Anala tried to keep her temper in check, cheeks flushed and putting pressure against her lower lip as The Empress walked away, leaving her alone with Drake. She’d almost rather be in the arena against the intense ruler than alone with the ice boy.

  Arms crossing under her bust, she averted her eyes to stare around the back gathering area, looking for anything to distract her. “I don’t know what misunderstanding she’s talking about. You made it perfectly clear you don’t want to be in the same House as me, to the point of embarrassing your father and everything he did to get you into The Empress’ House.”

  Drake sighed and rubbed between his eyes. “Is…that what you think? Queen’s Heel, I thought you were pissed at me for an entirely different reason.”

  Crimson eyebrows pulling together, Anala looked up at the tall boy with a scowl. “Oh, and how do you expect me to feel?”

  He puffed out his colored cheeks, not meeting her hard gaze as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked into the sky. “Hmm. Do you want to continue this up in the sky? The goddess said that there were listening ears, and…I don’t want to talk about this with everyone listening.”

  Anala held up her hand, temper rising with his delay tactics, but her more rational side told her that she didn’t want any of this getting out either. “Fine! Where do you want to go to tell me how I should be feeling? And I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely not 100% after the war that was yesterday. Channeling elements hurts right now!”

  “What?” Drake’s hair fluttered a little bit as air gently picked him off the ground. “When did I try to tell you how to feel? No, I understand the pain part. Umm. I can carry you if—”

  “I’ll deal with the pain,” she interrupted with a vicious grin. “I hope you make it worth it.”

  “As do I,” he mumbled, being far too cool and calm for the topic, which made her want to strangle him. “Follow me…”

  He rose further into the air, not looking troubled or like it hurt at all, and waited for her to join him. Gritting her teeth, she took a calming breath as sparks flashed from her hair, the pressure in her chest tightening like a hand around her heart upon calling the elements to respond to her will. If there were one thing she would not do in front of Drake, it would be to cry.

  Steeling her resolve, her dress weaved around her legs as the gust cycled around and brought her up face-to-face with the handsome and crafty Tarnash. She was stupid and vulnerable yesterday; that would not happen again.

  “Aren’t you going, or should I pick out the location?” she huffed.

  She tried using her anger to fight past the needles digging into her entire body and threatening to break her emotional stability. The Empress had taught her how to use her emotions as fuel, but that was a double-edged sword.

  Drake’s only response was to take to the skies, having the nerve to give an annoyingly concerned look back at her. “It shouldn’t be far… So, what can you tell me about the goddess that was with The Empress?”

  Anala internally cursed him for bringing up a topic she was actually interested in, but she didn’t have to tell him anything. “It is too bad you were late and didn’t get the chance to hear Princess Castria’s explanation. Maybe if you were a better host, then things would be different.”

  She seethed inside as he directed a sad smile back at her, and she cut the conversation there, turning her gaze to the city they were now flying over to distract herself from the pain. Lumina was easy to lose herself in when she soared over it, and she spotted dozens of lesser nobility going about their own tasks in the air, but her attention was soon drawn to the stadium, where Drake was taking them.

  Sending a wind message to the boy, she winced as a dagger worked into her belly at the more complicated task. “Why are we heading to the stadium?”

  “You’ll see,” Drake laughed, gripping his side and grimacing, “I’m really starting to feel the physical drawbacks of yesterday’s competition.”

  Not believing him for a second from his earlier attempts to drop her guard, Anala looked away as if disinterested. “Just get it over with then.”

  The black-haired boy paused over the large coliseum, staring down at the damage that had yet to be cleaned up, and Anala gulped as she saw the cracked and broken-up arena. Drake brought them right onto the stone stage, bending down to run his hands along a melted segment that twisted around a set of imprinted feet, where The Empress had lodged herself.

  He forced a chuckle as they both ceased their channeling. “You were really amazing yesterday… The imprint of that fire tornado that you and Aura created together…mostly you, gave me shivers. You know, you’ve always impressed me, Anala.”

  Gut tightening, Anala tried to ignore the goosebumps running down her arms. “Aren’t we going on an aerial loop? Weren’t you supposed to clear up some misunderstanding so I can get back to the princesses and actually enjoy my day? What?! What’s…with that expression?”

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  Drake laughed and straightened, turning to face her. She didn’t know what to make of the look he was giving her; his typically calm and controlled composure was tainted by a bit of anxiety, maybe even stress.

  “I’ve watched you for a long time, Anala… I know about Aura’s bullying, about the way you look up to your sisters, and how much you put on an act to not feel vulnerable. So…this is all that I can think of to clear things up.”

  “Eh?!”

  Anala stumbled back at his advance, her heel catching on a ridge and causing her to tumble to the uneven tile. Only, a surge of condensed wind from Drake gathered to save her from the fall, pulling her into the air, and right into the giant—at least, he was a giant to her at this moment—and her arms were too busy trying to prevent her nonexistent fall to resist.

