Page 2 of Arrows and Gems
“She tried to run away with another man!” Her fingernails dug into her arms, but it was nothing to the pain rippingthrough her chest as Michael’s expression hardened.
“She didn’t. My choices drove Ella away, but she has been more forgiving than I deserve.” He jabbed a finger at the bookshelf next to her. “The dagger that you noticed? She gave that to me. The bow that you admired a few moments ago? It showed upaftershe saw us together.”
“A bribe to smooth away her own misconduct,” Helena scoffed, shoving off the bookshelf and striding toward him. He couldn’t be serious. She couldn’tlethim be serious. “You’re smart enough to know that the only thing you’ll find with her is heartache and loneliness.”
“Smart?” he laughed bitterly. “If I was smart, I wouldn’t have let my own pain drive me to revenge against my wife. If I was smart, I would have made time for her around my duties, and there would never have been a reason for my jealousy. If I wassmart,” he barreled on, his hand tightening into a fist, “I would have listened to my wife, and our trip to Reineggburg wouldn’t have been necessary.”
Helena stared at him, mouth falling open as he paused to breathe heavily. “You wish you’d never gone to Reineggburg?” she echoed faintly. He wished… “You wish that I was still lost to my curse?” she choked out.
Unwanted.
“I—” For a moment, she thought he would confirm it. But then he shoved out of his chair and stormed off to the other side of the room. Running a hand through his dark hair, he sighed, “Of course I don’t, Helena. I’m glad that you’re back, and I wouldn’t want your family to still believe that you’re dead.”
He didn’t say it, but she could hear it hanging in the air.But I wish you weren’t here.
Not even Michael wanted her now.
Tears were building at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back, reaching for her anger instead. “Michael—”
“It would be best for our continued friendship if you return to Ralnor as soon as Axel can arrange it,” Michael cut in, watching the midnight world outside his window. After a violent sneeze, he folded his hands behind his back and continued, “As it is highly inappropriate for you to be in my sitting room at two in the morning, you should leave now. I may have dozed for a few hours on a window-seat, but I am tired and would like a proper rest.”
If that wasn’t a dismissal, she didn’t know what was.
Holding her head high, Helena gathered her skirt in one hand and swept toward the door with her best imitation of her mother’s exits. He was feeling sentimental tonight, but in the morning—
“One more thing, Helena,” he called after her, his voice stiff and formal and his back still toward her. “I will not tolerate additional attempts to ruin my marriage. If you try, I will ban you from Daraigh.”
Her hair whipped around her as she spun back toward him. “You wouldn’t.”
His shoulders sagged, but then they straightened again. And with his face still turned toward the dark window, he said firmly, “I would.”
Abandoned.
She’d pushed him to choose, and he’d chosen his marriage. Hisduty. And Crown Prince Michael of Daraigh was nothing if not driven to fulfill his duties.
The heartache warred with her anger, so she gave the anger a little push. If that was how he felt, he didn’t need to see her brokenness. “Fine,” she fumed, balling her hands into fists at her sides. “I’ll leave you alone. But don’t come crying to me when Arabella decides she’d rather have her guard.”
“That’s my problem to solve, Helena, not yours,” Michael quietly replied, still not looking at her. “I have much work torebuild what I have broken, and your assistance willnotbe required.” He glanced over his shoulder, but at his desk, not at her. “Even if she rejects me in the end.”
He wouldn’t want Helena even if his marriage couldn’t be salvaged?
Alone.
She spun away before he could see the moisture in her eyes. Storming out to the hallway, she gathered her ire around her like a shield. True love? What a joke.
Throwing open the door to an unused room, she stomped across to the unlocked window and pulled her shoes off. She stuffed them into the satchel on the floor, then shoved her feet into a pair of sturdy boots. Slinging the satchel over her shoulder, she clambered out onto the ledge and started climbing down.
She was done with princes. Noblemen too, since they were no better. Maybe she could find a commoner who wouldn’t mind an ex-cursed, archery-loving princess.
Helena dropped the last few feet to the ground and headed for the unlocked window of her own suite. Or maybe she would die an old maid. She’d always been alone, and true love was a dream.
Maybe alone was what she was always meant to be.
CHAPTER 1
Helena
TEN MONTHS LATER…
