The Broken Crown by Amory Cannon

Author:Amory Cannon [Cannon, Amory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

*

A flutter of knocks pulls me from my light sleep, and I feel sure I only fell asleep moments ago while reading Felix’s book. I quickly stuff it under my mattress and glide soundlessly to the door. I take a brief moment and compose myself, smooth my hair, until I realize I’m hoping for Felix on the other side of the door. My hands fall to my sides.

Caution prevents me from jerking the door open. Instead, I crack it to reveal a disheveled Ronan who alternates quick glances between the door and the hallway behind him.

“Let me in,” he whispers with wide blue eyes that nearly glow in the dark.

He darts through the door before I shut it gently behind him. When I turn around, he stands near the foot of my bed, a mischievous smile curling his lips.

“Are you crazy?” I can’t help echoing his smile. It’s the first time I’ve really spoken to him in days, and I hadn’t realized how much I’ve craved his presence. So sure and confident in the midst of uncertainty.

“Absolutely.” The child-like brightness in his eyes fans the embers of something I hadn’t known existed in me. “But I had to see you.”

Before I can register his movement, he takes my hand and pulls me to him. We’re only inches apart as I look up into his handsome face. Only our hands touch, but I feel closer to him than I ever have. However, when I blink my eyes closed, I see all the other girls as if they stand between us. Reluctantly, I take a step back.

“Emilia?” Hurt laces his voice, but it’s not enough to bring me close again. I’m not above sacrificing some of his pain to protect myself. It’s a lesson the military teaches well.

“Why now?” I ask. Trust is not something I take lightly, and though this is the moment I’ve been wishing for, doubt shadows me. Above all, it may not matter.

“My father has forbidden me to see you, for us to be alone. He’s had a guard outside my room every night.”

“But Felix wouldn’t—”

“It wasn’t Felix. Father knows better than to station my friend as my captor.”

“Then how did you get away?”

“It doesn’t matter.” His hand cups my jaw and his thumb rests just a breath away from my lips. There’s something new and exciting in his touch, unlike the first night at the masquerade where he admired me but didn’t know me. “I tried to appease him for as long as I could, but I can’t quiet this restlessness in my heart. It’s only still when I’m with you.”

The urge to kiss him, to still his lips as well as his heart, rises like a tidal wave in me, but I stand motionless until it ebbs. My kisses are not what he needs.

“Will you sit with me?” Though I’m not sure what to do with him, I’m not ready to let him go. “Maybe we can stir up the fire in the sitting room.”

“I’d love to.

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