It's a bit of a waiting game when it comes to the microwave.
I watch the temperature go up for the hot chocolate, the orange letters counting up the degrees. Behind the glass window of the microwave, the fire grows beneath the platform the mug is on but never hits the mug. It's perfectly in control, like Caelestian magic.
I press a button when it says one hundred sixty degrees. The fire is immediately put out.
"Hot chocolate right up!" I announce as I grab the mug out of Clara's microwave. I’m careful not to spill when I give it to Clara who’s waiting on her bed.
She gives a polite nod as she takes it. "Thank you." She murmurs.
My heart quickens as she goes for a sip. "Be careful, it's hot."
She raises a brow before blowing on the hot chocolate and taking a sip. She licks her lips before smiling sweetly at me. "It tastes really good. I've never had it before."
My heart stutters for a moment."Thank you. It's just cocoa, milk and maple syrup." I sit down next to her as she continues to sip her drink. “I’m surprised you’ve never had it. Chocolate is a staple in Lluvia, isn't it?”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, yeah. Of course! My family could never afford it though. It'sexpensiveover there!” She offers a strange tight smile, her cheeks turning pink.
I slowly nod. Why does she seem so stiff and nervous? “Okay… Just asking…”
I scan the room, noting the backpack next I'm one of the walls. Clothes hang out of it and little snack bags peeking through the unzipped top. “Were you going to leave?”
She titters as tightens her hold on her mug. “Ignore that.”
“Was it because of me?” My heart drops. I was really being an ass.
“No!” She puts a hand up defensively. “No. I'm not leaving. Not now at least.” She exhales. “I want to be around you. I wouldn't have invited you otherwise.”
“So you're leaving eventually?”
She gulps more hot chocolate before creasing her brows. "So, about showing Amara the truth…”
Well, I guess we're moving subjects. “Yeah. We'll need something significant enough that can hundred percent prove that they're not evil.”
“How significant do you think?”
“As significant as we can make it.” I nod. “It has to be enough that it can change Grandmother's mind, and the people who follow her. Leave no room for doubt.”
She grins. “You could probably do a lot. You're her grandson after all.”
I sigh. “I'd like to think that.” I can't say for sure, especially after all the rumors.
“If Amara's own prince goes against her publicly, then surely that would be significant enough to change many people's minds. Or at least get them to question. If you were just able to do a speech, it could do a lot.”
My heart digests in my stomach. “I'd be the last person they listen to.”
She snickers. “You feel that way?”
The words back at the lecture echo in my head.I knew there was something wrong with him when they announced he didn't have a soulmate.
They already think there's something wrong with me. This would only solidify their beliefs.
I shake my head of the dread and focus on the subject, pulling out my phone . “There will need to be-”
“You believe that?” She leans in closer, her brows knitted together. “Why would people think that?”
“Because…” Disappointment weighs down my heart.
“Because…?”
