He smiles, but it’s not kind. He knows the ball is in his court. I was foolish to think I had a leg to stand on. Either way, I lose. Wait. What do I lose if I stay here? “What do you want from me in exchange for my freedom?”
He leans forward, putting both elbows on the table and steeples his fingers. “You have a key that I would like.” The key. Of course! No wonder he went rifling through my bag. My mother warned me about keeping the key safe. She didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.
“Why do you want it?”
“That’s for me to know.”
“Oh, but I don’t think it is. You know as well as I do from my mother’s letter, that the key has a mind of its own. I do have it, for now, and if you want this key from me, I want to know why.”
His voice hardens. “Don’t test me. You may be a princess, but I am under no obligation to keep you safe. King Pine asked for you alive. That’s it. He didn’t say you couldn’t be locked up and starved.” I gasp. Here is the hard side of the king again.
Luke hasn’t said a word up until this point. Only watched our conversation like a spectator at a tennis match, his head going back and forth. His tone is placating. I’m not sure what he’s up to. “Father, may I have a word with Alison alone? I promise not to leave the premises. Grant us a few moments in another room. Your men can stand guard, but I want privacy.”
“As you wish, but don’t push me, Lucas. A few moments and nothing more.”
Luke nods and stands. He holds out his hand for mine and helps me from my seat. We leave the room with two guards on our heels and step into an adjoining room. Luke shuts the door and turns to me.
“What’s going on, Ali? Why don’t you give him the key?”
I turn from him and start to pace the room. At this point, I’m screwed either way. If I don’t give him the key then I’m going to be shipped off with Oliver to the other kingdom where I’ll be forced into marrying a man I don’t know and living a life I didn’t choose. He knows I have the key, but he doesn’t know where it is. I really should have hidden it better.
I’m lost in my own thoughts when I hear Luke yell my name. “Alison!” I stop and look at him. His posture is tense. I instinctively take a step back. I get another glimpse of the tough side of him now. When he sees me step away from him, he visibly relaxes.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to snap at you, but we have limited time. I need you to talk to me. I need you to tell me about this key. You have something my father wants. We need to be able to use that to our advantage.”
“Luke, I’m putting my trust in you, and you need to do the same with me.”
“Of course. I told you I’d protect you.”
“I know you did, but this goes beyond that. My mother, she died of cancer a year ago.” I swallow the emotion clogging my throat, as it always does when I speak of her.
“My mother died too. I was only a child, though.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t have her growing up.”
He shrugs. “I don’t really remember her. My siblings do, however.”
I clear my throat and try to get back on topic, or we’ll be here all day and the king said we had only moments alone. “Do you remember the letter my mom left me?” He nods. “In it she mentioned the key has a mind of its own. It’s unpredictable. But she did say that if I still have the key when I cross over to your realm that I can use it to get back. There is no guarantee that I can ever return here. Once I go back home it could disappear forever. If I give the key to your father, not only would I never be able to leave, but he could bring his entire army through the door back to my world. He could release a small dragon. We don’t have them there! They are something only in books or movies.”
“What’s a movie?”
I shake my head. “Later. My point is that he could use it for malicious intent, and I would never be able to go back home.”
“I see your point about not knowing what he wants it for. We don’t know for sure what he will do with it. I also told you that this is your home now. You don’t have to go back.”
“We just met, Luke,” I stress, exasperated. “Would you give up your whole world, everything you know, for me?”
With a completely serious look on his face, he answers firmly. “Yes.”
“How can you be so sure about me? About us?”
He closes the distance between us and cups my cheeks in his hands. Looking down into my eyes, he reiterates what he told me before. “You have come here for a reason and I found you. We haven’t only just met. We’ve known each other. No, we didn’t talk in our dreams, but we did establish a connection. One that I can’t deny nor can you, because if you could, you would have tried to leave and return home. You haven’t, though. Instead, you slept in my arms.”
“My heart tells me to stay and be with you, but my head is saying to be logical, to think this through.” He’d give up everything for me. Could I ask him to, though? What if I could bring him home with me? He’s only ever known this land and he’s proud of it. Proud of who his family is and the fact he’s a fighter. He wouldn’t fit in back home. That much I know for sure. He doesn’t belong there. Do I belong here? Maybe, maybe not.
“You don’t have much time to do that. My father expects an answer when we walk back in, or you will be leaving here. You’ll be leaving me. I will fight for you, but I can’t say what will happen. If I’m hurt or killed, I won’t be able to protect you. With me gone, I fear what would happen. You have a decision to make, my princess. Will you stay here, with me? Will you follow your heart? Or will you take your key and flee back to the cottage? Will you leave me behind?”
Choices
Where the hell is a crystal ball when you need one? How am I supposed to make this decision? My problem is that I know what I want to do. I’m afraid I’ll regret the decision; that it will be the wrong one, and I won’t be able to go back, because even if I go home, I might not be able to come here ever again. If I give the key to King Azure, who knows if I’ll ever see it again. There is the slimmest of chances that it could return to me, but what if it decides to stay with him or finds someone else? Stupid key. I wish I had time to weigh everything.
A loud knocking makes me jump, followed by a gruff voice, “Your Highness. The king is requesting your presence along with Princess Pine.”
“That is not my name!” I screech.
Luke chuckles. He walks to the door and holds it open for me. “We must go. You have until we walk next door to decide.” No pressure. None at all.