The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,70
by his brother's feet.
Rafe stared at the mess, thinking, How do I fix this? What do I do? But the truth was he hadn’t breathed since she stepped through the door, and all he felt was the briefest flash of relief now that she was out of sight once more.
He’d known this was going to happen.
The moment he realized she’d won second pick and he third, he’d known. He’d hoped and prayed to all the gods that it wouldn’t. But fate was fickle, and the gods were cruel just as often as they were kind.
Destiny’s dagger had struck him in the heart the second her eyes landed on his, so lost and hurt and confused, but it wasn’t until she left that the dagger twisted, bringing a fresh round of pain now that he had nothing to distract him from his brother.
Xander was crushed.
Rafe set aside his own panic and kicked off the wall, trying to put a grin to his lips even as nausea continued to coil in his stomach. “That was a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
Head snapping up at this, Xander fumed. “She has every right to react however she pleases after what we did to her.”
“I wasn’t talking about her. I was talking about you,” Rafe retorted before pointedly looking at the gnarled glove by his feet. “I think the poor girl thought you tore your own hand off. What happened to using your words?”
Xander frowned. “I— I’m not sure.”
But Rafe knew. Everyone in that room knew. Even Xander, whether he would admit it to himself or not. The same insecurity had plagued him all his life—the idea that his disability made him somehow less of a man, less of a prince. Rafe wanted to grab his brother and shake him, but he didn’t think that would help. Instead, he walked across the room and draped an arm over Xander’s shoulder.
“Give her time,” he said. “She’s been lied to, she probably feels a bit betrayed, and more than anything, she probably feels scared—scared to be mated, scared to leave the only life she’s ever known, scared to move to a foreign world she’s never seen before. This isn’t about you, not really. Give her time to adjust and then you’ll see, she’ll open her heart to you.”
“Rafe is right,” Helen added softly. “We knew this plan was risky from the start, but it doesn’t sound like she plans to betray us to her king. We should look on the bright side. In two days, we’ll be home. Our people’s faith will be restored. And you’ll have the rest of your life to make it up to your mate.”
Xander grunted, his expression still haunted. After a moment, he slinked out of Rafe’s embrace and pumped his wings, racing toward his room. Rafe moved to follow, but a hand on his arm stopped him cold.
“Leave us,” Queen Mariam murmured darkly.
At first, Rafe thought she was talking to him, but then he saw Helen slip out, returning to the rest of the guards at her command, and he knew he wasn’t so lucky.
“What—”
“Silence,” she cut him off, voice as sharp as ever—as though she’d been forged in a smithy, not grown in a womb. Her eyes glinted like the polished iron of a blade about to strike. No matter how old he grew or how many dragons he faced, the queen would remain the most terrifying of sights. “I will not have my son fooled the way my mate fooled me.”
Rafe swallowed, trying to clear his throat as a drop of dread slid through it. His voice was hoarse as he answered, “I don’t know what you mean.”
The queen laughed, a sound that was anything but amused. “I don’t care what happened between you and the daughter of Aethios to make her defy the orders of her king and pick my son as a mate, but whatever it was, it ends now.”
Rafe opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
The silence said more than his words ever could.
Queen Mariam tightened her grip on his arm and leaned toward him. “You will not speak to her in the absence of my son. You will not visit her rooms. You will not try to ease her worries or her fears. You will not make her believe she is special. You will harden your heart to her, or I will do what I should have done years ago and remove you from my kingdom. Do I make myself clear?”