The Reluctant Queen

Chapter 27

A/N: Hi all! I haven't given up on this story, I promise! Again, I am sorry for the wait. I haven't been very inspired lately but I am trying my best to work on this story as well as my other. I still have a lot to post so don't think that The Reluctant Queen is done!

I hope you are all safe and well.

Enjoy!

Adrian's POV:

Watching Sophia come to realize her situation should have made Adrian uncomfortable, but instead he felt on edge. His anger was not satiated, not in the slightest. He was frustrated beyond belief, and no amount of tears from Sophia would change that, not this time. 

He had lost the one thing he had worked so hard for. Sophia's love. 

That was the one thing that limitless magic and force could not give him. Her love. He could manipulate everything else to his advantage, and he did, but the one carnal rule of the gods was love could not be tampered with. Adrian should know, he had learned that brutal lesson first hand. 

And the punishment, it seemed, was never-ending. 

After she took the potion, he had taken her back to her old bedroom, tucked her into bed and waited. It didn't take long for the spell to break, less than an hour. Shortly after settling beside her, he could feel it. Through their new connection, he could sense the spell crumble, like a wall was taken down in her consciousness. Anxiety and  pain was all over her delicate face, her brows scrunched together even in a deep sleep. Just as he had feared, regaining her memories was not pleasant. 

When she woke, it was clear that things had changed between them. Her eyes flickered up at him with realization swarmed in their depths. And a hatred there, true and unlike the shallow feeling she had explained to him before. It should have pained him, seeing the one thing he had hoped to avoid with all of this nonsense, but in the end it only added to the fire, to the edge of his anger. 

She was by far too enamored by that pathetic man that stole her from him. 

He understood it, the fury that was lit within her. But understanding didn't take away the sing of rejection or his frustration. He was almost successful. She was putty in his hands last night, so close to giving herself over to him willingly. At least until Louis destroyed all of that hard work. 

But Adrian wasn't the least bit sorry. 

She wouldn't look at him now. He was done getting dressed, just fidgeting with the last buttons on his shirt as he regarded her. She refused to get out of bed after their conversation, her back turned to him in defiance. After his cold, honest confession to her, she only had a little fight before completely shutting down. He had expected more tears, or hell, for her to throw things at him and yell like she did only a few nights before. Instead, as though the pain was too much, she turned away from him, ignoring him to the best of her ability.  

It seems that her attachment to the wizard was deeper than he thought, and his loss had broken some of the spark within her. 

He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to swallow his greed. He wanted her, all of her, and that included her anger, her pain. When she behaved like this, detached and hopeless, it felt as though Louis had still won somehow, still possessed a part of Sophia that Adrian would never be able to reach. He suppressed those frustrations, though, and focused on the task at hand. Getting her to cooperate with the wedding. "Sophia, you can't stay in bed all day. It is almost mid morning, you will have to get ready soon." He didn't have to tell her what she was getting ready for. With the sudden tension in her shoulders, he could see she understood.