Adrian's POV
"Unless you want people finding out that the almighty King Adrian is in love with the enemy," Lucien spat, his voice dripping with venom, his lips twisting into the most sinister smile I had ever seen.
For a moment, I could not breathe. The world tilted on its axis, and the corridor seemed to stretch endlessly before my eyes. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.
"What… did you just say?" I whispered, but my voice was barely there, like the wind after a storm, faint and trembling.
Lucien didn't bother to answer. He only smiled wider, a slow, cruel curl that reached his pale eyes. Then he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving behind the faint sound of his boots echoing against the marble.
"The game," he said softly over his shoulder, "has just begun."
And then he was gone.
