I stared in his eyes, listening to his endless ramble about why he had to kidnap me in order to keep me from interfering with his genius plan of worl domination.

"Alex, I'm afraid I don not understand. How does me being free interfere with your schemes?"

He stared at me, his face a blank slate for several ticks. "Because I love you. And if you're free... Someone can use you against me. You alone, could say please, and I would drop to my knees in obedience, ready to do what you wish. Love is a dangerous game and I have to prevent you from weakening me... I love you and I want to give you the world... But I can't have you free while I do it." He finally answered.

"Liar."

He frowned, "What did you just call me?"

"You. Are. A. Liar." I ennuciate, and with every word I can see it damage him. "I'm unlovable."

I watch him break to pieces. His eyes, once an abyss devoid of emotion, now filled with misery and rage. I can see something in him snap the way a twig does when one steps on it. Shatter as glass does whence striking the floor. Splinter as wood does when it cracks. The abyss he wore as armor is no match for the abyss that has made me.

I whisper quietly, "I am unlovable."

"Wynter Nightshade." He called me by his last name, as if we were married. "You are not unlovable." He crouches down, balancing himself on his heels. "I loved you the moment I was crafted in the womb, several months before you were thought of. I loved you when I saw you climb that tree in the park by yourself, just to be able to read a book away from everyone. I loved you when you told that boy to screw himself after you had watched him make fun of a mentally disabled kid. I loved you when I saw those scars all over your arms, portraying your broken soul. And as I speak to you in this very moment, I love you. You cannot change that."

My eyes stung. He can't love me. He doesn't know me.

"One day, you will be my queen and you will experience all the affection I could ever hold, all for your own."

"Lies."

He scoffed. "What the heck! Why are you such a skeptic! Let me love you!"

"No."

Storming out the room, I hear him tell James something. Then James walks in and sits in front of me.

"Hello Princess."

I winced. "Princess?"

"You're the beloved of one of France's princes. Yes Princess. Why don't you believe he loves you?"

I couldn't explain it. There was once a time I thought I was lovable but now... I was a hollow shell... Unworthy of love. Unworthy of happiness. The abyss people wore as disguises to appear mysterious, that wasn't my disguise. I was an abyss wearing a smile for a disguise, wondering why anyone would want to be abyssmal at all. It was a burden.

I was a burden.

"I'm unlovable." I whispered and closed my eyes.

I felt a soft press of lips to my forehead before James whispered "You're lovable, I promise. Sleep, my dear sister and know, one day, you won't feel so empty. I swear on my life."