Somewhere with a Monarchy, 1835 

I felt like I was floating on air for the rest of the night. After Damien and I parted ways and Tyra put me to bed, I still couldn't seem to find sleep. My dark hair was spread out on the pillow so it would stay bouncy overnight, but my neck was still hot. I didn't know what was happening and eventually fell asleep amid the tossing and turning.

~o0o~ 

"Oh, you're burning with a fever!" Tyra and Leta started fretting over me the second I woke up and my throat was terribly sore.

"But today-" Leta cut me off my shushing me, pushing me back down onto the bed. I had planned to surprise Damien today with a small picnic for lunch, and then we could fence afterwards, but that wouldn't be able to happen. We had to pray that this was just a common cold and that I would be fine again tomorrow. If that wasn't the case, I could be on my way out. 

But I didn't feel that bad, it really did just feel like a cold.

"You must stay in bed all day, Emray," Tyra scolded, her hand on my shoulder, "and I expect to see you in bed with this cold compress on your head when we're done informing the rest of the staff and the prince of the reason of your absence today."

I nodded with a small smile on my face. Either these women really cared about my well-being, or they really cared about everyone else. I hoped that it was the first.

Tyra placed the cold compress on my forehead before she and Leta left to go and inform the people who needed to know that I was sick and wouldn't be able to participate in the fourth day of the betrothal celebration.

They walked out the door quietly, as if I was sleeping, and closed it lightly. After I knew they were down the hall, possibly even turning the corner, I walked to the vanity in the bathroom and began tying up my hair. After that, I didn't bother with a corset and simply placed a petticoat onto my hips. Over this went a simple but elegant dandelion yellow day dress that I adored. The finishing touch was the black liner around my eyes, and I was set.  

Before I left the room I grabbed a small piece of fabric to place over my mouth and nose whenever I came in contact with anyone. While I was light headed and felt like throwing up, I steeled myself and walked out into the corridor. It was hard to walk in heels, but I wanted to tell Damien in person that I wouldn't be able to go on our date today.

I stumbled down the corridor and knew I most likely looked like a drunk. The thoughts that kept me going were of the way he looked at me last night and the way he kissed me. There was no way he was faking that.

I continued down the corridor at a slow and steady pace. I passed numerous rooms on the way to the place that Damien told me to met him at today.

"Damien!" I heard a voice giggle from the room where I was headed. My breath caught in my throat, and I bent down to slip off my heels. I tiptoed the rest of the way to the door, pressing my head to the edge of the doorframe to not be seen by the people inside of the room.

"'Melia-" that was Damien, his normally deep voice husky.

"Ohh," Amelia purred, "that nickname is quite nice. Now, what do you say you ditch the brown haired witch and take this day to... consider your options."

At this point I had heard enough. I peeked into the room, careful to only let one eye see into the room. I immediately wished I hadn't. Damien's red jerkin was undone at the top, exposing his broad chest, which Amelia was leaning against.

Damien stepped back and whispered something, tying up his jerkin. 

I fell forward, exposing my presence. They both had mixed reactions, Amelia was both shocked and pleased, she let out a giggle at my heartbroken face.

But Damien's reaction was of surprise, guilt, and sorrow. He knew I wouldn't be forgiving him for this; it was etched in the grief on his face.

"Emray-" he started, but I interrupted him with a glare as I struggled to regain my footing and stand up straight. 

"No," I finally said, my face stony, not betraying any hint of the emotions that were whirling around in my head, "you don't have the right to talk to me like that. I am Lady Evergreen to you, Your Highness. And don't worry about that date today. It's cancelled; much like our relationship."

I turned on my heel, my high heels in hand, and walked down the corridor back to my room. I was proud of myself for not turning around when Damien called for me, and even prouder of myself for not breaking down until I entered my room, all physical sickness replaced with heartache and pain.

So much pain.

I guess he could fake it.

~o0o~

It wasn't until I had striped off my day dress and petticoat, replacing them with my nightgown, that I realized I had left my piece of cloth at the door to that room when I fell down. I didn't care, however. Hopefully Damien held it up to his face and caught whatever I had. There was only one more day of this betrothal celebration; if he got sick I could go home without confrontation.

I climbed into bed and placed the cold compress back onto my head. When I was done with that, I let the tears wash the world away.

How could Damien do this to me? I thought everything was going well; and I wasn't even against the prospect of marrying him once upon a time.

Now I was counting down the days until I could leave.

There was some knocking on my door, but I wasn't about to get up and open it. I was done disobeying Tyra's orders. Not listening to Tyra caused my heart to brake. But maybe it was for the best. After I got over this, I could move on to a man that would be loyal and kind to only me.

The knocking stopped, and I heard Damien's voice call through the door, "Meet me in the gardens tonight. You don't know what you saw today, Emray. I really, really like you. Meet me in the gardens tomorrow. You won't regret it." I heard his footsteps recede down the corridor, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a good thing I was sick, because otherwise I might go and punch Damien. Hard.

A couple minutes later, Tyra walked in with some soup and another compress. She set the ice water gently on my head and then set the soup down on my bedside table. After Tyra was done taking care of me, she left me in the room by myself.

I borrowed deeper underneath my blankets, feeling the fever reach a new high, but I didn't care. If I came out of my safe and comfortable borrow, not only would I be freezing, but I would be vulnerable.

Vulnerable to my raging river of regret and despair and utter sadness of feelings. I knew at some point that this would dissolve into rage and anger, but for now, I slid fully underneath the blankets and disappeared into the pitch black surroundings of the underside of my covers and the all consuming sadness I was feeling.

And I fell into a feverish sleep.

~o0o~ 

I don't know when I woke up from my horrid dreams. Sometime between Amelia's echoing giggles and Damien's pleads for me to met him in the gardens.

"Emray, please! Wake up!" Leta said, shaking me awake, and as I became more aware, I felt myself shaking and sobbing. 

"What's wrong?" Tyra's worried face was right next to Leta's and I flushed with shame and heat. I didn't want to worry Leta and Tyra like this, but I couldn't control the sob that escaped me as I came out of my bed borrow.

"S-s-sorry," I stuttered, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

But that was a lie. And I didn't know if I could ever forget what Damien did to me.

~o0o~

What hurt even worse than the sting of rejection and relentless feelings were the things that I could hear when I was sick. Amelia's giggles coming down the hall and Damien's deep sigh. It seemed that he was happy with her, after all.

No matter to me! I got out of bed and made myself another cold press. Maybe that whole thing with Damien was a lie. Surely it was.

A small note slipped under the door. It wasn't mail; it didn't have a seal. Picking it up, I squinted at the tiny writing and nearly cried.

It's fine that you don't forgive me. It's fine. That part doesn't disappoint me nearly as much as the fact that you didn't even come and hear me out.
Sorry, Emray. There's nothing else to say.
Prince Damien Lovette

~o0o~

Word Count: 1687

Hey, hey, hey! Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I'm well over the 14k word mark and the last chapter was looonnngggg. So thank you for reading. The banner is made by me, so there aren't going to be any credits for that so what's next?... Oh yeah! Thank you for all the comments, votes, and reads, they mean a lot. And if you want a hint as to Emray and Damien's future relationship, look at the cursive quote on the banner. Hehehehehe.

Love y'all, thank you for waiting for this chapter :)
~happyperson081