Ah...
A phantom echo of his past words whispered through the dark, empty chambers of her mind, sharp as shattered glass. "you are too pure to be defiled by me, Evangeline." That was what his eyes had always screamed at her. He had looked at her magic, her ruthlessness, and her ambition as if she were a plague, a stain upon his holy lineage.
"I am too pure to be defiled by you, Julian, am I?" a bitter, silent voice hissed within her chest. "But are you truly as pure as you claim, my holy King? Or are you just a hypocrite rotting from the inside out, hiding your filth beneath a crown of roses?"
She didn't need to see any more. This was enough. It was more than enough to shatter the final illusion of her marriage and ignite a dark, dangerous fire in her soul.
