The words stay stuck in my throat. The look on Theo’s face pierces through my heart as pain shatters across my chest.
I don’t ever want to see him in pain. Reaching over to stroke his jaw, I press my lips to his.
“You’ll be a great king, Theo.”
He gives me a tight smile. “Maybe.”
I want to tell him everything in my heart. Everything that has changed over the past week, and everything he’s made me realize.
I don’t need to leave to feel free. I don’t need an adventure. I don’t need independence.
Slowly, day by day, hour by hour, Theo is making me realize that the only thing I need is love.
We make love that night. It’s different from all the other times, slower and more tender. Theo stares into my eyes, and it feels like there are a million things he wants to say.
There are a million things I want to say. Like the fact that I don’t want to leave at all. Going to singing school or on some solo international adventure doesn’t seem so important anymore. The thought of leaving terrifies me, but not because I’m scared of the big bad world.
Because I’m scared of losing Theo.
For the first time in a long, long time, I feel like somebody sees me. Theo sees the real me. He took time out of his busy royal schedule to introduce me to one of our kingdom’s best musicians. He knows how important music is to me, and he wanted to show me he cared.
He took me out on the sailboat when he knew I had suffered from Luca’s silence.
He understood how much I wanted to leave, and instead of trying to convince me to stay, he took me on this trip to protect me from the pressure that might stop me from going.
No one else treats me like that. No one else sees me like a fully formed human being with thoughts and opinions and feelings. No one else respects me enough to really, truly see me.
My mother thinks of me as an investment. My father still acts like I’m four years old and learning to swim with him. My sisters are busy with their own lives and husbands, and they’re content to live the life that was set out for them.
As I lie in bed beside the future King of Argyle, I realize that Theo is the only person that has taken the time to get to know me—and he likes me for me. Maybe even more than ‘like.’ I’ve seen a different side of Theo. A different side of myself.
The energy changed on that sailboat, and it’s grown into something bigger.
Maybe the great tragedy of my life wasn’t losing Luca, after all. It’s that I’m falling for Theo, even though I have no right to be with him at all.
Two weeks later, when we land back at the royal pier on Argyle’s main island, a feeling of dread curls in the pit of my stomach. As soon as I step off the sea plane, nausea rises up in my throat. It’s the same nausea that has started plaguing my days and nights. I thought I was just apprehensive of this trip coming to an end, but now I’m not so sure.
Stumbling to the edge of the pier, I throw up into the crystalline blue waters.
Theo yelps, rushing over to help me. His broad, warm hand stays on my back as I spit the last of my bile into the water, sucking in a deep breath. My fingers cling to the wooden pier and I squeeze my eyes shut. The nausea subsides and I’m able to inhale again.
I spit the last of my bitter bile into the water, frowning.
That was weird.
“Cara, are you okay?” Theo is still beside me. I turn to see concern written all over his features. Worry is etched into his face like a mask. He helps me to my feet, staring into my eyes. “I’ll call the doctor. Come back to the palace with me.”
“I’m fine,” I say, waving a hand. “It’s probably just seasickness.”
“You grew up on the sea, Cara. You’ve been flying in that plane almost every day for the past three weeks. You’ve never been seasick as long as I’ve known you. Even when we were being tossed around the ocean on that sailboat for the solstice, you never even got nauseous.”
“It’s nothing.” I try to shrug Theo off, but he won’t let go.
“Come back to the palace.” His lips flatten—and there