Selling My Soul to His Royal Nerdiness.

Selling My Soul to His Royal Nerdiness. (30)

Noah

"I wish it never happened."

"You wish what never happened?"

"I wish I never snuck out. I wish Noah never came here, or got that stupid makeover, or needed protecting. Hell, sometimes I wish you and dad never had me. I was born because you wanted a new car. You ever think about that?" 

I wish Noah never came here. 
I wish Noah never came here. 
I Wish Noah Never Came here. 

I should not have been eavesdropping, but I had. And now I knew the truth. 

I walked away from the door and headed to my room, thinking about the heartbreak in her voice, the way that she'd hugged me before...I had deluded myself into thinking that I was some kind of help here. That if I waited long enough, I could make her happy. But it was time to stop lying to myself. My time here was limited--always had been, always would be. I was not a Taylor. I wasn't even Noah. I was Prince Noah, son of Malick and heir to the Bamencian throne. It was about time that I stopped pretending. 

My spine straightened. All of the lessons that I'd been learning from these people came flooding in. With a stiff spine, I turned and walked out the door. 

_

He wasn't expecting me, I could tell. He looked tired and his hair was messed up, as if he'd been running his hands through it. He went from looking mildly surprised to outright displeased very quickly though. 

"What are you doing here?" Without Anna around he didn't have to pretend to like me. That was fine. I didn't like him either. 

"I want you to take me to Bamencia." 

He raised an eyebrow. "You actually want to go home?" 

I let out a slow breath. "That's not home. Nevertheless, I have found myself in a position where I need to go and take my rightful place. And I know that you are in the position to do that for me." 

It wasn't hard to figure out. Silas looked and moved like a predator. The fact that he was somehow always around, combined with my lessons on Bamencian citizens, made it simple for me to deduce. I had not known what to say to Anna, so I had said nothing at all. That, as it turns out, had not been wise. 

To his credit, he did not try to deny anything. Instead, he stepped slightly out of the way and tilted his head. I took the silent cue and entered his dorm room. 

It was bare, almost military, with a neat bed and shoes at the foot. There was a chair at the desk in the corner, but neither of us sat. 

I got straight to the point. "I brought my passport and any other identification that they will need at the airport. There's nothing else that I need to bring with me."

"You realize that things are still being settled within Bamencia, and bringing you back now would cause unnecessary chaos? You haven't been here for shits and giggles. There are people who want to end you. And even if they don't want to kill you, they won't accept you." 

I knew that. But I also knew that I couldn't look Anna in the eye right now. It was hard to stay; it was hard to leave. Everything felt like it had come to a stunning end. 

Something had to give. "I know." 

Apparently Silas could tell how serious I was, because he scrubbed a hand down his face. The room was painfully silent for a few minutes. I sensed that he was thinking so I stayed as still and quiet as I could. 

Finally: "I'll probably be dismissed from the reserves for this...so let's do it. I'm over this whole fucking service thing anyway. It's not worth it." 

Something in my chest eased and tightened at the same time.  "Yeah." 

It hit me, on the way to his car, that we were two halves of the same coin. I had no idea who Silas was or the history he had, but based on the small smile on his face as he cranked up the car, he seemed like he was eager to be free of whatever was tying him to the throne. Meanwhile, I was essentially giving myself over. A trade, of sorts. 

While I couldn't guess at his reasons, I had a feeling that some of them were linked to the same particular red head that it hurt to think about.