Kalen and Mallory were ushered out of the Wilston mansion soon after my declaration. Everyone in the room had stared at me like I had grown a second head or something, and neither Kalen nor Mallory would believe me. Eventually, they came to terms with it and James all but threw them out of the house.

Natalia was busy drawing me a bath, claiming I still looked like shit even though her father had healed me. “After you clean up and feel more human, I think you and I have a lot of talking to do, little sister,” she said with a kind smile, but there was a layer of something else beneath it, something I couldn’t place. While I liked Natalia, I was still wary of her.

“Thank you, I’ll try not to take too long.”

She waved me off. “You’ve been through a lot and you need to relax. We’ve got time, so don’t rush it. We’ll deal with all these complications over dinner or breakfast, frankly I don’t care which. We’ll talk and confront our father again together, this time robbing him of the shield of company.

I smiled at her. She seemed so kind and caring. Exactly how I imagined an older sister to be. I felt a sudden pang of hurt that I didn’t get to grow up with her and learn to know her as a sibling. This was going to be awkward.

With a gentle squeeze of my shoulder, she left the room and me completely alone. I pulled off my mud-stained boots and got rid of my clothes. It was a relief to finally be free of the dirt and I sunk into the warm water. It burned my skin, but I reveled in the pain. After everything, I was still alive and that was an accomplishment in of itself.

I hadn’t felt myself drifting to sleep, but when the familiar ballroom came into view, I knew I was dreaming. I crossed my arms over my chest as Kalen stepped forward.

“I still can’t believe you’re alive,” he said, his words carrying a hint of awe.

“I can’t believe you ever thought I was dead in the first place! You could’ve visited my dreams, spared me from my nightmares, but never once did you. You just assumed I was dead,” I accused, no longer worrying about keeping that sense of betrayal out of my voice. The situation had been amended: everyone I cared about had betrayed me in some way.

Kalen seemed to fumble for words. “I felt your energy leave this world. I felt your death as if I was standing right there next to you. You cannot blame me for believing you were dead. I tried to reach you, to contact you in the dream landscape, but I couldn't find you. You were gone. Even now, your energy is barely traceable to me.”

“Then explain this dream.”

He brushed a frustrated hand over his hand, disheveling his hair. “I needed to talk to you, so I kept at it until I found you.”

“So talk, I’m listening.”

“Lana, do you have any idea how huge this is? Me, a prince?”

“That was not where I was hoping you’d start,” I said, my eyes narrowed.

Kalen looked confused and again, I felt that stab of annoyance toward him. “Then where would you like me to start?”

“What about you start with why you didn’t support me when I was talking to Mallory about Raphael?” I demanded.

He sighed – my irritation flared. “You expected me to destroy her view of a man she clearly idolized? I’m not that cruel.”

“So instead you left me hanging and looking like a fool. Gee, so kind of you. I had forgotten all about your chivalrous nature.”

“It’s not like that!”

“Then tell me, what is it like? Because the way I see it, you chose her over me. I had been ‘dead’ for a week, Kalen… a week and already you’ve moved on like nothing ever happened between us. I’m glad to know I meant so much to you. You lied to me.”

Kalen looked like I had stabbed him. “I didn’t lie to you, and I certainly hadn’t meant for you to feel this way. But do tell me, did you ever give us a chance like you claim I haven’t? I saw the way you looked at Andreas, and he at you. I may not know exactly what happened, but I’m not blind.

It was my turn to do the frustrated gestures. “I was trying! He had saved my life, and something had happened between us and he threw it away like it meant, like I meant nothing. But unlike most people, I can’t just flip a switch and feel nothing for someone no matter how much I want to. I gave you a chance and it was starting to work! You were the only person left I trusted. The only one who hadn’t betrayed me and the thought that at least I still had you was what kept me sane the days I was with Raphael, and now even you threw me to the wolves.”

Kalen stilled, but I could see the thoughts stirring behind those intelligent green eyes. “I’m sorry, Lana. But there’s nothing I can do to change the past. I understand why you are upset, but don’t fool yourself into believing that there was nothing between you and Andreas. I know him. He may not want to admit that, but of the people still alive, I probably know him best. We grew up side by side and I’ve learned to read his expressions and his moods. Yes, he may be unpredictable at times, have an incredibly bad temper, and do a lot of bad things, but I know that when he cares for someone, he’d do everything in his power to save them.” I opened my mouth to say that then he didn’t care about me, but Kalen cut me off before I could. “He did care about you. It was in his stance and the look in his eyes whenever you were in a room with him. You may not believe that now because he wasn’t the one to save you, but he probably has a very good reason for not being there.”

