17. A Prince’s Resolve

17

A PRINCE’S RESOLVE

(RIVEN)

“ R iven!”

I roll my eyes, hoping my mom will leave if I don’t respond. It’s a new day, and I’m waiting for my father to go on his usual trips to town before I leave home because the last thing I want this morning is a confrontation with him.

I’ll be seeing Rowena soon, and I’m trying to regulate my emotions and mood before I get to her. Today will be a long day because I’ll be making a trip to the witch coven to see Morgath.

I don’t know what to expect, but it can’t be good. I’m sure that Morgath won’t kill me, at least not immediately, but she won’t hesitate to let my father know I’m on her turf, and he would go crazy to hear that.

I don’t want a war, but right now, I don’t care about the consequences as long as I break the curse. Over the night, I conclude that staying alive will be a beautiful thing.

Some days ago, the thought of permanently becoming stone was very attractive, but it no longer is. I want to spend more time with Rowena. I want to kiss her as many times as I can, hold her, and be her companion. I want to be everything to her. I can’t do that as a stone.

“Riven!” My mom knocks again.

“Go away.”

“No. I’m not leaving until I talk to you. Please, open the door.”

With a sigh, I flick my wrist, and the dork swings open. My mom hurries in, her face drawn and eyes puffy. It’s obvious she has been crying, and my heart hurts to see her like this.

“Riven.” She sits beside me. “I know I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

I want to tell her sorry doesn’t cut it, but I stay silent because there’s no point. She’s as much a victim of my father as I am.

“My son.” She touches my face. “If you decide to never speak to me again, I deserve it. I was too cowardly to stand up to your father to do what’s right.”

“What’s right, mom?” I ask. “I won’t blame Dad for refusing to give up his magic for the key. We are faes and are nothing without our magic. Especially a royal fae.”

Tears spill down her eyes, and although I’m tempted to wipe her tears, I don’t move.

“But he should have told me. You should have told me. Someone should have mentioned it to me, giving me the option to make the trip myself,” I explain. “You kept telling me how you were searching for a solution, yet you had one in your hands and kept it to yourself? I expect that from Father, but not you.”

The remorse in her eyes is palpable, and I find myself searching for forgiveness deep inside me. “Your father made me swear not to tell you,” she says. “He said the trip was dangerous and that you could lose your life. I believed him.”

I take a deep breath. “It’s okay, mom.”

“No, it’s not.” She shakes her head. “I’ll hate myself forever. Knowing you went on that trip yourself, feeling alone and betrayed, I thought about it all night, and I can’t believe I let Faelor do this.”

“I wasn’t alone, mom.”

She blinks. “The witch?”

“Yes.”

I can tell my mom is unsure about this, but she picks her words carefully. “You know how it is with faes and witches, Riven.”

“I dont care about that, Mom,” I stress. “I’ve always said that the factions should come together and form an alliance for real, and since I met Rowena, I believe this even more.”

I leave the bed and pace the room. “Rowena could have chosen not to help me, but she did. She researched my curse. She trusted me unconditionally. She let me into her home. And then she journeyed with me to Solavien barely days after our first meeting. I’m supposed to let go of someone like that because of some weird enmity between our factions? That’s not going to happen.”

My mom sighs. “Your dad is furious, Riven. I think you should lay low for now.”

I laugh. “What’s the worst he can do? Disown me.”

“Riven!” Mom frowns. “Your father disowning you is not something to look forward to!”

“That'd be a good talk if I had a wonderful father,” I answer. “But I don’t. What has he ever done for me?”

“Your father loves you.”

“I used to believe that so much, Mom. Until I discovered what real love is.”

I think about Rowena and all the little ways she had loved me from the beginning. It’s the little things. Staying awake to watch me all through the night while I’m a stone statue, getting up early to make me broth because she knows I’ll be cold and cranky in the morning, putting up a brave front even in the face of danger because she doesn’t want me to worry, I can go on and on.

“It’s not enough to say you love someone, Mom; you have to show it.”

“Your Dad is very hard-headed,” she says softly. “He sucks at showing love.”

“Believe what you want.” I walk to the door, refusing to wait any longer to see Rowena.

“Where are you going, Riven?” Mom calls after me.

“For a walk.”

I’m careful to make sure I’m not being followed before veering into the Forest of Herbs. Moments later, I knocked on Rowena’s door, feeling a huge calm settle over me. This is where I belong.

The door opens, and Rowena appears, a huge smile on her face.

“What took you so long?” She groans, yanking me inside. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Safely inside, I draw her close, slowly lowering my head to hers and giving her time to pull back or reject my kiss. Chuckling, she stands on tiptoes and meets my lips, kissing me fiercely. I forget everything else, only the sweetness of her lips and the softness of her body in my arms. There’s a lot we have to do today, but for this moment, let me hold her and pretend everything is fine with our lives.

