Chapter 6
1507 Words
Sages POV
A gentle knock finally broke the silence before the door opened just enough for Jayden to step inside.
“Good morning." His smile reached his eyes as he looked at me.
"Did you manage to get any sleep?"
"I think so."
"I'm glad." He glanced around the suite before looking back at me.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" I shook my head.
"Would you like to?" I frowned.
"...Am I allowed?" His smile disappeared, replaced by confusion.
"Allowed?"
"To leave." Realisation slowly crossed his face.
"Sage..." He spoke carefully, as though he was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
"You don't need permission." I stared at him.
"I don't?" He shook his head.
"You live here." The words settled heavily inside my chest.
"What am I supposed to do today?" I asked quietly.
"Whatever you'd like." He shrugged lightly.
"You can walk through the gardens, train if you feel like it, visit the library, go into the city, take a walk in the forest..." I frowned.
"...What's a library?" He blinked.
"A library?" I nodded.
"I've never heard that word before." For the first time since we'd met, Jayden didn't seem to know what to say.
"It's..." He stopped, clearly rethinking his explanation.
"It's a place with books."
"...Books?" His smile faded completely.
"You've never read a book?" I lowered my eyes.
"I can't read." Silence settled between us. Not an awkward silence. A sad one. Jayden looked away for a second before clearing his throat.
"Then maybe the gardens are a better place to start." His smile returned, though it was gentler now.
"They're beautiful this time of year." I looked at him curiously.
"What do people do in gardens?" He couldn't help smiling again.
"They walk."
"That's all?"
"They think." I frowned.
"You need a special place for that?" A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
"No... I suppose you don't." I found myself studying him. He laughed so easily. As though the world hadn't spent years trying to break him.
"What else do people do?" He leaned casually against the doorframe, thinking for a moment.
"They read. Train. Swim. Ride horses. Drink coffee. Complain about work." His grin widened.
"Valeria usually does all of those before lunch."
"Valeria?"
"The King's sister." He chuckled quietly.
"You'll probably meet her before the day's over." I nodded slowly, trying to imagine a life where someone woke up and simply... chose what to do.
"What does the King want me to do?" I asked after a moment. Jayden looked genuinely surprised.
"He didn't leave any instructions."
"None?"
"The only thing he told me..." He hesitated before smiling softly.
"...was to make sure no one tells you where you're allowed to be." I frowned.
"So I can really go anywhere?"
“Almost."
"Almost?"
"The western training grounds are closed while they're rebuilding them, and I'd avoid the kitchens around lunchtime unless you enjoy being shouted at by the cooks." He smiled.
"Other than that..." He shrugged.
"The palace is yours too."
“Mine too.” The words slipped out so quietly I wasn’t even sure I’d said them aloud.
“What?” Jayden looked at me with a curious smile.
“Nothing.” I looked towards the tall windows at the end of the hallway.
“I’d like to see the gardens.”
“I’d be happy to show you.” He stepped aside, waiting for me to leave the suite first.
The palace felt alive in a way the hospital never had. Servants hurried through the endless corridors carrying flowers, silver trays and neatly folded linen while guards stood silently outside carved wooden doors. Nobody stared at me. Nobody whispered behind my back. Every now and then someone greeted Jayden with a smile before continuing on their way as though I wasn’t the strangest thing they’d ever seen.
The familiar scent reached me before my eyes found him.
Rosewood.
Mint.
Valens stepped into the foyer from another corridor dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. A black folder rested beneath one arm while his phone was pressed against his ear. Whatever meeting he’d come from clearly hadn’t been short. His tie had been loosened slightly, the first imperfection I’d seen on him. Even from across the room, I felt the moment he noticed me.
His eyes lifted.
They landed on mine.
Everything inside me seemed to pause.
He lowered the phone.
Said something quietly to the man walking beside him.
Then he turned around.
He walked the other way.
“He left me.” I whispered before I could stop myself.
“He’s just busy, Sage.” Jayden offered me a reassuring smile, though I wasn’t sure he believed it himself.
“He saw me.” I couldn’t stop staring at the empty hallway.
“He looked at me..” My voice became quieter. I replayed those few seconds over and over again. He hadn’t looked surprised. He hadn’t looked angry.
“He did.” Jayden nodded once
I folded my arms across my stomach. Maybe he’d finally seen me properly. The scar that cut from above my right eyebrow and down across my cheek wasn’t exactly something people missed. Jack had made sure of that. Maybe daylight had shown him what the hospital hadn’t. Maybe he’d realised the Goddess had made a mistake. My fingers brushed the uneven skin before I caught myself. Why did it even matter? I didn’t want him. I didn’t want another Alpha. I didn’t want a mate. So why did it sting that he had looked at me and walked away?
“…You’d think so.” A quiet laugh escaped Jayden before he shook his head. “He’s brilliant at leading kingdoms. People…” He shrugged. “Not so much.”
I found myself looking towards the corridor again, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the black suit.
Nothing.
Only empty marble floors.
The strange ache settled beneath my ribs once more. It wasn’t painful. Not really. Just… there. Like something was missing, even though nothing should have been.
I hated it.
“He didn’t even say hello.” I frowned.
“No.” Jayden glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
“I thought…” I stopped myself.
“What?”
“I thought he’d tell me what I was allowed to do.”
Jayden looked genuinely surprised.
“He already did.” I frowned.
“When?”
“He told me.” His smile returned.
“His exact words were, ‘She goes wherever she wants.’” I blinked.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“No guards?”
“No.”
“No schedule?”
“No.”
“No rules?”
“There are rules.” His grin widened slightly.
“Don’t murder anyone.” I looked at him blankly.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
His grin disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
“You can train whenever you want. Eat whenever you’re hungry. Walk through the gardens, the forest or the city. If you want new clothes, we’ll get you new clothes. If you don’t want to leave your suite today, nobody will force you.”
I struggled to process every word.
“…That’s all?” Jayden looked at me for a long moment.
“Sage…” His voice had softened again.
“When was the last time somebody let you decide how to spend your own day?” I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. I couldn’t remember.
Jack decided when I woke up.
When I ate.
When I trained.
When I slept.
When I showered.
When I fought.
When I bled.
Sometimes he even decided whether I was allowed to speak.
“I don’t know.” The admission came out as little more than a whisper.
Jayden didn’t answer.
He didn’t tell me how awful it was.
He didn’t pity me.
He simply slowed his pace until we were walking side by side.
The enormous glass doors came into view, sunlight pouring through them in warm golden streams. Beyond them stretched endless gardens filled with flowers I’d never seen before, winding stone paths and towering trees whose branches danced gently in the wind.
“They’re beautiful.” The words escaped me before I realised I’d spoken.
“They are.” Jayden smiled, opening one of the heavy doors for me.
“Valeria spends half her life out here.”
“Why?” He chuckled.
“You’ll have to ask her.” A cool breeze brushed against my face the moment I stepped outside. The air smelled different here. Fresher. Softer. I closed my eyes for a brief second, letting the warmth of the sun settle across my skin.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d stood outside without chains.
Or orders.
Or someone counting the minutes until I had to go back inside.
For the first time in seven years…
No one was waiting to tell me what to do next.
And somehow…
That frightened me more than anything else.
- Writer
