On the walk back to my room, I contemplate a few things. How can I push Cal to be with Mare for me to stay here with Elane? Marrying Cal means I'm forced to live in Norta beside him. If I'm not stuck in a cage here, then I'd be stuck in a cage elsewhere. My life has never been my own. Mother and Father would never allow me by choice to get out of this marriage. What a dreadful life to live. I have to persuade Calore to willingly choose Mare which is a difficult task all by itself. He's such a stickler for rules and his kingdom. I wonder then, would I be able to convince Mare?

Shaking my head, I realize it has to be Cal's decision. Mare is a Red, and therefore, Anabel would never approve of her in a million years. But the conflict is Mare herself wouldn't approve of any Silver ruling over Reds. Frustrated, I resist the urge to break the metal framing of our picture decors. Deep breaths.

The evening is drawing closer to midnight and the halls have been silent. Everyone is locked up in their rooms with loved ones, and I feel envious. Elane should be in my room by now, unless she's gone home for the night. A flash of hurt hits me, but I suppress the feeling so as not to make me weak. Elane is free to do what she pleases considering I lock her up in my own room. But it would have been nice if she had left a note, or told somebody to relay the message. Maybe she's really upset and I've overstepped my limits. Sighing, I enter my bedroom feeling alone and disappointed. I strip off my clothing to settle into the fine silk robe I wore earlier after my bath. It's not until I'm comfortably in bed, getting ready to close my eyes, that I hear the faint sounds of thumping.

Flying straight up, my head instinctively turns to where the sound is coming from. The bathroom.

I grab the knife on the bedside table nearest to me, and silently get out of bed. My senses are incredibly heightened. How dare this person! To think that they can infiltrate my bedroom and get away with spying on me, what a joke! My mind flashes to one of Maven's spies. Or maybe it's one of the Red rats belonging to the Scarlet Guard. Cruelly, I feel for any other metal in the room and have them hover behind me, ready to kill. Tense, I sneak over to the bathroom door and pause, listening. The sound of thumping continues, muffled. With the technical precision of a surgeon, I focus my concentration on turning the brass doorknob so as not to alert the person of my presence. The door moves slightly in a position that I can peer in, knives ready to strike.

Instead, my heart breaks in a tiny million pieces.

And I've never considered myself to ever have a heart.

On the bathroom counter sits Elane, nude in all her glory. Her head is tilted back in a face I've seen far too often when I am the one responsible for it. In between her legs, is one of the Skin healers in the palace. He is currently screwing her on my bathroom counter.

I don't react. I watch. Every part of me itches to send my knives flying, but I don't. They tremble in mid-air. I remain calm and collected, like my parents taught me. Never let my emotions get the best of me is what Father always told me. That's what makes a person weak.

The Skin Healer grips her hips, bucking into her unattractively and with the grace of a waddling penguin. I don't know what she sees in him. He lacks the elegance, poise, and touch of a woman. She enjoys it, nonetheless. Unless she's faking it like I've heard from most of the other girls growing up. I hope for the latter. Her breathing is labored and he's sweating up a storm. I let my anger sit inside of me, boiling and brewing. I can't even think straight right now. My body becomes cold and my heart forms walls against this stranger in front of me. As they near their climax, I aim to strike.

Slamming the door open, my knives shoot straight for his head. He yelps, moving to the side just in time. It grazes against his cheek deeply and blood slides down his face. Elane instantly uses the shadows to shield herself but it's far too late.

"Adam, right?" I greet, with a sugary tone. His face is full of fear, scared of what the princess of the Rift will do to him for screwing her lover. I can kill him right now, on the spot. I can threaten his family, send out a bounty over his head. Ruin his life. Though that probably wouldn't represent the Samos family well since we're currently allied with the Scarlet Guard. The Reds don't believe in unjustified deaths, but they could make an exception for this one.

He reaches for a towel but drops his hand when I cut my eyes toward it. Casually, I walk over to him with a knife in hand and rest it against his neck. He takes deep breaths to calm down but breaks out in a nervous sweat, regardless. I angle the knife so that it rests right above his hammering pulse. Leaning in, I whisper, "If you know what's good for you, don't ever show your face around here again. The next time we meet, I won't show you any mercy. You're lucky the Scarlet Guard is here to save you because they won't be here for long."

Shivering, he nods and stutters, "M-May I have m-my clothes?"