“Like he wanted me to die? Raphael told me that Zane, my brother, went to get him and he refused to save me!” I said, my voice only slightly raised.

His chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “Lana, I communicated with him the moment I knew you were in danger. He was on his way to save you! If he didn’t make it, or make it on time, it was not for lack of trying.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. No. This… no…. I didn’t know who or what to believe. Kalen… he was simply changing the subject, directing the blow off himself. Andreas had made it clear he didn’t care about me… only to claim you as his after…

I didn’t know what to think.

I shook my head out of the daze and refocused my attention onto Kalen. “So this gives you an excuse to just toss me aside like everyone else in my life has?” He flinched at my harsh words which was nothing more than right.

“I have no excuse other than Mallory is a girl that also has been through a lot, something she hasn’t yet been willing to talk about but causes her a lot of pain. I wanted to comfort her. She may appear strong, but I know you are. You are strong enough to face anything and I’m not yet sure if she is. Clearly she has a case of hero worship for Raphael and if she finds out he’s not as noble as she thinks he is, it might shatter her and I wasn’t willing to risk it after she was nice enough to try and help me find the truth about my past.”

He had a valid point, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. Kalen was about to say something else when I felt a familiar heat licking my ankles.

“Oh no…” I said as my world was engulfed by flames again. Once more, I was strapped to the stake, watching the people as I burned, but the pain was dulled as if I had grown a tolerance to it. I could see everything with a startling clarity as I relived my final moments.

My mother’s face in the crowd, so smug and happy, her husband beside her seeming sad as if he’d actually miss me even though he placed me in the situation and I wasn’t even his flesh and blood. I wondered if he knew that. Elisa was standing next to her father, her shoulders squared, and Eric as Kalen was standing next to her. With Kalen’s real identity now revealed, I wondered how Elisa would react to that.

My body was about to give out, and automatically my head lifted to the sky. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a man approach, run, but it was too late. The life was slipping out of me. He was getting closer… and clearer, almost until I was able to make out a face –

“Lana?” Natalia’s voice came as she shook me awake.

I stared at her, my head groggy. She smiled, a relieved look in her eyes.

“Phew… I thought for a moment you might be gone…. You’ve been in here for hours and I wanted to make sure you were okay. You realize the bed is more comfortable, right? You might drown in here.”

She had a point. Already I could feel the hard surface of the tub working an ache into my back. I lifted myself out of the tub so that my head was at least a good height away from the now freezing water. I blinked rapidly to try and gather my bearings. It all rushed back to me. I was about to see the face of the man that spoke the last words to me and I was woken up before I could… woken up because I had almost drowned. I looked at Natalia, unsure whether or not I should feel grateful or resentful. I settled on grateful.

“Yeah, you’re right. I must’ve dozed off… I didn’t realize I was that tired.” She handed me a towel and a robe and I dried off quickly after stepping out of the tub. I pulled on the robe and she steered me, with one hand on my back to a bed in the adjoined room with a nightgown folded onto its foot.

“I stand by my earlier statement. Get some rest and then we’ll talk. You really look like you need it.” Her smiled was verging on patronizing.

I nodded. “You wouldn’t happen to have something lying around that will keep me from dreaming?”

Natalia weighed this over. “Nightmares?” I nodded again. “Hmm… I’ll go ask father.”

Already she was referring to him as “our” father…. I didn’t know what to think of that. She disappeared and I took the opportunity to change into the night gown. It was shorter that the ones I was used to, but the part of me that would’ve been shy or ashamed to show that much skin died the night I met Andreas.

I smoothed out the gown that ended just above my knees, with a neckline that hugged my breast closely. This was skimpy by most standards, but I strangely felt very comfortable in it. Sexy even. I really have changed from the shy, reserved, inexperienced Lana I used to be.

Shortly after, Natalia returned with cup full of something she said should help me sleep. I downed it, muttered my thanks and fell asleep before she even fully left the room.