Burning Bridges (8 page)

And I was
.

A push on my shoulder got my feet moving again, but not as fast as I would have liked. Once inside, the guards shut the door and the finality that all those people wouldn
’
t even get to come inside after hours of waiting to see the Princess hit me hard.

“
Your jacket, Princess,
”
said a guard. I stared at him for a moment, still stuck in a stupor.

“
Excuse her, she
’
s just a little anxious,
”
Noah said, sliding my jacket off my shoulders and handing it to him. He took my hand and led me further into the huge fortress that was the central building of Siphon
’
s City, the place my father made laws that dictated everyone
’
s lives. It was only then that I realized how anciently beautiful the place was, the way the murals stood in your way and craved for attention. Chandeliers that looked about retired with only an ounce of life still kindled within them hung from the golden ceilings. Halls as wide as our streets
forked every corner
and furniture made for appraisal adorned the rooms. With every
step
we took, I made sure to stop and take in my full of it all.

Though, along with awe, came contempt.
What did they have to be proud of
, a voice whispered in my mind.

Nothing.

I forced the thoughts out of my head, desperate to think about anythin
g but Ayden. Though, I knew thoughts of him
waited for me, anticipating the moment unconsciousness would take hold of my mind and I
’
d have no other choice.

“
You
’
re going to love this,
”
Noah suddenly whispered into my ear
,
as we stopped at another set of grand doors that grazed the ten foot ceilings.

The guards whispered something to each other and then slid the doors apart, revealing a giant ballroom with thousands of busy bodies dancing and eating happily in outfits that made mine seem like a pawn.

It was overwhelming. With all the shiny gold drapes, marble flooring, and huge statues that seemed more
like
a
part of the party than accentuating it, I found it hard to keep my eyes on one thing at a time
. Wome
n with big wigs and intricate hair pieces sat in one corner of the room, sipping their wine and laughing about things not half as funny as their
makeup
. The men stood on the other side, as tradition went
,
waiting till a decent enough woman caught their fancy. I…well, as for me, I stood hand in hand with
Delentia
’
s
Prince, my soon-to-be husband, while all eyes fastened solely on us.

“
They love you,
”
Noah reiterated. He led me past the gawking stares to a table surrounded by what I guessed were his friends and family. An angelic harmony created by a band of harps, flutes, and pianos infiltrated the ballroom as people danced.

Big smiles and warm hugs greeted me as we stopped at the table
, and
I played on a smile the best I could.
“
Princess Echo, how very glad to meet you,
”
Queen Accenia chirped, holding me in a tight hug.

“
Nice to meet you,
”
was all I could think to say.

“
You know, all my Noah does is talk about you. It
’
s very informal, but at least I know his heart is in this wedding. How are preparations coming along for you?
”
That was code for: are you ready?

“
Does he now?
”
My eyes went to Noah as I combed my mind for something to say. He arched his brow expectantly and wrapped his hand around my waist.
“
Everything is coming along great. I
’
m excited, and very much so.
”
I smiled at the Queen
, and
then up at Noah. His smile said he liked my answer, but something just felt so wrong. If I was happy—truly and utterly happy—why would I have to lie about it?

“
Um, pardon me, but may I have a word with my cousin?
”

Noah and I turned around and stood face to face with Isobeli. At that moment, I could have kissed her.

I turned back to the Queen and said,
“
Will you excuse me for a moment?
”

“
Of course,
”
she said, giving me a smile before sauntering off to cater to her own business.

“
Don
’
t be gone long,
”
Noah whispered in my ear. He placed another
chaste
kiss to my cheek, this one a hell of a lot closer to my lips.
“
I have a surprise for you.
”

I nodded and quickly left with Issy. I didn
’
t know if she saw me struggling to keep up with my façade, bu
t I was glad for the break. She
led me out to the balcony gallery, and as soon as we were away from the music, she began to laugh.

“
What
’
s so funny?
”
I asked. I mo
ved over to a bench and sat
, pressing down the folds of my dress the best to my ability. When you had over seven layers of
fabric that
was almost impossible.

