A Dance Of Crowns & Thrones | Book I

Chapter 112 | My Cousin, My Keeper

As dawn's light filtered through the academy windows, casting long shadows across the floor, Eko and Matthew found themselves caught in a painful standoff. The morning, which should have begun like so many others—wrapped in each other's arms—was overshadowed by tension, with Madison's words slowly driving a wedge between them.

Matthew, usually open and warm, now seemed like a stranger, his body language guarded and his eyes, those bright blue windows to his thoughts, clouded with doubt and fear. Eko could almost see the walls he was erecting around himself, a fortress meant to shield him from potential hurt. Her heart ached seeing this, understanding that his physical withdrawal mirrored the emotional distance he was creating.

He had finished recounting Madison's words, and though Eko sensed there were gaps in his story—moments he hesitated—she didn't press him to fill in the details.

"Matthew, please, listen to me, look at me!" Eko's plea shattered the silence, her words desperate to mend the growing rift, to draw him back from the edge. Slowly, his gaze met hers again.

"I am staying! There is no other part to that statement."  Eko reaffirmed. "Have I ever given you any reason to doubt me?"

"I need to know what all of this is, Eko. I don't get it, I don't understand what the hell is happening!" Matthew's voice was thick with confusion and urgency. Ordinarily, he maintained a composed and patient demeanor, but the current situation with Eko unleashed a torrent of emotions that he found difficult to manage.

This loss of control was utterly alien to him; he had spent years since his childhood, with Teddy's guidance, learning to anchor his emotions. Yet now, faced with the complexities of his feelings for the woman before him, all his old anxieties resurfaced, intensifying his distress and shaking the foundations of the emotional discipline he had worked so hard to build.

"Madison is obsessed with us leaving. She thinks we're in danger here, but you should ha-" Eko began, her words tumbling out as she tried to inject some reason into the conversation.

He cut her off sharply, his voice slicing through her explanation. "Her obsession could get you killed! Don't you see? If you leave here and don't go to one of the academy bases, if you just run away, I won't be able to protect you!"

"I get that!" Eko asserted, her tone firm, countering the growing coldness in his demeanor. "You don't need to tell me that! What do you think I've been arguing with her about!?"

"Then don't look at me like that," his voice brimmed with frustration. "You're following her because she's the princess. I need honesty from you, Eko. I can't help you if you don't talk to me!"

Eko was momentarily stunned she didn't know what to counter first with, that he didn't believe the lie that who they buried was the princess, and that most importantly his mistaken belief that Madison was the said princess. This was the moment to set the record straight—she herself was the princess, not Madison, and this misunderstanding was at the root of her cousin's erratic behavior.

"I-I..." she stammered, her eyes wide with the realization that she needed to set things straight.

Matthew interpreted her hesitation as an admission. "Look, we clearly need to talk more about this. While I'm not happy about being kept in the dark or that you didn't tell me... Fuck. I get it, I really don't like this, but I understand," he said, shaking his head in mixed emotions. "I won't say anything more until we agree what our next steps are."

He ran his fingers through his hair, clearly wrestling with his thoughts.

"What's next, then?" Eko's brows furrowed not liking what that meant.