cares behind her. She was passionate about everything and always spoke her mind. Echo, the girl I had misjudged for just another Royal, was adamant on stealing a piece of my heart.
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