Caged Heart

Chapter 6

Serenity was one of the last people to leave the dining hall, her father having instructed Genevieve to show Emerson around the palace as he and Violette would be having a conversation with Caleb. The nobles left—Nellore went along with them, even though she was staying in the palace and not going home with her father—after the king and queen did, mumbling amongst themselves about what happened, and Godric had a few things to attend to with the wedding.

The eldest princess decided that she needed something that would take her mind off everything that had occurred and that would be occurring soon. She took a stroll through the garden but only stayed outside for about an hour, the chill of the coming evening chasing her back into the palace. The rest of her time was spent in the library. She sat in a comfortable chair, listening to the crackling of the fireplace, as she read one of her favorite books—one in which a knight and a princess found love for one another on a journey of life and death. She was only a few chapters in when her eyelids began to feel heavy. She fought to keep them from closing, but, in the end, sleep won.

"Father!" Serenity screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

A black figure stood above King Darius' lifeless body, laughing maniacally. The rest of her family was bound in chains on the floor. Her mother was in shock, no sound coming from her, but her cheeks were wet with tears. Genevieve was sobbing, her cries of pain so awful that Serenity felt as if her heart were being ripped to shreds by millions of knives. Godric was sitting next to Serenity, looking at the figure, his eyes filled with hatred as he struggled to get out of the chains he was in. Caleb was the only one who wasn't looking at the figure or their father; he was looking at Serenity.

"I told you what would happen," he said with no emotion in his voice.

Looking back at the figure, she could now see the outline of Emerson's body, his hazel eyes meeting hers in an instant. He smirked at her and mouthed something that she couldn't make out as he started to walk towards her, lifting his sword as he did so.

Serenity awoke with a jolt. She looked around in panic and confusion as she didn't recognize her surroundings at first, but then she saw that she was still in the library. She sighed to herself as she wiped the sweat from her brow, standing so that she could put the book she held back on the shelf. After calming herself down from the nightmare she'd had, she looked out one of the windows of the library and saw how dark it was. Without a doubt, she knew that she had missed dinner, so she didn't bother with the thought of eating. Instead, her mind was more focused on getting into a hot bath.

On her way to her bedchambers, she heard footsteps come from a corridor that she was about to walk through. With a raised brow, she turned the corner, expecting everyone to already be retired to their own chambers bar the servants, and was surprised when she found Emerson. He was unaccompanied and seemed to have a look of confusion on his face.

"Your majesty?" Serenity questioned as she took a few steps towards him, mindful to keep her distance. "Is everything alright?"

His head quickly turned from the door he was looking at to Serenity, his crown illuminated in the dim candlelight. The confusion he bore on his expression melted as a smile formed to take its place, recognizing that it was Serenity who spoke.

"Yes, everything is absolutely swell, your highness, except for the fact that I have been wandering around the palace for a good fifteen minutes and still have not been able to find my bedchambers."

"Did Princess Genevieve not show you to your room, or did you simply not pay enough attention?"

The Hallow king raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you implying that I was meant to memorize the layout of this palace from one simple tour?"

"You weren't meant to, but I would have figured that someone as smart as you would know to remember the way to your bedchambers from anywhere in the palace." Serenity gave him an innocent looking smile; although, the two of them knew it was anything but.

"You make a wonderful point, your highness," Emerson bowed his head, the corner of his lips lifting in a slight smirk, "Maybe if you showed me the way now, I'll live up to your expectations of my intelligence."

The smile Serenity had donned before Emerson spoke faded, her lips now pressed in a thin line. She hummed in response, eyeing him as she debated on whether or not she would help him.

"Come," she said, gesturing with her head for him to follow her as she turned to walk in the direction of his room.

The king followed, staying a few paces behind her at all times. They passed through a few different halls, and, through each one, Serenity had to fight with herself to not look back at the person who was following her. The nightmare she'd had unsettled her, making her feel conflicted. She had heard him speak at lunch and felt as if she could believe what he said, but that dream, and the words of her brother, kept her wary of the man.

"Your brother," he said, "he's wrong about me. I have no intention of bringing any sort of pain or "ruin"—as he so poetically put it—on your family or kingdom."

"Whether you are here to destroy us or help us has yet to be seen, your majesty. Although, he is right about one thing: trust will not come easily."

"You act like I am the only one here that is unworthy of trust."

"Pardon me?"

"I may be a Hallow, but you all are Dahlians," Emerson turned to look at her as she stopped in front of his bedchamber, "and for all I know, your father could've invited me here to kill me or kidnap me."

"If you are not capable of trust either, then why did you come? Why risk your life—the last of the Hallow line—to be here?"

The king took a step towards Serenity, him now being only a few inches away from her, "To show how serious I am about creating peace; if I can come here even though I also fear for my life as you do, then maybe, just maybe, I could prove just how much I am for this."

Looking up at him, Serenity held her breath, saying nothing—there was nothing she could say. Her eyes traveled across his face, seeing a flicker of hope flash in his eyes as they did. After a moment of silence passed between them, Emerson took a few steps back and opened the door to his bedchambers.

Before he went inside, however, he leaned against the doorframe, still staring at Serenity, "And now I'm guessing this is the part where we go our separate ways, never to truly speak again?"

"Something to that effect, yes." Serenity said after she had cleared her mind of whatever spell she was just under, "Now that you know where your chambers are, you won't be needing me for anything else."

"That has yet to be determined."

"It already has been. My father determined that when he married off my sister to you."

Chuckling, Emerson crossed his arms, his eyes glistening with what Serenity could only describe as mischievousness. "Oh, princess," he straightened his posture, his head cocked cheekily to one side, "just because I will be married to your sister, does not mean that I will never need you."

Serenity's eyes widened. She stood there, speechless, as Emerson fully smirked this time and then went inside of his chambers, shutting the door. It took her a few seconds, but she finally got her thoughts together, looking around before quickly heading to her bedchambers. Once she was safely inside her room, she sighed to herself in relief, walking to her mirror to remove the makeup she still had on so that she could get into the bath. Looking at herself, a small gasp left the princess' lips.

Her face was red; she was blushing.

Cursing the king of Hallow in her mind, she outwardly groaned as she shook her head and got to work on removing the makeup, trying her hardest to also remove the blush to no avail. She sighed as she placed a hand on her cheek, feeling how hot it was to the touch. It was just one sentence, she thought, one sentence that didn't mean anything from a king that didn't mean anything; from a king that couldn't mean anything. She was going to be married to Godric in the morning.

At that thought, her eyes slid over to the dress hanging on a mannequin in the corner of her room. A smile spread across her face and, as she looked back at herself in the mirror, she pushed the thoughts of Emerson to the side. She had Godric, she didn't need, nor did she want, him.