Darius’s POV
The palace was silent when I returned. Every corridor I walked through felt colder, darker, lonelier since that night. I could admit now that I’d handled it poorly, but seeing Estella’s life hanging in the balance had stripped away every rational thought. All I could think about was getting her to safety, even if it meant doing so by force.
Why couldn’t she understand that everything I did was for her?
The guilt from her accusations had gnawed at me ever since. I had gone to the Academy intending to deny her application, but I’d ended up approving it instead. I could have stopped her easily as Dane, deemed her unfit to compete, cited a dozen regulations. I could have done it as the King, too. My word was law, and no one would have questioned it.
No one but her, apparently
