The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)
Chapter 25

I dress up in a pretty, silver, evening gown for the night.

We all take our seats at the giant table. The head is reserved for Aunt Freya, and the other end for Seb.

I'm seated opposite Kat. I take my seat and am surprised to see who's beside me.

On my left is Liege Parsons, my right, Tristan.

He smiles when he sees me.

"I thought you were seating with your family."

He sighs as he takes the seat. "I was. Your aunt moved me last minute."

"Oh."

His smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "It's fine. At least we can hate this together."

Liege Parsons clears her throat. "Good evening, Princess Cassandra, Mr. Oisin."

"Liege Parsons, lovely to see you." I smile at her.

She gives us a coy look. "I see the two of you are still... enjoying each other's company."

My smile fluctuates. "We're actually...um, broken up."

Liege Parsons nods. "Oh, my mistake."

I fold my arms on my lap and stare at my plate.

When my aunt and Seb walk in, everyone stands up.

We wait for her to take her seat, before taking ours.

"Welcome, everyone." She greets cheerily. "To a wonderful new year."

We clap. I'm not paying attention and start clapping late.

My aunt shoots a hard smile my way. She then begins her speech. I once again, don't pay attention.

When she's done, the drinks and food are served.

"Good?" Tristan asks halfway through the main course. I don't know if he's talking about me or the food.

I say, "fine," either way.

During dessert, a conversation sparks around me.

"Yes, two days ago." Representative Quartz says two seats away. "They did."

"You can't be serious." Liege Parsons sighs. "How many dead?"

"I heard three." Mr. Whitehall answers. "Some people escaped, they fought their way out. The others weren't so lucky."

Representative Quartz nods his head. "I heard one of the survivors lost his son. Such a shame, in their own home."

My head starts spinning. I grip the table for support. It doesn't work.

I get up and try to gain my balance. With slow and steady steps, I make my way out of the hall.

I walk down the steps, toward an old study.

I cross over the red velvet ropes barricading most of the office.

I open the door behind the desk and step out on the balcony. I briefly admire the view, the palace gardens.

The cool air helps me cool down.

I close my eyes and place my arms on the railing.

"Cass." Tristan opens the door, crosses over the rope, and steps out on the balcony. He closes it behind him.

"You must be freezing." He takes off his suit jacket and drapes it over my shoulder.

"Thanks." I leave my arms on the balcony.

"Sorry, about that. They don't know."

"It's fine. I just needed to leave. It was a mistake coming here."

He places his hands on the balcony beside me and says nothing.

"I kind of want to just go to my bedroom and disappear there for the rest of the night."

For a second, the only thing I hear is soft wind and leaves rustling.

"Can I come with you?" He jokes.

I feel suddenly embarrassed. "I should apologize."

He scoffs lightly. "For what exactly?"

"Kissing you. And sleeping with you."

"That's an interesting thing to apologize for."

I scoff. "I shouldn't have done that. You broke up with me for a good reason. I shouldn't make things weird with us."

He doesn't move or say anything.

I continue. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

He starts laughing. Not a light chuckle. A good, hearty laugh.

"Oh, Cassandra." He shakes his head.

"What's wrong?"

He turns to me. I swear, I can see the reflection of the moon in his eyes. "Who sleeps with a guy, and then apologizes for it?"

My cheeks feel flushed.

He shakes his head slowly "It's fine."

"That I slept with you?" I'm whispering now.

He reaches out and tucks a loose strand behind my ear. The expression on his face changes. It's hard at first, then it softens and he sighs. "If I'm being honest, I wanted to sleep with you just as much."

He leans down and gives me a long and intense kiss.

I wrap my arms around his chest and kiss him back.

After a minute, he pulls away and wipes his lips. "We should get back. They might look for us."

I nod. "Yeah." We go back in and I hand him his jacket.

We wait outside the hall doors for him to put it on. Before I can open the door, he kisses me once more on the back of my neck.

I walk in with a big smile.

I don't look anyone in the face, I just take my seat.

He walks in two minutes later with a neutral face.

When he sits down, I struggle not to smile.

He doesn't say anything to me. He doesn't have to. I'm fine with this silence.

***

I wait till we're both back in school to ask if we've gotten back together.

"I will actually burn you," Grey says as I'm taking my things out of his car. "Just ask him."

"I can't just ask him," I say. "I need to replace the right time. Also, I don't want him to say no."

Grey scoffs. "Trust me, he won't say no."

"What?" I take out my bag.

He rolls his eyes. "The two of you have had sex more times this week than I did last year. You're together."

It's my turn to roll my eyes. "Thank you for the ride." I slam his car door. "Try to have a good year."

"You too, baby sister." He calls after me.

I get back to my dorm, it's empty.

I spend the afternoon staring at my phone. I should call him. Just one call. Or a text. I should text him.

I type a quick hey and hit send.

He doesn't read it. He probably hasn't seen it yet.

I throw my phone on my bed and wait for Michelle to get back.

For dinner, I sit with her and Ryan (Paisley's boyfriend).

I'm distracted throughout dinner, my eyes keep searching for Tristan.

"What are you doing?" Michelle asks.

"What? Oh, nothing. Not important. You were saying."

