Right then, Auris couldn’t do that.
She studied him for a moment, his posture tense and angry. And a realization hit her, something that she should’ve figured out sooner, if only she’d taken any time to think it through.
Damien was never going to be Prince of Running Water. She was never going to marry him.
He might have skill in battle, but he wasn’t a leader. He couldn’t even control himself. Her father and aunt must have known the whole time that they wouldn’t choose him as her husband. They must have known she expected to marry him. But they didn’t say anything to her about it.
Why? Why let her believe?
She felt a thrum of anger course through her, as she realized how illusory her idea of her future had been. She couldn’t afford the excess emotion. It wasn’t the time to try t