“
What
’
s funny, you ask?
”
Isobeli said, shuffling over to sit beside me. The sunset played against her face as she spoke,
brightening
her
natural beauty I always envied. Where she was subtle and tranquil, I was chaotic and overt. She smiled and I frowned, she was day and I was night. Though through those differences, we collided and
got along
in a way neither of us would have expected. We were both seeking something in thi
s world—
an end
,
we
’
d called it.
It was what made us so close.
“
Well, for one thing, I hate that dress on you. I suppose if you hadn
’
t taken so much time trying on dresses, you would have found something better than your mother
’
s choice.
”

I frowned down at the dress.
“
No, green
is
n
’
t really my color
, is
it?
”

“
No, darling, it most definitely is not. Though, the Prince didn
’
t seem to care about the color as much.
”

“
Please.
”
I shrugged off all thoughts of the Prince. Right now, while I was away with my best friend, I wanted to talk about things other than him.

My mind started to wander.

“
Hey, Is?
”
I called, staring into the sunset. She murmured her response.
“
Do you ever think of escaping?
”

There was silence for a while before she decided to speak.
“
Of course. I want to leave for Kylon someday, but that
’
s so far ahead from now. I
’
m always traveling, but never to anywhere I want to go.
”

“
No,
”
I whispered with a shake of my head.
“
I mean,
escape
. Like out of New Haven. Don
’
t you ever wonder what
’
s out there,
who
’
s
out there? What if there
’
s this other world so foreign to us, and we
’
re all just sitt
ing here doing nothing about it?
Don
’
t you ever want to pass those borders into Shado—
”

“
No,
”
Issy interrupted. Her eyes looked at me fiercely, scolding me for even daring to go that far.
“
My life is here, Echo. I was born here, and here I shall die.
In
New Haven. That
’
s it. Why would you even think different?
”

“
Well, I—
”

She reached out and pulled a pin from my
hair.
“
Did you do something with your hair?
”

Amazed by how quickly she was able to change the subject, I decided to let it go. Any thoughts of sharing my dreams with Issy went right out the window. That left no one.
“
Yeah, Mother did something fancy with it. Do you like it?
”

She stared at me with a scowl.
“
By tha
t do you mean do I like the bee
hive
on your head? Well, then no.
”
She plucked out a few more of the pins until my tresses brushed
past
my shoulders.
“
There, better. You
know, with those bright blue eye
s of yours and insanely midnight hair, you don
’
t look like a Thedibian. More like a vagrant from the other side. You know, with their wild hair and eccentric colored eyes.
”
She smiled, a joke hidden behind her words.

“
Not funny. You make me seem like a pariah when you say that.
”

Isobeli laughed and rested her head on my shoulder.
“
You know I love you, Echo, and that
’
s all that really matters. Just between you and me,
”
she said, grabbing my attention,
“
if you did plan some crazy
escapade, I
’
d follow you to the moon and back. Hell, mayb
e even further
if there is anything out there like you say.
I might even be willing to die for it.
”

“
Thank you,
”
I whispered, leaning my head on hers.
“
Though, I do prefer we
go somewhere a little closer if
possible. The moon, Issy? Really?
”

She laughed silently at herself, and silence followed soon after.  It was nice, being able to talk to her. I just wished she wouldn
’
t shut me
out
like she did
so often
. It made me feel oddly alone.

A maid walked out onto the balcony and called for me.
“
The Prince wants to see you,
”
he said. I sighed and looked dow
n at Isobeli and shook my head solemnly.

“
Tell him…
”
I pulled the rest of the pins out of my hair and stood to leave.
“
Tell him I
’
ll be right there.
”

When the maid was gone, Issy whispered,
“
You okay?
”

Knowing she couldn
’
t possibly understand, I shook my head and said,
“
No. This is my duty, right? So why fight it.
”
I followed the servant
’
s trail back into the ballroom and looked for Noah in the midst of everyone here. To be honest, it wasn
’
t all that easy, seeing as this was probably the most people I
’
d ever seen in one place before. It didn
’
t help that most of the men
wore masquerade masks, either. It was another part of our stupid tradition for the Grand Season
’
s Ball. I
t was our way of welcoming the f
all. Royals never wore them,  but those of a lower class had to.

I started down
the ramp
that would lead me down to the dance floor, and not wanting to interrupt the dance procession, I pushed though the crowd of people without making myself visib
ly known. That never seemed
to work, though, and eventually some people tried to
pull me aside
to talk. Sad thing was, it was never anything interesting or worth listening to. Gossip was all anyone cared about in New Haven, and the gossip just had to be about me
.