Kingdom's Vice Series: Journey to Alleria ( #1 2014) #Wattys2015

Chapter Ten

‘He seemed a little too fond of the wine,’ Alec remarks, picking at a flower in the courtyard. ‘And you.’

We sit in the field, surrounded by the lush pastures. My mind flicks back to my conversation with Duhamas last night and what he’d said about what was in my eyes. Is it that obvious? Is the gleam so bright that it radiates for all to see? I watch Alec’s careful hands construct a delicate crown of daises, the cuts and bruises on his hands still healing.

‘Sorry,’ he says.

My head flicks up at his words. ‘For what?’ I ask. ‘You have nothing to apologize for.’

He shakes his head. ‘Yes I do. I can’t pretend like I don’t feel anything, Skaya. That’s what cowards do.’

I don’t know where this is going.

‘What do you feel?’

He sighs and drops the crown into the grass. ‘I saw you with him last night. Whoever he was, he seemed fond of two things, wine and you.’

I sigh and pick up the crown and admire the daises. ‘It wasn’t what you thought,’ I reply. ‘I saw you too, you know. You were hiding in the bushes until the dinner was over. He’s marrying Faeore. So, he’s not fond of me in any way other than friendly acquaintance I guess.’

I look up at him and he seems somewhat relieved. I swallow my fear and ask, ‘Is there something you want to tell me, Alec? If there is, I’m listening.’

He scoffs. ‘No, you’re not.’ He says sadly. ‘You’ll hear me, but you won’t listen. Not really. Just like you look but you don’t see. You see me as the Kennah coward, the boy he lived his whole life underground, refusing help because he was too proud to ask. All of that is true, was true, but I’m many other things too, things that are right in front of you but you just don’t see them.’

‘What do you mean?’

He leans. ‘In the arena, I felt bad about doing it, hurting you the way I did. You asked me to show them who I really am, that I’m not a coward. And I did, but it meant that I had to—I had to hurt you. If the King—’

 He stop him. ‘The King won’t punish you for what you did.’ I assure him. ‘You gave them what they wanted. If you had beaten me in the fight, they would have been outraged in the least, since they tend to favour their own.’

He stares at me intently, mouth open.

‘What?’ I ask, feeling his stare start to burn in my forehead.

‘What did you say about Allerians favouring their own? Why would they favour you over me when we’re both from the outside?’

Penny in the air.

‘Unless...unless...”

‘Alec, I can ex—’ I try to cut him off, break his thoughts into a thousand pieces so he can never find them and put them back together again. But I’m too late.

‘Unless you’re an Allerian,’ he concludes.

And the penny drops.

~.~.~.~

I’ll admit Alec is right about me being stupid. I was stupid enough to think that I could keep it a secret forever, that he would never find out who I really am. But, to be fair, I didn’t know either until the day the King revealed it to me. We were both in the dark. Until now.

‘How long?’ he asks me harshly, standing to his feet so quickly I trip over my dress trying to steady him.

‘How long what?’