The Broken King

If you like music while you read, try "Let it Go" by PYPR and Jordan Critz. I listened to it while writing the following scenes.

*****

~ ZARA ~

"David?! David!"

I clung to him, wrapping my arms around him as his shoulders shook again and again, almost silently. He held me so tightly it would have hurt, but I was so desperate to be close to him I didn't care.

I was panicking, though. I'd never seen him get really emotional, except that night when he'd been missing his parents. This… this was worse. So much worse.

He cried like he was broken.

He didn't move, didn't pull away, didn't do anything except bury his face in my neck, his entire body shuddering with the wracking sobs.

"David, please… tell me…"

He rolled off of me onto his back, both hands over his face and every line in his body tight and tense. His lips were peeled back from his teeth and his breath hissed out of him as he fought for control.