Sold To The Cruel Prince

"Theron!" Aveline shouted, stamping her foot.

The tears on her lashes had dried as quickly as they had come, burned away by something hotter and far more dangerous.

Anger.

She had been through too much already, and now he was standing there, not listening, not asking, just assuming she had run away from him. As if she had not spent the entire night frightened, lost, and trying to help.

She was not escaping.

How dare he decide that for her?

Kael watched as Theron’s shadow shifted beneath him when he turned to walk away. For a brief moment, the darkness at his feet seemed to reach, restless and alive. Kael forced himself upright despite the ache still lingering through his body, ready to intervene if needed, but nothing happened.

Theron kept walking.

And somehow, even as he moved away, it felt as though his shadow lingered behind, reluctant to leave her side.

Kael froze.

That was not supposed to happen.

Light and shadow should have repelled one another. Should have clashed, torn apart, resisted with instinctive violence.

But these two... They were not repelling. They were canceling each other out.

Healing each other.

Kael stared after them, unsettled in a way he did not know how to name. Whatever this was, it looked less like a battle and more like one of those ugly, familiar lovers’ quarrels that sane men knew better than to step between.

He had already broken enough bones today trying to get involved.

No more.

He had no desire to become the next casualty of whatever madness existed between them.

With that decision made, Kael disappeared into the shadows, leaving the argument behind him and turning his attention to getting himself patched up before he regretted surviving this long.

And... she had saved his life and his entire family tonight by not telling his liege the truth. He didn’t know why, but he knew he was indebted to her for the rest of his life.

Maybe... she was smarter than she showed herself to be and would demand something of him in return.

Whatever it was... he would have no other way than to accept. He had already sworn himself to her. What more could she ask for?

-----

Aveline ran after him, but his long stride outpaced her almost at once.

Her shorter legs could not keep up, and the uneven ground only made it worse. She stumbled once, then again, gathering her skirts in both hands as she hurried after him, breath already thin in her chest.

Behind her, Hamilton scampered along as well, trotting after her as though he had imprinted on her the moment he laid eyes on her. The little creature looked absurdly devoted, chasing after her with all the determination of a loyal hound and none of the dignity.

"Stop, Theron!" Aveline huffed, nearly out of breath.

Just like when they were children, she refused to let him have the final word.

This time, like every other time, it was hers.

Hers alone.

"You say I did not mean what I said," she went on, her voice catching as emotion began to tighten her throat, "but what about you? You told me I could do anything. Anything!"

The words trembled at the edges. She hated that they did. But they did.

Because she had believed him. She had trusted him. Those words had been enough to make her brave enough to step forward, brave enough to act, brave enough to protect Helena’s baby when no one else could.

Theron’s steps slowed.

Not enough to stop.

But enough that she knew he had heard the crack in her voice.

Aveline gathered the hem of her skirt and hurried after him again, frustration and hurt twisting together in her chest. She did not even know where he was going anymore. She was only following him blindly now, driven by the refusal to be left behind.

"I can do anything," she said, breathless and indignant. "But taking a walk is too much for you? Hypocrite. Liar. You just want to cage me and nothing more."

Her eyes burned.

"I am not going to believe a single word out of your mouth from now on."

Theron stopped.

At once, the forest seemed to go still around them.

Aveline’s words struck him hard enough to make his shoulders tense. His hands clenched at his sides, and when he finally turned to face her, the expression in his eyes was not quite anger.

It was worse. He looked wounded.

He looked at her for a long moment, jaw tight, breathing shallow.

And Aveline, flushed and furious and trying very hard not to cry again, stared right back.

Hamilton skidded to a halt beside her with a tiny, confused chirp.

Neither of them moved.

Then Theron’s gaze darkened.

And when he finally spoke, his voice was low enough to feel like thunder held back by force.

"Do you really want to say that to me?"

Aveline faltered.

She did not like the hurt in his voice. It made something inside her twist painfully, made her want to soften, to step back, to take the words away before they could cut any deeper.

But she was angry.

Truly angry.

Everything around her had become strange and terrifying and new, and she no longer knew what was happening to her life. Theron, too, no longer felt like the same man she thought she knew.

What did she even have left to trust when she couldn’t even trust herself?

Theron’s voice came again, tighter now, rough with rising frustration.

"I rescued you," he said. "I took vengeance for you. I gave you everything you wanted. And now I am trying to cage you? Is that what you think?"

He took a step toward her.

Aveline’s lips parted, but before she could steady herself, the anger in her chest flared all over again. His words sounded too unfair, too wounded, too certain.

"You did not rescue me!" she shouted, pointing at him with a trembling hand. "You bought me. For a thousand ducats."

Her fingers shook.

So did her voice.

But she did not stop.

Her eyes stung as hot tears gathered again, blurring the shape of him before her.

"Aren’t I the slave?" she asked, her voice breaking on the last word.

Theron froze.

The anger on his face stilled at once, as if she had struck him somewhere far deeper than she intended.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

The forest around them seemed to go silent.

Aveline stood there breathing hard, furious and frightened and hurt all at once, while Theron stared at her with an expression she could not read. Not anger now.

Something else.

Something emptied out and stunned.

And in that single suspended moment, it became painfully clear that whatever had just happened between them had changed shape entirely.