Steel Rose

Chapter 58

Ptolemus Pov

They're here. They're back. My guards perhaps have trouble keeping up with me after I barge from my room to make my way to greet Eve and Isabelle. Equal measure or relief and excitement pours from me. No more nights of grief with Elane. No more worrying about the two people who mean the world to me. No more awkward dinners and empty sheets. They're here.

I can see the summer heat waves as I step out of the transport and onto the black pavement of the runway. I'm exposed to the sun, but I pay little mind to it. I have to be the first person Belle sets eyes on when she lands. I have to see her for myself, safe and whole, and completely mine.

Mother and Father however don't share my sentiment and elect to have the arriving lords and ladies come to them. To greet them. Another demonstration of power. I suppose if they always had their way, I would not be out here as the sweating, eager prince. But instead inside, Elane on my arm as we prance around in our meager and forming court, smiling and speaking empty words.

The thought of Elane sends my memories down a darker and unnatural route, and I mentally scold myself for it. I close my eyes for a moment. Isabelle. Isabelle. Isabelle......Samos. It's a dream and a curse that sounds so right.

Panic for a moment runs through me. Isabelle, my sweet Belle, much too beautiful, much too young to not be married. She's officially under the order and control of my parents. If they decided to marry her off, what power or choice would she have? What could I do? No. No. I'll do as Evangeline once planned, when the world was right and such concerns were nonexistent. She'll have a consort's crown. It will protect her for now. Even the whisper of it. I burn with the knowledge that this is all I can offer her now. She deserves a title, a seat at my side. Perhaps.....a pregnancy? If Isabelle where to produce an heir before Elane.

No. The houses supporting us would not tolerate me tossing aside their Haven daughter for another. Our alliance is already walking a fine line. A consort's crown will have to be enough for now.

My heart jumps into my throat when I spot their jet. A small speck in the sky, then a large roaring beast landing in front of me, the hatch opening much too slow for my liking. Suddenly, the heat does not bother me. Immediately my eyes land on Eve. She is the first to step off, and a rush off air of relief leaves me. She's safe.

We fold easily into a hug, but alarms go off in my head as I look up to see everyone pile out of the craft. The shine of my golden haired lover is gone. Panic sweeps through me. Eve says something but I can't even process on time. I push Eve back. I have to restrain myself, every muscle in my body taunt needing to check the jet myself as the remainders of riders step off.

"Sad to miss the chaos?" I force lightness in my voice. "Father has gone a bit wild making up a proper court. Silver all over the place. And he can't decide on a throne." I care very little about what's going on in my family right now however. Where is my own little piece of family? Where is Isabelle?

"What about Mother?" Eve asks too nervous to ask. Too knowledgeable about what has to have occurred while she was away.

I force myself to answer. To act normal. To distant myself no matter how much I want to yell. To destroy. "More of the same. Prodding after grandchildren. She escorts Elane to my rooms every night. I think she might even stand guard outside the door." I've never felt more rotten than in this very moment. Isabelle, Evangeline, Elane, and I. None of us are happy. Not anymore. We're cutting wounds into each other, all of us slowly bleeding out. I wonder: is this the cost of our crowns? Is it worth it?

I think back to our time in Archean. A paradise compared to the raging turmoil I find in my own home. No. Is my instant answer. How could I ever give up my Isabelle. But there is nothing I can do now, not right now.