Working in a dead-end, post office job in the heart of a primarily-Human city, Arya Salcrest cannot let her secret out else she loses her rights and her safety. Norren Sterling, a member of the Council whom she met after a failed museum trip, is det...
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The air inside the belltower was chillier than the actual breezes blowing through its arched windows. Eliott clasped his hands, tamping down the urge to scratch at his skin until it burned and bled. Beside him, Belle sat on the sill, her legs dangling over the vast nothingness brought about by the tower's height. Her wings, still brilliant and amazing as ever, splayed out from her back in a relaxed manner.
"I'm...sorry," Eliott started after too long of a silence between them. They had been here for about half an hour and neither had found the courage to speak yet. "For bringing you to the city. For disappearing for a month. For...well, having to do this with you here, of all places."
Belle didn't speak. She didn't even bother tucking the wild strands of hair whipping to and fro her face with every prod of the wind. What fault should he be aware of and apologize for? Surely, he got everything already?
"I know it's a stupid excuse, but I was actually under preventive custody for the past month," Eliott continued, edging away from Belle even though his elbows were propped on the sill behind him. "I couldn't leave the palace because they watched me. At all times."
He sighed. "And I know this whole thing is my fault. I forced you to agree to my ill-guided plan. I didn't think of the repercussions, the worst-case scenarios. I didn't think of your safety," he hung his head, letting his hair cover most of his eyes. "Whatever happened back then, whatever emotion you felt and trauma you experienced, it's all on me. Blame me, if you have to. Just please..."
He bit his lip, swallowing his next words before they could cause more damage. What was he going to say, anyway? That he didn't want Belle to go? That he would want them to continue their friendship? Wasn't that the same thing he did to her when he convinced her to go to the city? She believed him because of his words but his actions failed to catch up. Was he manipulating her into staying because he wouldn't know what to do without her in his pathetic life?
Linus had a point. Maybe Eliott really needed to think before running his mouth and doing things he would regret later on. He had too much heart but never enough brains. Somehow, that's worse.
"Why didn't you tell me?" came Belle's silent question.
Eliott's head snapped up, his eyes locking with hers. "About what?"
"You being the Crown Prince," Belle answered. She drew one leg up, planting her heel on the sill. Her arms wrapped around her knee. If there was anything Eliott admired right now, it was her confidence that she wouldn't fall or lose her balance. Then again, she had wings so she's free to do whatever she wanted. "I never understood it until now. What's going on in your head when you decided to never tell me until you had to?"
He ran his tongue over his teeth. Yeah, why hadn't he told her? Oh, right. "I was ashamed," he said with a heavy sigh. He had been doing a lot of that recently. "I condone the fact that I'm a member of the je Clair family, the one who had ruled the empire for so long and who once had never lifted a finger to help your kind. We have encouraged our people to hurt yours. The blood on their hands is also on mine."
