Page 18 of War of Her Heart

Violet

I didn’t sleep much that night. I was trying to process everything that happened yesterday: meeting the Sovereign of the Night Realm, Sebastian, and seeing Calum with Nathara. It was too much.

Then I started to think about my father. I didn’t get a chance to see him last night. After seeing Calum, I couldn’t focus on anyone else.

My father was bound to Calum. When a Commander was selected, they went through a ritual that tied their life to their Sovereign’s life. If Calum died, my father died. That’s the best way to ensure a Commander was always doing everything they could to keep their Sovereign alive. The only way out of it was if the Sovereign broke the bond that tied them together. Calum’s father knew he was trapped, and there was no way out of theReacher’s den that day, and he cared for my father so much that he broke the bond. My father felt a lot of guilt from that, and it caused him to be hyper focused on Calum.

Calum came first; I came second. I didn’t mind though. Calum came first for me too.

I woke to a knock on my door. I looked at the clock to see it was ten in the morning. I guess staying up so late lost in my thoughts had its advantage. I would be on the Night Realm’s schedule now, so breakfast wasn’t too far away.

As I started to open the door, my father pushed past me and quickly shut the door behind him. “What are you doing here in the Night Realm? It’s not safe,” he said.

“You said it wasn’t safe to leave my room at home and I did, and I was fine.” I probably should have just said I wasn’t given a choice in coming here, but I’d grown so tired of him always worrying about me.

“You left your room?” he asked as he began looking at me from head to toe, even grabbing my arms and inspecting every inch of them.

“Father, I’m fine,” I said while pulling my arm from him. I looked at him confused. Was he really afraid that I would be physically hurt while he was gone?

“It’s still not safe for you to be here. Nathara knows about you.”

“I know. Calum told me last night. But she doesn’t know it’s me.”

“Calum came here?” he asked with a look of shock on his face. “Does he not realize how dangerous that could be for the both of you?”

“I saw him last night at the party with her. I left upset, and he came after me. He had to explain what was going on.” I knew nothing I said helped to calm him, so I added, “He put a ward on my room, so no one knew he was in here.”

“You need to go home,” he said bluntly.

“Do you think I asked to come here? Celine made me come, and I’m not exactly in a position where I can tell her no,” I said, crossing my arms.

He started to pace the room. He shook his head and stopped back in front of me. “I can’t be in two places at once protecting you both.”

“Father, don’t worry about me,” I said while placing my hand on his arm trying to calm him down. “No one is going to find out about me and Calum. I will do what I do best: stay back and not draw attention to myself. Stay with Calum. It’s your duty.”

“It’s my duty to protect you too.” He had such worry in his eyes as he placed his hand on my cheek.

“I’ll be okay. I promise,” I said, trying to reassure him.

He nodded like he was trying to convince himself to believe me and leaned down and kissed my forehead before walking out of my room.

I got dressed and made my way to the dining room. I wasn’t sure if they had planned for us to have breakfast together again, but I figured I could peek in and figure that out for myself.

As I peeked around the door into the room, I noticed there were several more place settings this time. I guess it was time to put on a show and pretend like I didn’t care about Calum.

“You again.”

I spun around as I heard that voice. I thought I was alone, but he must’ve been lurking in the shadows.

“Sebastian! You startled me,” I said as I tried to compose myself.

As my eyes focused on him, it was like I was seeing him for the first time again. He was dressed more casually today, with a loose-fitted white shirt with the top few buttons unbuttoned and black pants, which made him even more attractive, if that was even possible.

“I didn’t give you a heart attack, did I?” he said in a mocking tone. I just stared at him. Did my heart condition really bother him that much? “Forgive me. I’m just not used to such adelicate flowerbeing around,” he added sarcastically.

He was testing me to see how I would react. I showed so many emotions last night that he probably thought I was completely crazy.

That’s good. Maybe if he thought I was crazy he would leave me alone. The last thing I needed was the Sovereign of the Night Realm watching me while I attempted to hide my feelings for Calum.

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