there’s a hole burning through me at seeing her this way.
I pushed her too far, this gorgeous woman I haven’t been able to get out of my head. I’ve been so focused on the end goal, that I forgot she’s scared and vulnerable.
I keep hearing her pleading cries from inside the barn even now, and a shuddering ache starts at the base of my breast bone, making its way higher. Fuck, she gave me no choice I keep telling myself, but when I stare into those tear-filled eyes, I want to shove my fist into the wall over and over until I feel nothing but hurt.
"Are you alright, little one," I say as I sit her down on the edge of the bed.
She sniffles and wipes at her eyes before looking at me. "Why didn't you freeze if you were out there?" she asks as though she wishes I had been impacted as well.
“I'm cursed, like you. That's the only reason I can think of.”
She ponders my words, and I expect her to say that her power having no impact on me also means my poison won’t affect her, but she doesn't. She sits there, her arms curled around her middle like she's going to be sick.
I blink a few times, trying to deal with the gut-wrenching guilt spreading over me.
When she finally speaks, her voice is like venom, and it saddens me. "How could you do that to me?"
"I would never let you get hurt."
Her head jerks up. "That's not what I'm talking about. How could you endanger others when you had no idea what my power was capable of?"
"I may have gone too far, but my mother was cursed too, and she pushed me hard to finally tame my ability before it tamed me. If you let me, I'll guide you too."
She stares at me with an astonished expression, like my offer was the last thing she expected to hear. When I see her struggling, I can remember how hard I fought against my power until my mother showed me a few tricks. Licia has to be willing, but it's so much more complicated than that. If she has limited mastery, having her by my side is dangerous for others. Which is what scares her. I see it in her eyes, in the way she trembles, in how much she fights me.
"Your ways are barbaric," she snaps, her cheeks drenched in tears.
I sigh as she wipes her eyes, stands from the bed, and strides over to the window where the snow has ceased falling. The sun peeks out from behind the clouds, and all I can think about is how much longer we have. Maybe a week, at best. I have scouts all over the land, reporting to me daily on how close the danger encroaches.
“I want nothing more than to keep you and everyone else protected from the war coming our way. Sometimes, that comes with making hard decisions I may regret.”
She doesn’t face me. When I think of her being scared and so out of her comfort zone, concern creeps forward, but so does determination to make her the powerful woman she’s meant to be. All these years she’s had such power, yet she never understood how truly strong she is inside.
"You made a mistake. I can't help you," she mutters, turning to face me with a challenging expression.
"Not acceptable," I answer.
Her chin tilts back and she faces me fiercely. "Well, neither was locking me up in a barn with a goddamn hobgoblin!" she states. "If you hadn’t done that, those people out there wouldn't be dead." She chokes on her words and tears track down her cheeks.
I’ve never seen someone with such passion, such deep emotions...
But if that issue is what stops her, then I’ll find a solution. I cross the room and grab her arms, drawing her toward me.
She hits me in the chest with a fist, then another and another. I take it, wanting to let her get it out of her system if that's what she needs. But it doesn't change anything. A lot more than those people in the yard will suffer if I do nothing. She can call me a barbarian, a monster, but I do what I think is right. Yes, I regret hurting her to ensure her power is revealed quickly, but now I need to find a way to get her to work with me.
Being the prince is anything but glorious. It comes with severe decisions that