Page 24 of War of Her Heart

“Yes. She probably was afraid that I wasn’t supposed to tell her and wanted to protect me,” Bronwen said while staring intently at him.

“Is that true?” He turned back to look at me and waited for my answer.

All I could do was nod.

He stared at me for a few seconds, his jaw clenched, before he let out a grunt and disappeared.

I stood frozen. I was so in shock by everything that took place that I was afraid to move.

“Violet, do you realize you’re not wearing shoes?” Bronwen stood propped up at her door with her hand on her hip. She was completely unbothered by what Sebastian just did. I guess she was used to it.

“I was coming to ask you if I could wear some of your heels when that happened,” I said as I glanced back to the spot that Sebastian once stood, towering over me, threatening me.

“Oh, of course! I have the perfect pair.” She waved for me to follow her into her chambers.

I stood against the wall while she looked through her closet throwing shoes everywhere as she continued her hunt. I hadn’t paid much attention to her chambers when I was in here earlier. I was too focused on Bronwen and her closet of endless options. Her room didn’t match the rest of the castle. The walls were painted a deep shade of red with matching fabric draping above the bed. A large, patterned rug sprawled across the floor with a large, golden chandelier hanging high above. The gold and velvet framed bed sat in the middle with more pillows than anyone could possibly need. Her room matched her perfectly. Something that didn’t match the Night Realm and yet it seemed to be perfectly placed.

“They’ve got to be here somewhere,” Bronwen said as she threw another shoe over her shoulder.

“Bronwen,” I said, less worried about matching heels and more worried about what had just happened in the hall.

“Ah, here they are!”

“Why did you lie to Sebastian?” I asked as I stood next to the door, still unsure of what to do with myself.

“I didn’t lie to him. I told you today at the dress shop, remember?” She looked completely serious. I don’t know why she did it, but I wasn’t going to question her further. She saved me.

I understood why she was still lying. Sebastian could hear everything through the shadows. Even though I was free to say whatever I wanted in my room, I couldn’t forget that I was always being watched in the rest of the castle. “Oh well, thank you for reminding me.”

10

Chapter 10

Violet

Bronwen insisted that I walk to dinner with her. She was so proud of how I was dressed that she wanted to see everyone’s reaction when they saw me. She also made sure we were the last to arrive so that everyone’s eyes were on me. Lucky me.

When we were a few yards from the doors to the dining room, I looked down. It was a habit that I’d always done, but I started to feel very nervous about wearing this dress.

“Violet, keep your head up. If you’re going to wear a Night Realm dress, you need to have Night Realm attitude,” Bronwen said as she looped her arm into mine and pulled me with her to the doors.

As the doors opened, the first person I made eye contact with was Adar. He shook his head and started to rub his fingers on his temples. Calum was talking to Nathara and stopped mid-sentence to stare at me. Nathara and her mother both looked to see what he was staring at, and they began to glare at me. I quickly shifted my eyes away from him. I couldn’t get caught up with him right now. Especially after what happened earlier with Sebastian.

Sebastian. That’s who I saw next. He was sitting at the head of the table leaning back and staring out the window, looking completely uninterested in his guests. The silence that had overtaken the room caught his attention because he turned his head back towards everyone, and he locked eyes with me. His dusty-blue eyes were back with no trace of the darkness I had seen before. He shifted up in his seat and sat a little taller as if he was finally interested in the dinner party.

Bronwen pulled me over to sit next to her and after I sat down, I realized everyone was still looking at me.

“So, I take the silence means everyone is at a loss for words at Violet’s new look?” Bronwen asked while looking around the room proudly as if she was a little girl showing off her new toy. I guess I was a dress-up doll for her. I didn’t care, though. After saving me earlier, she could dress me up all she wanted.

No one spoke. Calum did everything but look at me, but I didn’t know what I expected. He couldn’t show any interest or disinterest because anything would be suspicious. He had to be indifferent. Nathara ignored Bronwen, which seemed like that was normal around here, and Adar was rubbing his head still as if he had a headache. I wasn’t sure if that was because of me or Bronwen or both.

“You look beautiful, Violet.” My father finally broke the silence. Between Calum and Sebastian, I had forgotten my father was even there and that he might have an opinion on how I was dressed. I gave him a small smile before a few servants came in with trays of food, taking the attention off of me.

Everyone slowly picked back up on their conversations that our entrance interrupted and that’s when I looked back at Sebastian, who was still looking at me with no hint of emotion on his face. He was tapping his finger on the table and seemed to be contemplating something. I just hoped he wasn’t still thinking about earlier. I didn’t want to revisit that again.

I honestly didn’t want to have a conversation with him ever again. It was a good thing that I saw who he truly was because the way he acted last night made me feel like he wasn’t evil. That maybe he was just misunderstood. But he proved that to be wrong today. I saw the shadow king.

As much as I loved getting dressed up for Bronwen’s dinner party, I really hoped this wasn’t something that happened every night. Being forced into a room with Calum, Nathara, Celine, and Sebastian may have been my worst nightmare, and I couldn’t put on a fake smile every day. I needed space to breathe and be alone. And sulk in the misery that was my life.

---