  Mind frantic, her blue eyes widened, watching helplessly as Drake drew closer and closer, milliseconds becoming minutes until his hot lips met hers, and an explosion of emotion was sent from their touching skin to the rest of her body.

  Toes and fingers curling, she tensed and reflexively brought her fist around to slam into Drake’s strong jaw, allowing her to gasp for air.

  “Wha…what in the—what did you just do?!” she gagged, her stinging hand feeling as if it was broken while touching her tingling lips. “We…we aren’t married or betrothed! You c-can’t kiss me! You k-kissed me? I—huh?!”

  Realizing she was still floating in the air, telling her that Drake was still capable of keeping her stable after her punch, she saw the boy had only moved a little to the side. At least she’d gotten him to blink as if dazed, rubbing the spot she’d struck.

  “Eh-haha. Ouch! Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that one. Haaa. Totally worth it, though,” he said with an infuriating smirk while running his hand through his now messy, ruffled hair.

  Anala didn’t know what to say or do, lost in what had just happened; had he really just taken her first kiss, which was supposed to only be reserved for your husband? However, what followed made her believe this was a dream because it certainly couldn’t be reality.

  “Anala Tarkov,” Drake said, straightening and manipulating the air so that she could stand again, and despite her ankles feeling weak, she managed to hold herself up; that didn’t last long, though. “Will you accept my apology and proposal for an act of taking responsibility?”

  “W-What are you doing?” Anala stammered, taking a step back as the boy placed his left hand over his heart, two fingers intertwined, and he got down on both knees to look up at her; it was something every girl in Kaspir dreamed of and awaited and something she didn’t expect since she was seen less of as a ‘lady’ amongst the nobility. “This is not happening! Stop! Stop! I’m serious!”

  Green flames lit across her hair, arms pressed against her chest as Drake only smiled and finished the ritual so many little girls got before her. “Will you be my betrothed for the First Winter’s Dance of the Academy Waltz? May I have your ring?”

  Legs giving way, she whimpered as her shins hit the warped stone ground, staring across at the unbelievable boy who had lured her away to ambush her alone; typically, this was done in public with a large audience, yet this was so much better. It meant it wasn’t for show. He didn’t do this because it was better for his House; in fact, it could cause a lot of trouble between their Great Houses. Yet, he’d opened the door and was waiting for her to step inside.

  Every noble girl was gifted a ring on their eighth birthday by their parents, and if someone asked for it, then it was a sign that they wanted to join their House. If she accepted, then the boy would wear it, either on a string or on one of his fingers that it fit on. But this couldn’t happen to her! For nearly ten years, she’d left her ring in a drawer, tucked away, which Aura loved to harp on, considering she had dozens of suitors constantly seeking hers.

  “Huh?” Vision going watery, she looked down at her hand, bewildered to see a tear fall onto it. “I…I don’t understand. I don’t have it with me—wh…why me?” she choked. “I’m a troublemaker. I… All the other nobles our age hate me. Aura would jump at your offer, so why me? Is it because I’m sharing a room with the princesses?”

  Drake’s patient smile made her chest hurt worse than channeling the elements, and he smoothly shook his head. “I know very well that you don’t have it with you…since Aura is keen on letting all the boys know. You don’t need to have it on you because the ring is not what I am really after.”

  Anala shivered like the last leaf of a dying tree, filled with new water; her stomach squirmed, and the weirdest sensation of elation she’d ever experienced lifted her into the sky. She couldn’t hear anything else as Drake’s warm hand took hers, trapping the air in her lungs.

  At that moment, her mind returned to their hot bodies pressed against each other, entangled in firm webs, yet this time, Drake was looking straight into her eyes. It was a joke. A cruel joke. Her pulse rose and thumping heart ached, dreading the fall, but she only soared higher with each word he spoke.

  “You don’t need to answer right now. I know this is probably overwhelming. So why don’t we walk the underground Hall of Water, and I’ll tell you why I asked for your ring when I don’t really care about the object that much…only what it represents. I didn’t come here for The Empress, Anala, I came here for you… You’re everything a man could ever want, and I want to be yours—no one else’s.”

  She was happy to still be on the ground because when he leaned in for a second time, Anala tasted honey and jam on his lips, making her throat constrict. All weight left her, and a surging thrill cascaded from her chest to between her thighs, fluctuating down to her toes to rise up to the tips of her hair as he drew out every last bit of air from inside her caged lungs, setting her free.

  Quakes ran through her bones as his hot lips left hers tingling, and Anala choked for air, feeling a rush of sweet relief that soon left her face bright pink. She dislodged her hands from Drake’s, coughing as her tears redoubled, and she hid her lap, hiccuping a little.

  “Anala?”

  “I-I’ll…I’ll be right back!” she cried, not feeling an ounce of pain as the wind whipped her into the sky. She rocketed up as fast as possible—her destination, her room at Drake’s freaking house. “Why am I such a failure?!” she wept, dying at the embarrassment that struck every fiber of her being. “Why is my body so weird?! I hate it! I hate it! What did he do to me?!”

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