**DAPHNE**
My mind is whirling, my heart thumping with disbelief.
He thinks I have been with another.
He honestly thinks I have shared myself with someone else.
“Ash,” I say as calmly as possible, my eyes filling with unshed tears. “What are you talking about?”
He sneers at me as the room around us becomes as quiet as a tomb. “Did you or did you not, make a deal with the Crown Prince Hayden?”
I swallow thickly, blinking back the wetness of my eyes. “I did, yes,” I whisper, my voice trembling.
He nods, his face becoming a mask of hate. “That is what I thought.”
“I had no choice. He-”
“Please,” he snaps, closing his eyes and raising his hand. When he looks upon me again, his gaze is as emotionless as his face. “I am going to be straight and to the point, and I beg you Daphne, do not lie to me.” He steps toward me, glaring down at me as if I disgust him. “Did you give yourself to Hayden?”
His eyes begin swirling with silvers and grays. Energy crackling in them as the irises become surrounded by a pulsing red ring. I clamp a hand over my mouth in shock. I don’t why I am surprised. I shouldn’t be. He obviously has magic. I’ve known this - just never outright seen it.
*Does he know that I can see this?*
My eyes fall upon the whimsical markings that trace the muscles in his neck and for a second, I forget that he was speaking to me.
*Does he realize that I can see through his glamor?*
Glancing at Klyesque, I am momentarily stumped. She is wearing her Fae skin. She is not glamoured. Ash must know, he *must*.
Is he trying to frighten me?
“Daphne?” He hisses.
“Yes?” I choke out, looking away from Klyesque to meet his still glowing eyes.
“Yes?” He chokes, the anger in him falling back for a moment. The red tinting of his glare muting and losing its heat as his face falls so pale that it is nearly the gray of death. “Is that your answer?”
“M-my answer?” I stutter. “T-to what?”
He grits his teeth, his flesh flaming back to life, before he snaps, “Did you give yourself to Hayden, or not?”
“What? G-give myself?” My brow furrows and somewhere in the space a glass shatters.
*Is he really asking me this?*
His eyes begin to glow again, and his brow creases angrily. He speaks to me slowly, mockingly, as if I am a simpleton or simply stupid. “Did you, or did you not, open your legs for Hayden and welcome him into your bed?”
Tears, hot and heavy, flood my vision, but I do not let them go. “Are you truly asking me this?”
For a moment, his gaze softens and his fists clench at his sides. “Did he force himself-”
“No!” I shout, stepping away from him. “Just the one time. Not again.”
“So, then you went to him willingly,” he retorts with a cold chuckle.
I glare, one lonesome tear escaping my sight and giving birth to a steady stream of followers. “Never.”
“He says otherwise.”
I begin to pant, tears falling carelessly over my cheeks. I can hear Petra banging things around in the solar, growing louder and louder each time Ash opens his mouth. He snickers quietly, and the sound is madness when he does.
“He is lying,” I say. “I don’t want him. I have never wanted him. That is not the sort of deal we made. He threatened me with-”
Suddenly Ash steps up to me, grabbing my arms roughly and speaking in a low and even tone, “Tell me the truth! Did you lay with him?”
I whimper as his grip tightens beneath my shoulders, my tears becoming hard for me to breathe through. My knees buckle, but he keeps me upright.
“Ash!” Klyesque leaps to her feet, her eyes falling to where he holds my arms. “Stop it.”
“Answer me,” he hisses, dropping my arms and taking a step back.
"How would you-why would you-" *This is madness!* In a plea for him to believe me, I attempt to reach for him, but he knocks my hands away and I yelp, uselessly. “N-no! I-I didn’t! I swear it! I-”
“Were you so heartbroken in my absence that you thought to punish me by taking him into your bed?”
“No! Absolutely not! I-I would never. I hardly left my room the entire time you were gone. I only saw him twice! I-”
“Stop it,” he laughs cruelly. “The king is dead, and Hayden is blaming you. He’s got the whole of Hadimere Kingdom seeking your return.”
*The king is dead?*
*Oh my God.*
*How?*
“D-dead?” I whimper.
*My sisters!?*
*Does this mean they are safe?*
“Perhaps I should leave you here to fend for yourself,” he threatens, his beautiful mouth twisting into a repulsive smirk. “Yes, that is what I should do. Or maybe you would prefer to return you to your *precious* Hayden. After all, the only thing he truly wants is you back in the palace, *warming* his bed.”
“Ash!” Dionie hisses, as my tears renew and and, once again, begin to trail down my face. “What is *wrong* with you?”
“You said it yourself! You caught them alone together.”
Petra bolts out of the solar to stand at my defense, her blue eyes flashing. It is then that I notice, her hair has been re-braided and in the back of my mind, I wonder, if she wearing her glamor.
She speaks in an even and steady tone, despite the wring of her fingers. “But Ash, that was just before we left. She-”
“Does it matter?!” Ash sneers at her. “How do you know they weren’t together sometime before that?”
“W-we weren’t,” I stammer. My sobs becoming uncontrollable.
“You will not trick me with your tears,” he snipes harshly, yet I see him tilt his head, giving it a slight shake. Almost as if his words are as hurtful for him to say, as they are for me to hear.
I clamp both my hands over my mouth to try and regulate my breathing, but I cannot seem to compose myself, and have begun convulsing.
Darkness is closing in from every edge of my vision and my lungs feel as if they've been dipped in wet clay and set before the fire.
*I cannot breathe.*
“Ash,” Klyesque says softly, stepping away from the table and drawing her sword. “You don’t want to do this.”
“I want the truth,” he yells at her.
“Calm yourself. Lets go outside. Blow off some steam.” Klyesque says before heading for the door.
He ignores her, focusing his attentions on me. I can feel him throwing out dark magic, trying to touch me with it. Playing with the idea of afflicting me with his strange sorcery.
*Does he want to hurt me?*
The thought is quite sobering and somehow, my weeping slows down.
*I am done with this pain.*
*How could I have been so stupid?*
“I can’t believe this,” I say. “All I’ve been waiting for this whole time - all I’ve been wanting - has been you! Now? You're finally here and you-you-” I stop, as I feel a wave of nausea hit me from all sides.
*Ash.*
*I am going to faint.*