Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter 74: The Truth Elusive

Chapter 74: The Truth Elusive

Anne

A hoarse madwoman's laugh raged out of Anne's throat. It burned and clawed. It tore her apart from the inside out. A glow formed around her. The Life Aria's heady song pounded in her head, aching inside her skull, spearing out of her eyes and mouth.

Control. The air trembled around her. She had to control herself!

"Cezanne?"

Anne raised her gold-blurred gaze. Calden's lips flattened into a wrathful line. His hands clenched atop his thighs. He looked more like a statue than a man.

She tried to speak but her tongue floundered, unable to form words. What was she supposed to say?

The room shuddered. The Life Aria demanded to be let out. It was overflowing. She crammed it all inside, like she always did, but the gilded vase of her self-control was broken. The porcelain crumbled, melting in her desperate fingers, as she tried to piece herself back together. The air whipped her hair into her face as the golden light grew brighter and brighter.

Scraps of paper fluttered. A book flipped open, yellowed pages whispering. A table scooted across the floor. The room groaned.

She had to go. Get out. Escape. She stood. She couldn't let Calden see her like this. She had to regain control. She was a princessa! How many times had she been told to tame her temper? It was ill-befitting of a noblewoman to lose control of the Aria's song within, shameful to reveal such base emotions.

Be calm. Just be calm!

"Cezanne." Calden stood, from statue to flesh.

"I'm alright," Anne lied. "I just need a moment." She wrapped her arms around her aching chest. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Calden asked darkly as he stepped closer, heedless of the dangerous power bubbling inside her.

"Stay back," Anne warned, holding out a shaky hand. Calden froze. "I'm not in complete control. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't."

Did he think he was strong enough to take her worst, or did he trust her to not hurt him? Either way, he was wrong. He had only seen a little spill of the Life Aria's power churning within her, not the tidal wave that roared to be unleashed in a destructive torrent. She shook her head, stepping back. 

"I am so sorry. I am embarrassed you had to hear all that," Anne said, trying to sound nonchalant. The air swirled around them.

"Do not apologize," Calden reiterated, his eyes sparkling like color-change sapphires. "They are the ones who will be sorry. They are the ones who have wronged you."

"They were just trying to protect me."

"No. They were protecting themselves," Calden snarled, showing his teeth like a wolf seconds before biting. "They should be ashamed. Bastards!"

"Calden," Anne warned. She was trying to calm her rage and he was stoking the fire. A book clunked to the floor. If she didn't get control of her emotions, she would make a serious mess. She had done it before; her wrath had left her rooms in ruin more than a few times. "I just need a moment and I'll be fine."

"Fine? How are you not furious!"

"I'm just...shocked, that's all." Anne bowed her head. The Life Aria whipped around in disagreement with her lies, so she amended them, "I may be a little upset, but I am a princessa. I cannot afford to overreact." She ignored the burning in her eyes. Princessas are perfect in every way. They do not cry. They do not speak out of turn. They do not lose their temper. "This happens to noblewomen all the time in Atrezino. Rumors spread, people exaggerate, and people lie. All ills will pass. In time, the rumors will be forgotten. It is alright." She closed her eyes. "It will all be alright. I'll be fine." She patted at her puffy cheeks as she gave Calden her best attempt at a smile, her jaws and teeth aching with the need to cry. "Honestly Cal, if I lose my temper, I'll only end up breaking things."