When we finally pull away from each other, her lips are pink and swollen. “I made you food,” she says, pushing me onto one of the tree stumps that line the room. “I was waiting for you so we could have breakfast together.”

“Rowena, that’s sweet,” I answer. “I didn’t know; I would have come earlier.”

“What took you so long?” She asks sternly, her hands planted on her hips.

“I was talking to my mom. We had a huge disagreement yesterday.”

“Oh, you have to tell me,” she says. “But hold on, let me get our meals first.”

Moments later, we sit across from each other, eating breakfast while I tell her about the disagreement I had with my parents. By the time I finish, she’s furious.

“I can’t believe your father isn’t remorseful,” she fumes. “He makes me wonder if all fathers are like that.”

“Certainly not,” I answer. “He’s just broken.”

“I feel so bad for your mom. Torn between two men she loves.”

I roll my eyes. “I wonder how she can love someone like that.”

Rowena nudges me playfully. “The same way you love him.”

She’s right, and it makes me uncomfortable to admit that I love my father, so I change the topic. “What do we do about Morgath?”

“We can talk about that after breakfast,” she answers, focusing on her food. “Eat up.”

When we finish breakfast, I ask about Morgath again, but Rowen insists she would wash the dishes first.

“Let me wash them.” I reach for her plate, but she moves my hand away.

“Don’t worry. I enjoy washing the dishes.” She takes mine and hurries away.

I watch her go, confused about her behaviors. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was avoiding the conversation about Morgath. As this comes to mind, a suspicion suddenly dawns. Maybe Rowena is avoiding the Morgath conversation because she’s worried I’ll make her go with me to the coven. I’ll never do that. Her safety is my priority, and knowing her mother was banished, it’d be stupid to have her come with me.

I go after her and find her running water over the plates.

“Rowena.”

“Hmm.” She doesn’t look at me.

“Can you look at me?”

“But I can hear you,” she answers, concentrating on washing two plates that already look clean.

“You don’t have to come with me to see Morgath.”

“What?” She turns, her brows arched.

“I’ll be a fool to take you with me,” I continue. Morgath has been searching for you; we both know that. It’ll be safer for you to stay here while I go to her. But don’t worry; I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I’ll be a fool to let you go, not the other way around,” she answers. “I’m the witch, Riven. Even though my mother was banished, I’m still a witch. You’re a fae. The moment you put one foot into the coven, there’ll be a full-on war.”

“I don’t care. As long as you’re safe.” I shrug. “Your safety is my priority.”

She takes a deep breath, and I close the distance between us, running my hand through the thick red tresses of her hair. “Now, can we talk about all the questions I need to ask her? You’re the brains in this relationship.”

Rowena laughs. “You don’t need to go to her.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t.” She shakes her head. “Because I already did.”

A loud ring fills my ears, and I take a step back. “What?”

“After you went home yesterday, I went to Morgath.”

“What?” I screech. “Rowena! Why would you even do that?” I grab her shoulders and flip her while patting her body down for any sign of injury. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she laughs.

“It’s not funny!” I frown. “Rowena, you could have died.”

“I knew she wouldn’t kill me.” She shrugs. “She’s more calculative than that.”

“You don’t know her, Rowena.”

“I know enough.”

We stare at each other for a moment, and I force myself to relax. “What happened when you went there?”

Instead of responding, she lowers her head and takes a deep breath.

“Rowena, what happened?”

“She can lift the curse.”

Hope flares, but there’s a look in Rowena’s eyes that instantly kills it. “For what price?”

“Nothing much.”

“Tell me.”

“For me.”

I frown. “I don’t get it. What does that mean?”

“She will lift the curse if I surrender my powers to her,” she says. “Apparently, my dad was powerful, so she wants his power as well as my mom’s magic.”

“You will die.”

“Yes.” She nods. “I have until the lunar eclipse to think about it.”

“That’s only a few days.”

“Yes.”

“Not happening!” I shake my head firmly. There’s no way I’m letting that happen. It’s laughable to even think about it.

“I appreciate your input, Riven, but this is solely my decision to make.”

“You’re not making it.” I walk away from her, feeling anger slowly build up. I’m angry at everyone, even Rowena, for thinking there’s a decision to make. The answer is no! Am I supposed to go on living knowing she sacrificed her magic and life for me? How?

“Do you have a better idea?” She follows me into the main room. “You can’t say no to this when you have no better idea.”

“Let’s run away.”

She laughs. “Yeah, right. Your father will disown you. The entire kingdom will disown you knowing you ran away with a witch.”

“I don’t care. Let’s run away, Rowena. Please.”