She and Ryan carry on with their conversation and I keep searching.

Toward the end of dinner, he walks in with Jamie.

I look away so he won't know I was looking for him.

He and Jamie walk past our table. He doesn't even look my way. Ouch.

I spend the next five minutes picking at my dinner. I eventually give up and pick up my tray.

I leave it with the others and storm out of the dining hall. It's still cold so I wrap my jacket around my shoulders.

"Cass."

I turn back and see Tristan. He closes the door and walks towards me.

"Oh, hey." I exhale. "I sent you a text."

"I left my phone at home. Lilian's bringing it in for me tomorrow." He shoves his hands in his pocket.

I nod.

"Is something wrong?" He asks.

"Are we together?" I ask the dreaded question.

He doesn't look surprised. "Cass..."

I muster as much determination as I can. "I want us to. Get back together, I mean."

He chuckles blithely. "You want to get back together."

I know it's not a question, I still nod.

He stares at me intensely. "I love you, Cass."

"Oh."

"I do. A lot."

"Oh," I repeat.

"Yeah." He looks around the school ground.

"That's great." I slowly smile.

He doesn't return the smile. "I'm not getting back together with you."

All the oxygen gets sucked out of the world.

I ask myself if this is a dream. Tristan telling me he loves me. Then saying he doesn't want to get back together. That's too contradictory.

"What?" I don't notice I'm crying till I take a deep breath and it comes out ragged.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spent the last week with you. I never should have gone to your house in the first place."

"Then why did you?" I don't stop the tears. "Why even come back? You already broke my heart once. Why did you have to do it twice?"

He bites his tongue. "Let's not..."

"No," I yell. "Why did you do it? Is this a game to you? Am I a game to you?"

He squeezes his eyes shut. "That's not it, Cass."

"Then why?" I take another breath and start sobbing.

Tristan looks like he's in pain. "You know why, Cassandra. Deep down, you know why."

It hits me suddenly.

Tristan appearing when I was at my lowest. Him coming back on new years eve. The look my aunt sent during the dinner. It wasn't aimed at me. It was for him.

"The Queen."

He nods. "She invited me to morning tea at her drawing room." He rubs his eyes. "She said that during difficult times, we all need friends. She "advised" me not to abandon a member of her family." He shakes his head slowly. "The worst part is, I was always going to come see you. I wasn't lying when I said I love you. She just...things are always gonna be weird between us."

I look at him with tear-filled eyes. "And last week, everything you told me. All the nights we spent together. Was that her? Did she force you to fuck me?"

He recoils. "I'm sorry, Cass."

I'm crying again. "Go fuck yourself, Tristan." I turn on my heel and run to my dorm room.

I place my head on my pillow and cry my eyes out.

When I have no tears left to cry, I stare at the ceiling.

My phone goes off and I check to see who's calling. My shoulders slump when I see that it's Grey.

"Are you Mrs. Oisin yet?" He asks when I pick up.

I huff. "Did you know aunt Freya basically forced him to get back together with me?" Grey is silent. "Am I the only one too stupid to notice?"

"What did he say?"

"He broke up with me. Because of stupid aunt Freya." I yell. "I hate her."

"We all do, Cassie."

"No." I shake my head. "I really hate her. I hope she gets attacked by Ryppers."

"Okay, that was too far."

I end the call.

I dial aunt Freya's number next. As expected, she doesn't pick up.

I dial Keri next.

"Cassandra," she answers on the last ring. "What's the emergency?"

"Is my aunt with you?"

"The Queen is very busy at the moment."

"I need to talk to her." My voice is eerily quiet.

"I can schedule five minutes sometime next week. She's swamped as it is." Keri sighs.

"Tell her that if she doesn't speak to me now. I'll say what I want to say to someone else." The threat is clear.

"It's alright, Keri." My aunt's cool voice comes across. I didn't know it was on speaker. "I can spare a minute to talk to my only niece."

Keri's sigh is audible over the phone. "Of course, your Majesty."

"What's wrong, Cassandra?" My aunt's voice floats softly from my phone.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "What's wrong is you're ruining my life."

"What did I do?"

"I know about your conversation with Tristan."

I expect her to lie about it. "And you're calling to thank me?"

"Thank you?" I ask incredulously. "Why would I thank you?"

"For getting the two of you back together."

"He hates me," I yell. "He hates me because you tried to force our relationship. He broke up with me. Again."

"Did he?" She sounds angry. "I thought I made myself clear."

"That's not the problem. You can't manipulate people like that," I yell. "Did you think you could force him into loving me?"

She scoffs. "Who said anything about love? I specifically told him you needed support. Everyone in this family does. You can't survive without it."

"Again with this fucking family."

"Language," she scolds.

"Why can't you guys be normal? Why can't you handle anything like real people? Why is it always threats and fear, and manipulation?" I run my hands through my hair. "Gosh, you guys are exhausting."

My aunt hums. "It's a shame you feel that way."

"Is that it? Is that all you have to say?"

She's silent for a second. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

I have never felt so defeated. I end the call and fall back on my bed.

The door opens and Michelle walks in.

"Hey," she's smiling. She notices my sorry state. "What happened to you?"

I sit up and give her a false smile. "Family. You know how they can get?"