Prophet of the Gods

Chapter 14: Pathos

"So what'd you think?" asked Cora sleepily. They were sprawled across her bed, both of them too lazy to change out of their fancy dresses and get ready for bed. 

"Of the ball?"

"Yeah."

Gen thought about it, "It was nice. The food was really good."

"Dell and the others really outdid themselves," commented Cora. Gen smiled. She had introduced Cora to Dell, Nina, and the others officially for the first time and she was grateful that even though Dell was wary of royals (like Gen used to be herself), he quickly warmed up to Cora and vice versa. 

"The dancing part left something to be desired," said Gen, scowling at the thought of Lord William and his awful words. It was terrible that some boys felt it was okay to treat girls like that- to disregard their words, thoughts, and feelings. That it was okay to use someone for kisses when they were probably expecting a relationship. 

"Ooo, Lady Genevieve danced with someone?" said Cora, sitting up. "I'm intrigued."

"You shouldn't be," said Gen. "It was Lord William and turns out he's an ass. He- what?"

Cora had gone very pale. 

"Cora?" she prompted, sitting up. Cora pursed her lips and stared at her hands. "Do you know him well?"

"I-" she shook her head. "Oh gods. Do I know him well? Ha, I did at one point."

"What happened?" asked Gen cautiously. She remembered how he had called Cora crazy and how the reason Liam had punched him those months ago was that he insulted Cora and her mother... 

Cora sighed, "We have a complicated history. He and Liam used to be best friends and I used to accompany them on their little adventures- horseback riding, swimming, apple picking, fencing, etcetera and when I was fourteen and he fifteen, he asked me on a date and we began courting. I didn't like him like that Gen, I just didn't want to hurt him. He was so earnest then." She took a shaky breath, "I thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal. He already had a reputation for having many flings and loves. I thought it would be over soon."

"Cora, you don't have to do this," said Gen gently. She herself hated talking about sore subjects even with people she trusted. 

"No, it's okay," said Cora, pulling her knees to her chest. "I had first noticed my attraction to girls when I was around 9 but I never mentioned it or thought of it. I rarely had crushes anyway but that was also the summer that I first met Astra and then..."

"You fell in love?" 

"Yeah, we did," she said quietly. "But I was still with Will so I broke up with him suddenly and didn't give him a reason. I just cut him off- I shouldn't have done that, but I couldn't tell him I liked Astra. He didn't accept that there was some boy more deserving of my attention than him. He was mad. He yelled and called me crazy," she said. "Liam defended my decision even though he didn't know what happened either. I didn't realize how mad he'd be- I think he really liked me Gen. And then..."

"And then?"

"He found out," said Cora flatly. "Similar to the way you did actually. He was livid. And this was a couple months later- after Father set me up with Prince Arden so that was complicated enough. He threatened to tell and I was so scared so I told Liam and Liam took care of it. I don't know how, but Will agreed to keep quiet but he hates me," she said. "I broke his heart. I just- I wish things had been okay with us. He used to be so sweet and I broke him."

Gen was silent only for a second, "You didn't break him. You didn't do anything wrong. Getting your heart broken doesn't excuse him being a big jerk. It's an explanation maybe, but not justification."