Azren
Am I going insane? Aeryn has been staying here for over a month, yet she refuses to talk to me. Not even a word. Two years. That’s how long I have until I’m pushed onto the throne. The results will be announced next week, and I’ve been hoping with all my heart that Aeryn becomes the Princess of Renya. Then, when I turn twenty, we could get married. I’ve been dropping hints to the court whenever I can, carefully enough that no one notices what I’m actually trying to do. But she doesn’t talk to me. So I watch her instead. I watch how much she loves everything and everyone, how she notices the smallest things, how she appreciates the beauty of this castle even after everything that has happened here. And she often goes to the swing, the old swing Mother had built for me when I was younger. I still remember sitting there whenever I wanted to escape the castle, the worn wooden seat and the ropes that had been replaced more times than I could count. And now Aeryn sits there, gently swinging beneath the trees, completely unaware of what that little corner of the castle means to me. Somehow, watching her there makes it feel different—as if a place that once belonged only to my childhood has quietly become hers too. Gods. I can never lose her.
