Being the crowned princess of Dahlia, Emmeline is all too aware that politics and love don't go together.
She's never had trouble keeping her heart locked up, but now things are changing.
Her best friends: the rugged guard, Ajax, and her charming a...
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I watch him beat at the punching bag, sweat spraying everywhere as he drills into it over and over again. Eventually the bag gives, splitting open, and causing sand to flood everywhere.
He barely acknowledges the damage, or the raw bruises littering his bare knuckles. Instead he simply steps over it, and heads straight for the wall to grab another.
It's the tiny grunt of pain he releases as he picks it up that forces me out of the shadows. I kick the discarded bag aside, making my way for him. His back is to me, but his muscles taut, letting me know he's choosing to ignore my presence.
"I don't like people watching me train." When Ajax finally turns, his face almost knocks me back. The raw pain of our separation still bleeds in his irises, but the physical toll is evident everywhere.
His body is littered with bruises of varying shades from sparring I assume, his skin lacks its natural glow. He almost appears drained of life itself.
"Well what I was watching wasn't training, it was self harm." I grip his wrist, loosening my hold when he winces. "Fucking look. How the hell do you expect to train your men like this? Battered and bruised, barely living?"
"Damien-"
"Don't. The first time you leave your room in what feels like forever and you're beating yourself up?"
Scoffing, he pushes me past me, reaching up to hook the punching bag up. "As if you don't smell a fucking bar? Seriously, how many bottles have you been through? And don't think I can't smell the smoke on your either, like a fucking ashtray."
I release a bitter laugh, shoving him back before he can take another punch. "So this is it now? We're not even friends? We don't even care about each other?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? I love you! I still fucking love you, and her!" I shush him, desperately checking to make sure no-one else is there. He laughs, broken and lost. "See that? That's your problem, and hers. You care too much about others to accept that what we have is rare, it's a one of a kind love that you both just threw away."
"We didn't Ajax. We fought for it, all of us as long as we could. You saw Emmeline, she was a wreck, completely broken and devastated. Breaking up was the only logical way out of the impossible situation. Would you rather Theo expose all of us? Emmeline stripped of her crown and title, us two most likely killed or in prison? I know she broke your heart, saying those things, but she only said them because she knew you wouldn't let go."
He looks away, violently blinking to stop the mess of tears that stream down his cheeks. "She didn't mean it?"
"Of course not. She loves you, I love you. That won't change but our relationship had to. She's marrying him, and we have searched for everything fucking loophole...but maybe it just doesn't exist."
"How is she? Do you know?" I hate the fact I've been avoiding her, and him. I barricaded myself into my room and office, abandoning all responsibilities in favour of drinking and smoking with Chloe.
