Chapter 25
Raven’s POV
My eyes widened as I watched Rhyland yank his hand from the water immediately. He looked around at all of us before shaking his head, like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
None of us could.
“How is that possible?” Queen Fara mumbled while stepping towards Rhyland who took a step back from her.
“... You.. you belong here.” The villager’s shocked tone matched his face.
Rhyland’s eyes captivating eyes looked in my direction almost pleasingly.
“I-It’s not-,”
“It is. The land wouldn’t lie.” I assured him but he shook his head and stepped out of the water. His expressions seemed so worried and I couldn’t understand why.
Following him, I pushed my feet against the pulling undertow in the water to the shore, having to jog to catch up to him.
He went through the tree lining and onto the streets with me right behind him. That was until a woman and her child popped up infront of me.
“Princess! We are so happy to see you back it is an honor.”
I send her a small smile but kept peaking around her at Rhyland who was headed straight for the castle.
“Thank you.” I said with a more genuine smile before moving past her and down the stoned road to the castle entrance.
More people pushed infront of me and voices were all around.
“Are you staying?”
“Can you help build our businesses?”
“What will happen to our homes? Will you restore them too?”
“The streets-,”
“Food-,”
My mind spun with all of the questions and statements getting tossed my way, my mouth hung open as I tried to think of something to say but absolutely nothing came.
“Princess?”
A older woman stood there and placed a hang on my shoulder.
“Yes, sorry. I will try my hardest to rebuild the kingdom to its natural state but I am only one person.” I stated, not having an ounce of clue on how I was going to even do that in the first place.
I wasn’t even sure if I could stay here.
With those words, I moved along through the crowd and around the bodies that were closing in on me. I finally made it to the castle doors and pulled them open for me to enter.
Shutting them right behind me, the chatter and noise seemed to die down from the castle walls and I leaned back against the door to take a breath.
How could anyone do that? Having so many people rely on you to make things right.
How’d my parents do it?
I shook of the thoughts and sprinted up to stairs towards my old room. When the tall oak doors came into view, I sighed and stepped towards them until a voice stopped me.
“Hey Raven, we are headed to our old treehouse to see if it’s still standing. Want to come?” Elijah stood there holding a backpack looking packed with things, and beside him stood Cassius.
“Uh no it’s fine. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” I said with a tight smile and Cassius just grimaced. He looked from me to the doors behind me but surprising didn’t say anything at all about it.
“Alright, we’ll see you when we get back.” Elijah smiled at me and turned down the steps, Cassius gave me one last look before following behind Elijah.
After listening for the door down at the entrance to open and shut, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door.
“Rhyland?”
Within a second, the door to the room opened and Rhyland stood there breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?” I looked up at him but it seemed he was fighting an internal battle with himself. His face looked confused but his eyes were glued to me like I was the only thing that gave him clarity.
With one quick movement, I was pulled into the room and the door was shut behind me. I opened my mouth to ask him again but in a split second his lips were crashing into mine.
His hand slid up my cheek softly and nestled into my hair, before gripping tightly and pulling me deeper into his body.
I began kissing him back just as hungrily but stopped myself and pushed him back from me.
“No, you can’t do that.” My eyes narrowed towards him.
“You can’t kiss me and say it was a mistake then kiss me again.”
He sat back onto the bed and raked his hands through his dark hair.
“Raven, I didn’t mean it like that this morning.. that’s why I needed to talk to you.”
My eyebrows furrowed together as I crossed my arms over my chest. What he had to say better be good. With a huff, he ran his hand through his hair one last time before speaking.
“My father.. he may seem like he has the right intentions to you, but I assure you, he doesn’t.”
I took a step back while my stomach did a complete flip.
“W-what do you mean?”
Rhyland stood up and took a step towards me.
“BlueBloods are more of a statement to him. They’re more like prized possessions rather than actual human beings in his eyes and that won’t change. I said the kiss was a mistake because I had just endangered your life with my own desires Raven, and I never intended to do that to you.”
I stood there, unable to move as I listened to him. His face showed clear signs of guilt but I already knew the King didn’t think of us equal to his kind.
“I just.. I can’t help myself around you. The twinkle in your eyes steals my breath and the little freckles across your cheeks catch my gaze every time I look at you. That damn smile kills me with no intention to, it just does.”
He stepped closer to me and moved his thumb across my cheekbone with a soft smile on his face, before his eyes dropped along with his hand.
“If he knew I had any connection with you besides the one he wanted you’d be dead before morning light.”
I replayed his words, once, twice, three times to make sure I heard him correctly.
“Did you just say the one he wanted?”
His eyes widened before he moved across the room to me but I walked back away from him with a hand up.
“Rhyland, what the hell does that mean?”
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😳😳
Any last words, Rhyland?