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Elias’s eyes met mine, and I noticed the sadness behind them. I froze, the rage subsiding.

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” he said, barely above a whisper. His head lowered, and I had never seen him look so…broken.

Guilt ripped at me from the inside out. “I just thought…maybe we wanted the same thing,” I whispered. I folded my arms over my chest, trying to make myself small, as if it would shrink the emotions I was feeling.

“And what would that be?” Elias’s tone was gentle and calm, but there still existed a hint of sadness. I looked up to see his honey eyes staring into me once again.

Neither of us moved or spoke for what felt like minutes, but was probably only seconds. “I’m…” I stopped, not sure if I had the courage to continue. “I think…”

The jumbled thoughts tried to mold themselves into one coherent truth. Elias stood, body tense, waiting for me to finish. I let out a sharp breath. “I think I might be falling in love with you.” The words finally escaped, and I sucked in a breath while my heart pounded in my chest.

I stared at Elias, who stood so still he could pass for a statue. I waited, patiently at first, but when he didn’t answer, didn’t move, I felt a panic set in. “Elias?” I whispered. “Please say something.”

He remained in his trance-like state for a moment longer. Feeling worried, I reached my hand towards his, our fingers brushing. Tingling energy responded to the touch. Elias pulled his hand back as if I had burnt him, and stared at it. I watched him timidly, regretting my confession more with each passing second.

“Please say something,” I begged again.

His eyes peeled away from his hand, and he looked at me. “I don’tknow, Aura,” he said finally, as if responding to a question. “I think we both need to get some rest.”

A lump formed in my throat – my body’s response to the rejection. Was it rejection? Or was it just uncertainty? I looked down at my blanket on the ground. Maybe he was right. Maybe we both needed to sleep on our thoughts before we said something we’d regret, although it was already too late for me.

“I can take the first watch,” I muttered.

“No,” he responded quickly. “I will cover the first watch. You get some sleep.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, and slowly lowered myself to the ground. I had no idea what to say. The air was so thick with tension, I could barely breathe. I thought the admittance of my feelings would be a weight off my shoulders. Instead, it had only added more, making me feel heavy and languid.

Fuck. Did I just ruin everything? What was the rest of our journey going to look like, now that such a heavy secret was dropped on him?

“I’m sorry,” I muttered shyly, not sure what else to say.

“Don’t be,” Elias put his hand up. “Just get some rest. We can talk tomorrow, with clear heads.”

His words brought me a small sense of comfort. I nodded, although I still felt unsure. “Alright. Goodnight, then.” I waited for his soothinggoodnight, Princessreply, but it never came. I ended up tossing and turning for the longest time, feeling awkward and insecure and defeated. Eventually, exhaustion overpowered my endless emotions, and I was able to fall asleep.

When I awoke, the sun was already rising. I blinked in the light, and slowly sat up. I was about to scold Elias for letting me sleep through the night again, but was surprised to find that he wasn’t there. I looked around, trying to see where he wandered off to. But then I noticed something.

His pack was gone.

Elias had completely vanished, along with his things. The two pouches I had shoved into his chest the night before were all that remained on the ground. And I was completely alone.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Iglanced around in all directions. He couldn’t have left me, right? Maybe he just went to hunt for something to eat, even though our packs were filled with food. But that would be very foolish, since we were only a few hours outside of Monuvia and their scouts could already be on our tail if Nevaria wasn’t true to her word

And Elias was definitely no fool.

Trying to settle my panic, I stood up and searched for his tracks. My breathing was heavy, and my heart was aching. I scanned the forest floor for his boot prints, but found nothing in my vicinity. He was so careful about covering his tracks, and I was no expert tracker. I probably wouldn’t find a thing. But I kept searching anyway.

Too afraid to backtrack, I continued in the way we were originally heading. I searched high and low for any sign of Elias. I wanted to call out his name, but again feared that any nearby scouts would hear me. While Nevaria was a princess, and in turn a woman of honor,she also despised me. I wouldn’t exactly put it past her to go back on her word if it meant it would bring me down.

I searched and searched, zigzagging through the forest to find where Elias had gone. An hour passed. Then two. My heart grew heavier and I found it hard to breathe.

He left me. He left me.

The realization repeated in my head like a curse. Oh gods, what was I going to do now?

“Think, Aura. Think,” I whispered to myself, clutching my chest.