The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

Incurable Remorse

"K-kissed her?" Alia whispered, staring at Caiden with eyes of disbelief.

Her brow then furrowed less than a second later. "Against her wishes, Caiden. You kissed her against her wish?"

A blue streak of zigzag patterns shot from Alia's fingertips, tearing through the air with one goal in mind. It barely evaded my tense shoulders, the hairs on my skin rising as the air sizzled with electricity before it touched Caiden's hand.

"Ouch!" Caiden exclaimed, swiftly letting go of my shoulder to pull it back as Alia's powers zapped him.

"You don't kiss a lady without her consent! I thought Alaric raised you better than that!" Alia said, stepping closer to slap Caiden across his broad chest. "You don't—"

"It wasn't like that," Caiden said, catching Alia's wrist before she could slap him again. "I love her, Alia."

My body stiffened as Alia stopped resisting Caiden. A surge of excitement and unease rippled through my chest as Caiden's words echoed in my mind.

He... loved me...

I'd never heard him confess those words to others before.

Alia ripped her wrist from Caiden's hand before I'd recovered from the shock of surprise. "That doesn't excuse you from kissing someone who obviously didn't want it. She's an engaged woman, Caiden. Just because you're the crown prince doesn't permit you to—"

"What did you want me to do? Willow had already confessed that our feelings were mutual. Did you just want me to let her go and allow Calix to have her?"

"Stop it," I whispered, but not nearly loud enough for them to hear me through their raised voices.

Alia stepped past me, backing Caiden further into the corner. "Yes. If Willow really desired to be with you and be Heliac's golden queen, she wouldn't have agreed to help me pair you with Piper. Did you ever stop to think that love isn't always enough when—"

"Stop it!" I exclaimed, the ground rumbling under my feet as I turned around to face the two bodies who had stopped breathing.

"What Caiden did was not alright," I said, clenching the fabric of my delicate dress between my fingers. "But what we did to Caiden was not okay, either. Crown prince or not, no one should be forced to marry someone he didn't choose."

Alia's face displayed a variety of emotions as if she couldn't decide what emotion to settle on. "But he proposed to Piper. If he didn't want to be with her, why propose?"

I was about to open my mouth, unsure which answer would pass my lips when another voice interrupted me.

"That was my fault."

Piper stepped out of the shadow cast by the giant pillar supporting the empty balcony above the door. My heart skipped a beat before the dim light from the setting sun made her dress and tiara sparkle like the peaceful waves of the calm sea.

I hadn't even heard her enter. But, then again, I hadn't heard Caiden enter either.

"I asked him to propose to me because I knew King Alaric would propose to Will on Calix's behalf. I needed them both to see what idiots they were for not admitting they belonged together."

"You?" Alia whispered, her eyes wide with confusion. "Why? What good would it do to make Willow believe that the two of you were engaged and in love?"

I immediately looked at the white tiles we were standing on. Piper had explained her miraculously successful plan to me, but I still wasn't sure how any of it had worked out as it did.

I should've rejected Caiden. I should've rejected him if I'd been a truly good friend to Piper. Of course, I should've rejected Tarkan's proposal too, but... I wasn't even sure what thoughts had passed my mind back then anymore.