The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

Arranging Hearts

"Piper knows," I whispered, repeating Caiden's words so my tongue could taste them.

Piper knew about us this whole time.

My body suddenly felt cold and empty - as if my spirit had left me to travel where the lost wandered aimlessly for all eternity.

"Will," Caiden said.

His voice was faint, the sound not louder than a whispering sigh.

I stepped back, but my knees were too weak to carry me.

"Careful, Will," Caiden said, grabbing my elbows to keep me from tumbling to the floor like a lifeless doll.

I clutched his sleeves, afraid if I lost my grip on him, I would lose grip on reality. But if I looked into his ocean eyes, I was afraid I'd lose myself and forgive him. I couldn't do that - not yet.

"Please, say something," Caiden whispered when I kept staring at his chest, my eyes not troubled by tears but something worse.

Lies... more lies.... Was it ever going to stop?

"How long?" I muttered, a mild breeze curling around my ankles as a tiny flame ignited in my chest - a flame that slowly spread, easing the spiking nerves pricking my skin.

The wind tried cooling my feverish skin, but my body rejected its soothing promises. I didn't need gentle and delicate right now. I needed answers - no matter their hurtful nature.

Caiden's lips turned to a thin line as his royal hands held my elbows tighter. The answer I sought had to be far worse than I'd dared to assume.

"How long, Caiden," I asked through clenched teeth, furrowing the lines across the bridge of my nose.

No. I didn't merely request his silenced answers to be spoken - I demanded them to be.

Caiden clenched his jaw, averting my piercing eyes.

"I don't know, but she came to me only hours before the official conclusion of the Crown Trials," Caiden whispered, straining his voice. "Before the proposal and before I kissed you."

My blood turned to ice, and the smoldering heat growing beneath the surface of my skin erupted into the shadow of fury. It was almost too much for me.

"How could you not tell me!" I screamed, pushing Caiden so hard away from me that he stumbled backward, barely able to regain balance. "How could you not have told me, Caiden! I've loathed myself ever since that day; I've hated myself for what I did to her, and I've allowed that hatred to consume me from within.

"I believed I deserved to be suffering alone because of what I did and how I still feel about you. I thought I deserved these wounds scaring my heart, and now you're telling me that she knew all along?"

It was too much. I had to find Piper. I had to ask her if what Caiden was saying was true.

"She asked me not to tell you, Will," Caiden said, reluctantly stepping closer.

Lines creased the space between his bushed eyebrows. He'd raised his hands as if he was trying to calm an aggressive animal, threatening the lives of those around us.

"Why would she do that?" I whispered, stepping backward until I could feel the wooden door against my back.

My hand blindly searched the rough surface for the metal handle. When my hand couldn't find it, I turned around, desperate to locate the golden object that would let me out of this suffocating room.

"Hold on," Caiden said, slamming the door back into its frame with a ruthless hand. "You can't storm out there in your condition. Let's wait until you have calmed down. Then we'll-"