Free Burning Bridges by Nadege Richards Page A

across the room caused the words to escape me. The only thing that I could coherently put together was, “ Ayden? ”
    And yet I barely got that out before Noah was dragging me through the throng and away from the violet-eyed boy. I wanted to ask him what he was doing here. He was the only person I knew with eyes that brilliant. Yet, I w as the only Thedibian with dark hair and blue eyes. Somehow, we matched.
    “ What happened to you? Where ’ d you go? ” Noah questioned as we finally emerged to a corner away from everybody .
    “ The balcony, for fresh air, ” I answered over the music. I looked down at my feet and sighed. “ I ’ m not so sure I can do this. ”
    “ What was that? ” he yelled.
    “ I said I ’ m not sure I can do this. Get married and be your wife. I ’ m not really cut out to be a Queen, tonight has proven that. ”
    The confusion that came together on his face was obvious. “ You ’ ve been a princess for seventeen years of your life. What is one more year going to do to you? ”
    I shook my head and blew the hair from my face. “ You don ’ t understand. The title ‘ princess ’ doesn ’ t make me who I am. I choose that. What happens if I ’ m not happy, Noah? What have you then? Will you force me to love you? ”
    His sigh was audible over the music , but I caught his discomfort . Raking his hands though his hair he said, “ No. Of course not, but we don ’ t have a choice, Echo, and everyone is fine with that but you. You are the only one. ”
    The music shifted into something a bit more slow. The lights dimmed and I found it hard to see Noah anymore. Voices from behind us said his family was calling us over, no doubt to find out about what happened. My eyes searched the ballroom again and I found the pair of violet eyes still watching me. “ If so, then I am the only one willing to do something about it. ” I turned back to him and frowned. “ And I ’ m fine with that. ”
    “ Echo, I didn ’ t— ”
    I spun on my heels, just out of his reach, and lost myself in the crowd once again. Except this time with better purpose.
    Ayden.
     
     
    ▪ Ayden ▪
     
    I didn ’ t expect the Princess to follow me. Granted I hadn ’ t exactly planned to come, I didn ’ t expect her to notice me so quickly either. Or at all. I ducked into the crowd, made sure to keep my head low, and went straight for the staircase that would lead me to the locked chambers.
    I glanced behind me half way up the stairs and realized the Princess was but a few steps away from me. Determination was written all over her face. I smiled, finding it somewhat endearing.
    “ I know it ’ s you, ” she said from behind me. I kept walking, taking halls deeper into the fortress. Her steps became more persistent. She was making this harder on me than it already was.
    Maybe if you hadn ’ t stood around gawking at her the whole damn time , I chided myself . Maybe the job would ’ ve already been done.
    I stopped short of a forked hallway when I heard voices coming from around the bend. I ducked into the shadows and hid myself from view. They were ladies, I thought to myself with a frown, not guards at all. But when the ladies stopped the Princess to talk, I knew I had my chance. I emerged from the darkness and her eyes found mine immediately. I knew she had her chance to call me out and have me arrested for trespassing—hell, even robbery—but she stood there and talked to them as if she hadn ’ t seen me at all. Her eyes watched me as I left.
    The Queen ’ s sacred chambers weren ’ t hard to find. In a literal sense, all I had to do was fol low the voices of gossiping wome n. Once I ’ d given them all a chance to clear out, I snuck in and locked the door behind me. For a moment I got caught up in the essence if the colossal room, taking in everything from the four-poster bed to the golden curtains that accentuated the crystal glasses and marble floors . Though, I couldn ’ t forget my reason for