Separate Crowns of One Heart

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When Demi returns to the quarters later into the night from the Reading, she calls my name but I pretend to be asleep. I know she'll start gushing about how amazing it is that I am the Prince's proclaimed mate and that is the last thing I want to hear. Buying my act, she quietly readies herself for sleep and crawls into her bed. I wait until I hear her light snoring to let out a breath and stare out the window.

I can't be the Prince's mate. I won't be his mate. A soft wind ripples through the trees in the forest and their treetops brush against the dark twilight sky. The tallest of them almost reaches the moon, her light the brightest thing to be seen as she shines it upon the slumbering lands below.

I need to see Micah. It's too soon for us to meet again but he's the only one that I know who will make me feel better or at least make the problem go away even for a short amount of time. I know I won't be about to tell him about the Reading but that won't matter anyway because I plan to turn down the Prince. Plus proving myself to be unworthy of being a royal's mate shouldn't be that difficult. I'll just have to lie until then.

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Mila is the first Fem to visit me. I don't let her in. In fact, I don't let anyone see me. I don't get out of bed or go to Lessons for two Suns and one moon. On the last moon, a small group of Fems from my wing of the dormitories knock on my door. Demi answers the door and then comes to try to get me out of bed to no avail.

"Sorry, she's not feeling well," I hear her tell the Fems. It's not a complete lie. Every time the thought of the Prince being my mate crosses my mind (which is more often than I would like), I get nauseous and my insides twist into knots. "I will let her know you came by." They leave and she closes the door. I tighten the covers around me as I feel her draw close. "Odusanya... your mother sent a correspondence. Perhaps you should open it and read it. It might make you feel better."

No, it won't. If Mother sent a correspondence this soon after I just saw her, it's only for one reason: she's heard about the Reading. Word travels fast in the kingdom— especially when it concerns the Royal family.

I'm ignoring Demi and thinking of ways to get a message for Micah to see me (We really should have thought through a means of communication but we never really needed it before now) when there's a knock on the door again. I let out an involuntary sigh. Can't people take a hint?

"I will turn them away," Demi says and goes to the door. The person on the other side doesn't say anything but Demi is clearly flustered. "Just one moment." She comes back and shakes me vigorously. "Odusanya, you have a guest."

"Tell them to go away," I grumble, shoving her off.

"That would not be very wise." She pulls the covers off me, exposing me to the cold. "Get up!"

"Demi, I swear to the gods—"

"It's the Prince."

"W-what?" I slowly sit up and look around the room. "Wh... why?"

"I do not know but you need to get out of that bed." She begins rushing around the room, straightening things that are already as straight as they could possibly be. "It's bad enough that you're in such an unpresentable state but you should not keep him waiting, Odusanya, please."

Sighing, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. I guess it was just a matter of time. Demi starts to scold me again but I hold up a hand to stop her. "I'm going." If the Prince's opinions mattered to me, I would change and try to look as presentable as possible but I couldn't care less. I just want to tell him I have no intentions of wedding him so he can be on his way and out of my hair.

I go to the door and sure enough, the Prince stands there, tall and imposing. Tonight he wears a simple black kamis and pants set. The usual jewels that adorn his locs are missing along with his crown. He seems so ordinary now... and yet still so regal.