Page 194 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
They’d shattered me.
I kept my face devoid of emotion. I would never show another feeling people could use and exploit.
With the poise fit for a prince, Zandyr picked up the smaller crown. The ugly, russet one.
Despite everything, despite the coil of fury wound up impossible tight inside me, my heart still dropped.
To add insult to this gaping injury, Zandyr stopped in front of me.
Deceived. I felt so deceived.
I didn’t look at him, even as I felt him almost begging me to through our bond.
One glance.
One.
Please.
No.
Still, he hesitated.
“My son,” Zavoya’s voice cut through the ugly stillness. Only her and Eldryan looked about as miserable as me and Zandyr. “Are you sure?”
Zandyr didn’t reply. He raised his hands and placed the crown on my head. Guess that made me the love match, did it?
Farce.
Lies.
He made quick work of placing the beautiful pearl crown on top of Kaya’s beautiful head. She trembled as it plopped onto her intricate braid, the strands of pearls clinking around her face.
“The heir has made his choice,” the priest announced.
And I’d made mine. Now the hard part began–living with it.
Applause, raucous and unyielding, echoed all around us like an explosion. Like they were clapping for my unhappiness.
I didn’t watch as Kaya and Zandyr drank from their own chalice, carved out of fine crystal, so everyone and their mother could see their precious blood mixing together.
Then came my turn.
My entire skin crawled as the priest brought out a golden chalice. Opaque. Perfect for keeping secrets.
Zandyr took the ebony dagger from the priest and slashed his left palm, bloody rivulets dripping into the golden liquid in the chalice. “My blood to your blood.”
He offered me the dagger. I flicked my switchblade open. Gasps erupted around us.
I didn’t care. I didn’t even feel as the blade cut my skin, freeing my boiling blood. The droplets mixed in with Zandyr’s in a mesmerizing dance, turning the gold into red.
Then came the hardest part. Touching him.
Zandyr raised his bloody palm. I swallowed past the revulsion and placed my own in his. Slash to slash, out blood mixed together.
A jolt passed through me, searing my veins.
Power pulse between us.
