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wait.
    Waiting in silence quickly grew boring. Elliot leaned against a wall and began to doze. When he closed his eyes, he saw a face, one he easily recognized. Not because he remembered her, but because he’d seen it so many times, in paintings and statues, even the water fountain in his garden had been made to resemble his mother.
    He felt so safe and warm, the steady beat of her heart lulling him to sleep. She kissed his forehead, which made him realize her proportions were off. Her face was too big.
    Then he understood. This was a memory. His own memory of the day he was born, when his mother held him and loved him for every moment she could until death took her.
    Suddenly, he was snatched from that memory and was experiencing another one. This time he was falling, but he wasn’t afraid. He felt free. The wind rushing across his face. The smell of green grass. Never had he experienced such relief, such a sense of victory. The memory certainly wasn’t his own.
    Elliot opened his eyes to find Blaine watching him. “The woman with the blonde hair?”
    “My mother.”
    “So it was real. I thought so.”
    “And the falling?”
    Blaine shrugged. “It’s never happened. But it was me. I could feel it was me. What do you think it means?”
    “I don’t know. We should ask the priestess.”
    “It means what was once two, is now one. Congratulations.” Elliot looked up startled. He hadn’t realized she’d come back into the room.
    The priestess wouldn’t give them any insight into the visions they had; she simply explained it wasn’t her place, so they left the grove and headed back to the palace.
    Elliot had done it. He had managed to fulfill his duty, and it was easier than he imagined. Under different circumstances, he could see himself getting along well with Blaine. He just hoped that one day Zariya could forgive him.
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    After the wedding came the festivities. From one end of the city to the other, people celebrated the union between the Kalsens and the Ryndens.
    Elliot returned to the palace with his new spouse to attend a banquet in their honor. He walked numbly through the crowd of excited noblemen, eager to offer their well-wishes to the new couple.
    No one seemed curious about why it was Elliot and not Victoria who had gotten married. They probably assumed she had committed some shameful offense causing the Ryndens to refuse her as a daughter. His poor sister. She’d done nothing to deserve such disgrace.
    Elliot sat at the head table next to Blaine. Everyone else sat at smaller round tables, as if the pair were on display. As Elliot chewed his “wedding feast” his eyes fell upon his sister who had chosen to sit alone, in a distant corner. Her protector stood over her while she slipped the occasional bite of food under her veil.
    She often criticized Elliot’s disdain for duty, calling him selfish, immature, and undeserving of the crown he refused to wear. Yet, he had sacrificed his love and happiness for the prosperity of the kingdom. The irony of him choosing that moment to act like a prince was not lost on him.
    From the corner of his eye, he noticed Blaine smiling at him. The man hadn’t stopped smiling since the ceremony. Elliot couldn’t fathom why Blaine was so happy. Physically, he was no more attractive than his sister, and when it came to temperament, she was unquestionably his superior. Elliot was quick to anger and laughed when it was inappropriate. Being the Crown Prince had made him selfish and spoiled. But Victoria was steady. Dependable. Other than a prudishness she would have undoubtedly shed after marriage, she was the better choice. Love would have grown easily between them. Elliot doubted he’d ever do more than imitate the feelings expected of him. Blaine had made the wrong choice.
    Elliot made every effort not to look in Zariya’s direction. The pain was too fresh, too raw, and the sight of her renewed the sting of what he’d lost. But it was harder