Saving the Stranger Prince (The Stranger Prince Series #2)

Chapter 20: Defeat

"You lift my heart up, when the rest of me is down."
- Disclosure ft. Sam Smith, Latch.

♚

The night was stretching longer than it should've been.

Adela helplessly stood in the hall, surrounded by people. And people. And people.

Without Sebastian by her side, she felt bare. Exposed. Longing for his warmth yet again. But that wasn't even the worst part.

She was counting. Almost every 30 seconds, someone noticed the Prince wasn't by her side. And then of course, they had to come up and express their concerns. Asking about the whereabouts of the Prince.

If everything was okay. If the Prince was well.

It felt like she was dying, like this room was slowly sucking the oxygen, pulling it out of her lungs. She suddenly found it difficult to stand upright, but had to paste a satisfying enough smile on her face.

She assured everyone everything was fine, that her betrothed Prince had only gone out for some air, until bitter tears stung the back of her eyes and it just became the hardest thing ever to hold them back. When yet another annoying guest approached her, she just couldn't stand it anymore.

Dodging them, as quickly as appropriate, she approached the middle of the hall, the raised platform where her parents sat. She curtsied, then looked at them.

"I'd like to take my leave, father."

The King looked at her with concern, "So early, Adela?"

She shook her head. A tear escaped, and that was enough for her parents to realise she wasn't okay.

"Get some rest, Princess. It's okay." Her father tried to smile, masking the concern.

She nodded and in a minute she was out of the hall, the constant chattering left behind as she was again in the dim lit hall.

She walked down as fast as she could, her steps angry. The poor floor had to suffer her wrath, but she had no other option.

Giving up all the control, she punched into a goblet of fire, hanging off the wall. The fire extinguished as soon as the goblet hit the floor with a loud noise, but the burning in her hand was enough to suggest the damage was done.

She looked at her knuckles as they slowly turned purple, the burning sensation now spreading with a stronger intensity. She smiled.

Was she good at anything except for hurting herself?

And how her hopes had been turned high. How her heart had almost leaped when she had seen Sebastian defend her. How she'd felt like it was home by his side.

How she'd thought he was back.

But he was, wasn't he? Almost. She almost had him back.

Angry tears ran down her face, and she wanted to scream. Instead, she continued walking down the hall, holding her burned hand tightly.

As she went down the hall, she knew the room she was going to wasn't hers. No, it wasn't. As she took the familiar turns she had memorised a year ago, still there in the back of her mind, the overwhelming memories almost broke her heart.