I don't answer. I expect him to walk out of here in shame. Understanding the situation, he scurries out of my room naked. I wait to hear my bedroom door slam shut before turning my rage to someone else. She still hasn't shown herself. I look into the mirror at myself. My expression is neutral, trained, stoic. It fools even me.

"Elane Haven," I state. "Show yourself."

She reappears by the door, having wrapped a towel around her body. Her skin is flushed silver, and she avoids my eyes. Shame pulls her brows together, forces her mouth to be downturn in an ugly frown. I can barely stand to look at her. A mixture of emotions fill me, ranging from betrayal to hurt to confusion to pain. It's almost like someone kicked me in the gut, wanting to drop me onto the floor. Perhaps this is what Mare felt when Cal claimed the throne. No. This is much worse. It's not like he was screwing around with someone else. It's not like he had eyes for someone else.

I let out a hysterical laugh. Elane glances at me, worried. "Eve."

"Don't you dare call me Eve," I hiss. "It's Evangeline Samos to you."

Wounded, Elane leans against the door frame for support. Her eyes well up with tears, glistening. It should be me crying, not her. "I'm so sorry."

Don't show any weakness. To keep from lashing out, I play around with the knives. Bending and twisting them over and over. Reforming them into some other shape. "How long?"

"How long what?"

I glare at her. "How long have you been letting some guy screw you, Elane? Since when did you decide that you weren't…?" Like me? Romantically inclined towards girls?

Tears stream down her face. "It's not that I was never into you. I've always loved you, and I still do." At this, I scoff. She continues, "You are the only person that I love, Eve. It was hard though, with you being gone for so long, and I was stuck here. He was nice to me, and-"

"Is that all it takes?" I snap. "Some pathetic servant shows you a little bit of kindness and then you give it up just like that?"

"Are you calling me easy?" she gasps. I remain silent. Constantly reforming the metal, over and over. Steady. Elane takes a step towards me and I take one step back. I want her far away from me, out of this palace. She isn't worthy of being here. She was the only person, besides Tolly, that I trusted. The one person I thought I could be myself around. Frowning, she says, "You were always leaving me here. Surely this isn't all my fault."

"But it is. You made your decision. I was trying to save our relationship. That's why I was going out there saving us from being killed by Maven. That's why I was trying to figure out a plan to have Cal marry Mare instead." Breathe.

"You knew your mother would never let you get out of marrying Cal and eventually wanting grandkids," Elane says. Though she speaks the truth, that doesn't make it any easier to hear. Though I've known my entire life what I was destined to be; a queen, that doesn't mean she's allowed to crush my hopes of trying to get out of that situation. I wanted to be a queen, but I wanted her by my side. If she didn't think there was any hope for us, then why did she convince me all this time?

"But that doesn't mean I would willingly screw him! You know I don't have a choice, Elane."

She flinches. "My loneliness got the best of me, and I am sincerely, truly sorry. Please, Eve, let's make this right again. Send Ptolemus to the missions instead, and just be with me. Stay here."

Her words are empty, falling in the space between us. Never reaching me. "How long? How long has this been going on?"

"Please don't ask that."

"I'm asking." I close my eyes. Constant reshaping.

It's quiet for a few minutes. Sighing, she tells me, "A month."

The knives clatter and clink to the ground. "A month?!" I ask incredulously. "You've been having an affair on me for a month?!"

Elane rushes over to hold my hands, but I yank them away from her. "Do not touch me." I look down at her in disgust. "I don't want your filthy, unfaithful hands on me."

"Please don't be like this," she begs.

"I want you out of my life," I snap. "I don't want to be with you. I don't want to speak with you. You are a traitor, you are scum, you are nothing to me!"

She is sobbing, clinging onto the counter to hold her up. She looks pathetic right now. This girl whom I had loved and adored. "Eve, you can't throw this away just like that! It's unfair! You don't understand!"

"You're right," I start. My body is heated, hands shaking. "I'll never understand it. I don't know you anymore. We are nothing, this is done. Get out."

"I'm married to your brother," she bawls.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I respond coldly. "Then be married to Ptolemus. But you will never mean anything to me anymore."

I exit the bathroom first, finding my way over to my bed. I slip under the covers, feeling numb all over. It's cold despite the heavy silk blankets resting over me. Elane cried for about an hour before she finally took her leave. Her sobs were gut-wrenching and the part of me that still loved her ached to wrap her under the blankets with me. As she left, she whispered, "I'm sorry," and I don't know how two people who could love each other so much, also cause the greatest amount of pain to each other. I never want to be played a fool again.