Separate Crowns of One Heart

Twėnty-Sıx

𝐀𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐱 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭...

𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫-- 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐂𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐡. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫?

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I wake with a stretch, my naked body rolling to the cool sheets on the other side of the bed where the Prince lay the moon before... after a few thrilling rounds of spectacular sex. Thinking back to last night's events, a soft giggle escapes me.

"Cyrah? Are you awake?" I sit up at the Prince's voice and look towards where his voice comes from. He sits at his desk, still shirtless. From here, I can see the dark purple marks I left on his body over his inks. Closing the book he was writing in, he smiles at me. "Hello."

"Hi."

"I thought you would be asleep for longer," he says as he stands. Moving around the suite, he begins collecting random objects and brings them back to his desk.

"No, I slept well enough to not sleep in today." He chuckles as he disappears into his wardrobe and returns with a collection of suits that he piles onto his bed. Pulling a pillow into my lap, I frown at him. "Are you packing?"

"Uh, yes." He stops for a tick to look at me. "That emergency from yesterday has turned itself into an even bigger problem and because of that I have to go on a last-minute trip to the Castle."

"Oh."

"I know." He goes back to packing his bags. "Going there is the last thing I want to do right now."

"When do you leave?"

"This afternoon," he answers. "The King will be leaving with me so the Queen and you will be left to manage things while we are away." He leaves my vision but continues speaking. "I'm sure the King has arranged things so that it will not be too difficult for you." He comes back and begins packing things into a large bag.