Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1)(25)

She had to convince her father to end this nonsense. The king hadn’t made Emilia marry her fiancé. This shouldn’t be any different.

If Aron ever told her secret after that, she would … simply deny it. She could do that. She was the princess. Her father would believe her over Aron, even if she spoke lies out of necessity. That night would not ruin her. It could not. She refused to allow Aron to have that kind of power over her a day longer than he already had.

“See you soon, Cleo,” Aron said, stepping outside when they did. He lit another cigarillo as he watched them leave.

Cleo didn’t speak, intent on walking away from the villa as quickly as she could.

The heat of Theon’s glare seared into the back of her neck. Finally, when they were nearly back at the castle, she spun around to face him.

“Need to say something?” she demanded, trying her best to hide that she was on the verge of tears. Nausea churned in the pit of her stomach.

If Theon hadn’t intervened...

She was glad that he had, but she was still upset. And taking out her frustrations and anger on the nearest person to her was the only way she knew to cope.

Theon’s fierce expression was not one of respect for a member of royalty, but the annoyance of someone forced to deal with a headstrong child. “You need to stop trying to run away from me.”

“I didn’t run away. I needed to see Aron alone.”

“Yes, I saw that.” He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the golden villa down the road lined with green trees and well-tended flower beds. “Apologies for interrupting your romantic rendezvous. Looked like the two of you—”

“Were doing nothing at all,” she cut him off, her voice catching on the words. While she didn’t feel she should be overly concerned about her new bodyguard’s opinion, she’d prefer he didn’t guess that her chastity was but a memory. Theon would never look at her the same way again if he knew the truth. “That was not what you thought it was.”

“Really.”

“Yes, really. It was a conversation.”

“Looked like an interesting conversation.”

She furiously wiped at her eyes with the long sleeves of her dress. “It was not.”

In a split second, Theon’s expression shifted from anger to concern. “Are you certain that everything’s all right?”

“What do you care? All I am to you is an assignment handed down from the king.”

A muscle in his cheek twitched, as if she’d slapped him. “Excuse me for asking.” Clarity dawned on his face a moment later. “Wait. You went there to confront Lord Aron about what happened in Paelsia. You feel bad about it.”

Her chest ached. His words could apply to many things she felt bad about. “Let us go back to the castle.”

“Princess, you were blameless. You need to know that.”

Blameless? She wished he was right. She’d stood by and watched helplessly as the boy was killed. And months earlier, she’d allowed Aron to have his way with her, blaming the wine even as it was happening, not her own decisions. He hadn’t forced himself on her. At the time, in her intoxicated haze, she had welcomed the amorous attentions of a handsome lord sought after by many of her friends.

She shook her head, her throat tight. It hurt too much to swallow. “The death of that boy haunts me.”

He grasped her shoulders and drew her closer to him. “It’s done. It’s over. Put it out of your mind. If you’re afraid of the boy’s brother coming after you to get revenge, I will protect you. I swear I will. You don’t have to worry. That’s one of the reasons I’m guarding you.” His expression darkened again. “That is, if you’d stop running away from me.”

“I’m not running away from you. Well, not specifically,” she said, suddenly finding words difficult to come by again. His proximity made it difficult to think clearly. “I—I’m running away from...” She sighed. “Oh, I don’t know anymore. I’m just trying to make sense of everything and finding that nothing at all makes sense.”

“I heard your father talking to someone.” Theon absently scrubbed his hand through his short, bronze-colored hair. “About your upcoming engagement to Lord Aron.”

She had a difficult time finding enough air to breathe. “And how did he sound?”

“Pleased.”

“That makes one of us,” she grumbled darkly under her breath, her eyes on a horse-drawn cart that rolled down the road next to where they stood.

“You’re not happy about the engagement?” His tone had regained its hard edge.

“Not happy about being forced into doing something that I have absolutely no say about? No, I can’t say that I am.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you?”

Theon shrugged. “I don’t think anyone should have to do what they don’t want to do.”

“Like being assigned a job you weren’t interested in?”

His lips thinned. “It’s different.”

Cleo considered this. “You and me—it’s kind of like a strange marriage. You’re forced to be near me. I can’t escape you. And we’re going to be together a lot now and in the future.”

Theon raised an eyebrow. “So you’re finally accepting this arrangement?”