The Heir of Moon-Fire

Chapter 55

Emily's POV

I felt tears welling in my eyes as I did Ashleigh's hair. She wore a beautiful brilliant blue ball gown. Her eyes were downcast as she fidgeted with the ring I'd made her last week.

"It's today, isn't it, mom?" I stopped my gentle brushing of her hair.

"Yes," I replied softly.

"You're going to purposefully ruin Aunt T's engagement party?" I shut my eyes as a tear managed to slip down my cheek.

"Yes. It's the only way to protect us."

I forced myself to start brushing her hair again even as more tears fell from my eyes. I pinned her beautiful curly hair into a bun. "It's not too tight is it?"

"No. It looks very nice."

I paused at her sad tone. "What's wrong?" I asked her quietly.

"I don't want you and dad to break up," she murmured under her breath. I turned her chair around and pulled up a chair of my own. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "And I know why you have to but... there has to be another way, right?"

"Oh, Ashe... we've looked at it from every angle. We don't want to do this either." I sighed pulling a couple of strands of hair out of her bun to frame her face. "But there's no other way to keep us safe."

"You don't know that Vincent will come after you!" She shouted, standing up and storming to the window.

I sighed. "You're right. We don't know. But we can't risk the off chance that he does."

She turned around with tears pouring down her face. She ran to me, burying her face in my chest as she cried. "It'll be okay, Ashleigh. We're not your birth parents. We're not going to split up, we're too good of a team for that. And we're not going to abandon you."

She looked up at me shakily. "Promise."

"Pinky promise," I replied, interlocking our pinkies together. "Now, let's get our faces cleaned up. We have a ball to get to."

After washing our faces, we reapplied our makeup. I wore an emerald green ball gown, the same style as Ashleigh's, and Ashleigh helped me braid my hair over my shoulder.

She walked over to the door while I scrutinized her outfit. "Wait," I told her before hurrying over to my bed. Pulling out a jewelry box from underneath it, I opened the lid, revealing all of the irreplaceable items Mal had bought me over the years. I brought over a large sparkling blue floral comb from the bottom.

"Come here for a second?" I asked her as I stood in front of the mirror again. I turned her around so she was facing the mirror before placing the comb in her hair. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful."

"Glad you think so. Mal bought it for me when we first started dating. I think it suits you better, though." I checked the clock on the wall above us. "We should probably go."

She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded sadly. "You're right."

We walked down the halls, pausing in front of the big oak doors leading into the ballroom. "Chin high. No tears. Be strong for a couple of hours."

"I know, mom," she replied, but her voice held none of its usual bite.

The guards on either side of the doors pushed them open for us. And thus began the hardest night of my life.

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Two hours and at least five glasses of fae wine later, I still hadn't seen Mal. Not that it was important. Better that we weren't seen with each other before dinner. Better that we didn't dance together. Better that—

"Emily?" Mal's voice broke through my thoughts. 'Shit.'

I whipped around to face him. "Hey, Mal," I greeted in a voice dripping with venom. Before hiding under my breath, "What are you doing here?"

His eyes sparkled with tears that had yet to fall down his face. "Dance with me?" He asked, offering my hand.

"Are you crazy? They'll—"

"Please. One more dance." I looked back down at his hand, surprising myself when I took it, even knowing that this could ruin the last month of planning. The second our hands touched, a smile bloomed on his face before pulling me into a spin.

"This could ruin everything, Mal," I murmured so low he could barely hear it.

"No. It won't. We're engaged. Everyone expects us to dance together. The fact that it took two hours and you were still hesitant, shows that we don't want to dance together." He twirled me again.

Stunned into silence, I bit my lip and looked away. Neither of us spoke for the rest of the dance.

When the song ended, we pulled apart. He tilted his head slightly before bringing the back of my hand to his lips with a bow. He dropped my hand a second later, giving me a stiff nod. "See you around."

He spun on his heel, keeping up the pretence of annoyance as he walked away.

I forced myself to turn away from him. This couldn't fall apart now. Not after the month of planning and preparation. Not after every stupid fight.

The music came to a sudden resounding stop. Everyone turned as they watched Aelin moving up behind the table. She swept a hand elegantly over the table, beckoning silently for us to join her as she sat down. My stomach dropped. There would be no turning back now.

I approached my seat with Mal on my left and Ashleigh on my right. My heart thudded against my chest as I sat even as I kept up my cool facade. I glanced sideways at Ashleigh, glad to see that she, too, looked indifferent to it all. I brushed my hand against Mal's leg.

"I love you," I whispered so low that I wasn't sure he heard it. He swallowed thickly, the only confirmation I needed.

"I love you, too."

I squeezed his hand before quickly releasing it as dinner started.

It was me and him, for now, and forever. Even if we wouldn't see each other for months.

A/N

Surprise!!! I updated really early in the day!!! Anyway, I finished the next chapter. So, I'll post again next week. Thank you all for reading this far and voting and commenting. It means a lot to me!

Luna (August 9), 217

Elentiya & Cal (May 1), 201

Lyria (September 9), 187

Malatyr (March 20), 170

Emily (July 15), 170

Sam (February 27), 74

Connall (December 2), 72

Ladon (September 13), 21