𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄, sokeefe

FIVE

"SOUNDS PROMISING," SOPHIE SAID, TRYING TO HIDE THE MOUNTING panic rising in her chest. "And what would that proposal be?"

Alden held her gaze, unflinching, as he told her, "One of a marriage alliance."

And oh.

Sophie's heart stopped. Red rimmed her vision. Her lungs were gripped by despair, heartbreak, betrayal, anger. She knew she was breathing too fast. She didn't try to stop.

Life is pointless. I am pointless.

Why even live?

Then she remembered her nanny bouncing her gently on her lap. The only light to her darkness. Her guide whenever she lost control.

 Her green eyes would gleam as she told the screaming three-year-old, "One breath in, Highness. Then one breath out."

One breath in. One breath out.

"Does the princess need a moment?" asked Lord Cassius.

In. Out.

In. Out!

"No, thank you," Sophie said, forcing a composed smile. "I will need to discuss this charming proposal with my cabinet, of course, and the king and-"

"There is no time for that," the princess interrupted--the other princess. "Draconia's patience has been worn thin, and we suggest you accept right away."

Not a threat. A promise.

For a minute--a breath of a second--Sophie considered saying no. Living with the consequences. Fighting not for her kingdom, but for herself.

But she realized how ridiculous the fantasy was just as soon.

She was a princess. She would soon be queen.

And her troops were not ready.

Try as she might, she could not change that fact. She could train them every day and they would never match Draconia's force in all their blazing glory.

She could not sacrifice her country for herself.

So she met their eyes with a false expression of joy, the one she'd wear for the rest of the life she wished she could end right there.

In. Out.

"I accept."

In. Out. inoutinoutinoutin