[I'm sure I epically screwed up the titles. Sorry. And I made the other girl up, so yeah… just enjoy the story and don't get hung up on whatever discrepancies there may be.]
'You are cordially invited to the wedding ceremony of Archduke Aleksander Ferdinand, Prince of Austria-Hungary and Bohemia and Princess Maria de l'Islena of Spain.'
Deryn looked up. "Is this your idea of a joke?" she demanded.
Alek shifted uncomfortably. If it was possible, he was even more handsome then when she'd last seen him, five years ago, when he'd told her they couldn't be together and left her alone as she tried stubbornly to keep her tears from showing. And, just like last time, the sight of him tore a hole in her heart that she'd thought had nothing left to tear. "No."
Deryn crumpled up the fancy parchment and threw it at him. It bounced off and rolled across the floor. "Why on earth did you ever think it would be a good idea to invite… me… to… your… barking… wedding?" With each word she advanced on him, glaring up into his eyes. He was taller than her now, she realized.
"I wanted to give you the chance," he said quietly. "I didn't want to make another mistake."
"Oh, you're not the one who made the mistakes," she said. "That was all me. And the daftest one of all was falling in love with a bumrag like you!" She shouted the last part, and was glad to see him wince. But he couldn't be hurting as much as she was. "I saved your life so many times, and you abandoned me," she spat. "I should have let you die." They were empty words, and she knew it. She could no more have let him die than stop her own heart from beating. Even after all these years, she hadn't stopped loving him, any more than she'd loved anyone else. She was just doomed, she supposed. "You broke my heart. I'm not going to let you do it again. Get out. Just get out."
"Deryn," he said, pleading.
"Get out!" she screamed, and punched him. Maybe it would spoil his wedding pictures. He left, with one last backward glance. She responded with an eloquent gesture.
She'd been a complete ninny, falling in love with someone she couldn't have.