The feeling of a heavy crown weighed my head down.
“Let’s congratulate the prince and princess of Elizy!”
Their celebration grew louder than ever before. It rattled my core as my heart flipped, and charged malevolence began churning in my gut.
All at once, I was released. But, I remained frozen where I was, deciding if I was going to rip the queen’s throat out or my new husband’s. I stood gradually, eyes fixed on the ground, edges of my vision blackening. It frayed my nerves, spiking in all areas of my body.
Loud booms detonated, rattling me to my core and scaring away the darkness. My vision cleared as Mother’s videos I had grown up watching blared through my mind in warning. I was in danger. Another explosion akin to gunshots stole my attention. Light flashed across my surroundings and infiltrated my eyes with dark disturbance. The deep sound trickled up my forearms and made my hairs stand on end as I looked at the crowd, searching for the enemy. With yet another boom, I saw it for what itwas. They weren’t gunshots. They were fireworks. Up in the air. Several Elizians had their hands reaching upward, glowing with mauve and cyan magic. Fireworks zipped into the air and combusted in a cloud of colors and shapes.
I flinched and yelped every time one went off, shrinking into myself. Where was Fletcher? God! I needed Fletcher. He was the only person who could calm me. The only one who fuckingknewme!
I searched the trees for him as my heartbeat pounded in my ears. I searched each tree, each branch, but he was no longer there. Had he left? Had he turned his back on me? Did he think I wanted this marriage? Hemusthave known I would never marry another. I had made my promise to always return to him. Hemusthave known I’d come back.
But what if he did not believe me? Twenty-four hours in Elizy away from him had done it. It had changed my mind. He knew it would happen. And now he had proof.
Tears gripped me by the throat at the possibility of him thinking for even a second that this was what I had planned—to be married to anyone other than him.
Frantically, I let my eyes roam the outskirts of the barrier, not allowing myself to believe he actually hadthought I wanted another man. Could he feel the hysteria wreaking havoc in my body?
Then, I spotted him. He was at the barrier, hands pressed against it with frantic eyes and an air of utter devastation surrounding him. And it didn’t matter that he was a mere quarter mile out of reach, he still felt like an ocean away.
Slowly, I reached up, touched the pointed crown upon my head and dragged it off. As I brought my hand down to my side, I let it fall to the ground from the highest distance, hoping it would be enough to shatter it to pieces.
With a reverberating clang, it crashed to the floor while my eyes remained transfixed on Fletcher.
The fireworks ceased. So did the cheering.
The entire kingdom silenced.
I took a step down the stairs.
“Ripley,” the queen whispered harshly.
I took another step and another, letting my heels slip off my feet—letting my bare feet guide me away from the crown and toward Fletcher. And soon, I was threading through the crowd that was parting for me. Faster and faster toward him. When there was a direct path to the barrier, I fell into a sprint.
He seemed both farther and closer. Fletcher, Fletcher, Fletcher! God! Fletcher!
I could see the betrayal in his eyes. Because of me? Did he think… I lifted my arms to jump into his.
“Stop!” He pounded the barrier with his fist.
“Ripley, stop. Stop!”
I came to a screeching halt right in front of him, liquid-glass between us.
He shook his head, hands flattening on it. “You can’t.”
The two words clenched around my throat as I lifted my hands and tested the unforgiving barrier. Then, I slammed them against it. I couldn’t leave. Why? Why couldn’t I leave? “No!” I reached for my magic, picturing its swirls and urging it to fight against this prison. Nothing happened. Not even a wisp. I didn’t even feel it prickle down my arms, didn’t see its glow in my peripherals. Searching through the depths of me, I knew my magic was there, but it was just as stuck as it was when I was on the platform. This wasn’t my unpredictable magic not working, this was still someone else controlling me. “No!”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he tried to say, but his words were coming out in chokes and broken syllables.
“They tricked me! I-I didn’t want this!”
He lifted his chin, letting his hands drift down the barrier that swirled with misty clouds of aquas and lilacs at his touch. “I know. It’ll be okay.”
“I don’t want to be married to him. I want to be married to you,” I cried. “I don’t want to be locked in here without you.” I shrieked the words so loudly, the entire crowd somehow got even quieter. I could feel their eyes lingering on my bare back—on Fletcher.
“We’ll figure this out.”
