The Nine Princesses Revised Edition (Volume One)

Chapter 87: Heartbreak.

For three days, Coralina remained in her chamber. She said nothing and ate little more. When her sisters tried to speak to her, she stared at the wall and didn't hear a word.

It was too much. The loss of Gord, the loss of Kerrick. They had split her open and scraped out her soul. All that remained was her shell of skin, bleeding on the inside.

This was heartbreak. What she never knew was that when a heart broke, so did everything else. Her health, her mind, her spirit. Her will to draw another breath.

Was this what she had done to all those men?

Kerrick now sat in the dungeons below the castle, awaiting transportation to the kingdom of criminals known as the Barren Realm. Coralina dismissed any thought of seeing him before he left. The only question she might have asked was easily answered. How could he betray her after a lifetime of friendship? Because she drove him to it. She had repaid his years of devotion with uncaring disloyalty. Cutting off her hair (or trying to) had been his desperate act of vengeance. Like a beaten dog, he had finally bitten her hand.

She lay on her stomach, her face turned to the wall without the mirror. She heard the door open but didn't care who it was. The mattress sank as someone sat on her bed.

"I'm not leaving until you eat something."

Heidel.

When Coralina didn't move, Heidel grabbed a shoulder and rolled her over. A tray sat on the bedside table with a goblet of milk and a thick slice of bread. Steam drifted upward as though the loaf had just been cut.

"Look! Coconut peach bread," Heidel said. "Made it especially for you, with coconuts from Bella Reino."

Coralina shut her eyes. Heidel, with hands strong from kitchen work, forced Coralina into sitting against the headboard. "Now." Heidel ripped off a corner of the bread. "Open your mouth, or I'm shoving it up your nose."

Coralina opened her mouth. The bread, dotted with fresh bits of peaches, was warm and soft, and beautifully sweet. She took the second piece Heidel offered.

Heidel watched with her usual steady gaze. "I think I'm the only one who knows."

"Knows what?" Coralina took another piece of bread.

"Your feelings for Gord. The night you said he hated you—you didn't eat. I've never, never seen a man kill your appetite. And that's how I knew."

Coralina dropped her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Good. You need your mouth to eat." Heidel offered the goblet of milk and Coralina sipped obediently.

"Kerrick's not talking much either," Heidel said. "Maelyn tried. He won't reveal who the other bandit was. He said many have been caught in Grunwold and Kurzha. And apparently, the Twin Queens have altered their hairstyle, and the craze over long braids is lessening." She rolled her eyes. "Remind me to serve them boiled rats next time they visit."

"Horrible queens," Coralina mumbled.

Heidel patted her knee. "Yes, Coco, it's everyone else's fault. Now finish breakfast and dress yourself. You're going out with Luxley."

Coralina looked up, instantly rebellious.

"That's Maelyn!" Heidel said. "She thinks you need 'air' and 'diversion.' Luxley has been with us for three days, waiting to see you. Frankly, we're all sick of him."

"I can't," Coralina said feebly.

Heidel held out the remaining bread. "Chew it up. The carriage is waiting."