The Beauty in Pain | Book One of In Pain Trilogy *EDITING*

27. Ole Tave!

She didn't know where she was going and she didn't think she cared at the moment. Her tears were obscuring her vision to such a staggering degree that it was as if she was walking blind. She had to stick to the walls in hopes that she didn't bounce into anyone and have another Posa Town situation happening all over again. No matter how much she tried to push it aside, Saenar's words played over and over in her head.

I dislike you.

I love Charmaline.

Stab, stab and stab to her heart.

The built up tears finally spilled over and she leaned against a wall. Sobs racked her body as the words continued to echo in her head. He hates her. He hates her.

He loved Charmaline and he hated her. Mynera loved him but he hated her.

Somewhere, in the deep crevices of her mind, Mynera knew that this was not her. She was stronger than this, she was smarter than this. She shouldn't be here crying her eyes out over man when she was practically a fugitive. She had more important things to worry about than where the heart of the man she loved was headed.

Or rather, already was.

He never liked her. All those worried looks, and those stolen glances, those semi-jealous encounters were all just a figment of her imagination. He didn't like her. He was still in love with his beloved Charmaline.

And that kiss was nothing but boredom. A mistake that he said in his own words, borne from his manly urges. She was nothing but a nuisance in his life.

From the moment she interfered when he was stealing from the camp of the red enemies, to the moment she broke the old man's bottles, to her getting herself kidnapped. All of it just added to his annoyance and hatred of her.

While she was slowly building feelings for him and hope that he shared the same, he was thinking about his dear Charmaline. Who was probably dead!

A chuckle escaped her lips. Then another. Then she was full out laughing, drawing unwanted attention. How foolish could she have been? Really, and to think she prided herself in seeing a trick a mile away.

Mynera leaned her hand against the wall, still chuckling while the tears continued to fall. Something, she noticed, was under her hand and she looked on the wall.

She was staring back into her face. It was a Wanted sign, her face sketched almost perfectly with a hood over it. It only made her laugh harder. Was she really here crying over Saenar right beside her Wanted sign? She must be mad.

But for reasons she didn't care to explore, she didn't care. She knew she should have just headed back into the inn where she could hide out until it was safe to leave but she didn't want to go back there. She didn't want to look at Saenar. She didn't want to see his deep brown eyes glancing at her with pity when she reentered with her red, swollen eyes. It was already bad enough that she didn't have his love, she didn't want his sympathy.

Her chuckles faded away and the overwhelming sadness fell right back on top of her. She sighed and stepped away, pulling the hood closer over her head. She would just wander the town a bit, because no way was she going back there to face him.

Mynera stopped in front of a building where there seemed to be a very large amount of noise. She looked up.

"Ole' Tave!" it read.

So it was a tavern huh? Suddenly, the irresistible urge to go inside and knock back a few took her over. It was probably the riskiest thing she ever thought of doing but if she kept to myself, if she didn't speak to anyone and kept her hood over her head then she might be fine. And she didn't have to risk anyone recognizing her while she was wearing these dirty formless clothes that gave her as much shape as a sack of potatoes.