Chapter 34
I was wrecked by a kiss.
I’d never experienced anything like it. Moons, it had been centuries since I’d kissed anyone at all. But I never imagined doing so with Maren—a human—could be so…consuming. It wasn’t what I’d expected.
It was better.
It was more.
I needed more.
Lost in the mental replay of Maren’s lips on mine, I wandered the castle, not even realizing I’d made it back to my chambers until a voice stopped me in my tracks.
“I take it that went well?” it said, and I turned to find Nico, a satisfied smile on his face that clearly said, Finally. He might have been a child in Fae years, but he was smarter than any young Fae I’d ever met.
Too smart, sometimes.
I forced my face into a neutral expression and stopped at my door, waving my hand several times until my magic finally answered me and unlocked the door. I wasn’t sure why I still continued to lock anything in the castle. It wasn’t like it actually kept anyone out.
The memory of Maren hesitating forced my lips into a scowl. Her emotions had been strong, clear, and it had given me the courage to kiss her. And yet when I asked if she wanted me too, she’d looked uncertain.
Why?
She didn’t outright say no, but she also didn’t give an emphatic yes, which I was hoping for.
When will you learn to quit hoping, Rhydian?
Nico caught my wince and straightened, his head cocking to the side. “What’s that face for? What happened?”
“Nothing, Nico.”
“Then why do you look like someone just died?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He crossed his arms. “I saw you two kissing.”
“What’s your point?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted? Why are you upset?”
I sat on the edge of the bed, putting my face in my hands. “I tried to tell her how I feel.”
“And?”
“She didn’t say she wanted me too.”
Nico was quiet for a moment, the silence throbbing uncomfortably between us. I expected him to drop the subject, leaving it alone. There was nothing to be done anyway. If Maren didn’t want me, I couldn’t change her mind.
“Did you even give her the chance?” Nico asked, not letting me descend into self-pity like I wanted to.
I winced again. Not really. I should have waited, let her formulate the words spinning in her head, but if I were honest with myself, I was a coward. I was afraid to wait and find out what her answer was because I couldn’t bear the thought of her saying no.
At my silence, he said, “A slow answer is not a rejection, Rhydian. She has a lot of things to consider. Choosing you means giving up on her family. That’s not an easy choice for her to make, especially when you’ve hardly opened up to her.”
Once again, Nico’s wise words made me pause. He was right. It was unfair of me to expect her to instantly say yes.
I was about to thank Nico, to go back to Maren and apologize for walking out on her, when a blinding white light filled the room.
When my vision returned, I swore. “For Moon’s sake,” I bit out, glaring at Queen Elonara, who stood near the window, lips red as blood, a giant gown to match. The crown on her head glistened in the dim light as her mouth spread into a satisfied grin.
Nico suddenly moved behind me, eyes wide, the first time in many years I had seen true terror on his face. What was that about? He’d never seemed afraid of either of the queens before. Not like this anyway.
“Get out,” I commanded. Who did she think she was, waltzing into my private chambers for a second time? Elonara had become far too bold over the years.
“Quiet, Prince. Believe it or not, I’m not here for you.”
My first thought was that she was here for Maren, that she was going to kill her, but then her gaze shifted to Nico standing behind me. Why was she looking at him?
“I’ve considered your request, Nico of Eroth.”
Request? What request?
“The answer is no.” Her bright red lips pursed with the word, the lift of her chin saying there would be no argument.
I looked to Nico. “What’s she talking about?”
Nico fiddled with his fingers, his head lowered, though he glared at the queen.
“I beg you to reconsider.”
“As much as I enjoy a Dark Fae begging me—my answer remains.” Then those cold eyes turned to me. “It would serve you well to keep your pets on a leash.”
Hands clenching into fists, I bit back, “Nico is family, not a pet. And it would serve you well to remember whose domain you’re currently in.”
Elonara sneered. “I’m not afraid of you, Prince. Not while your last breaths are numbered. You might have completed two of the tasks, but she will never love you.”
Her words didn’t even register, silenced by the fury ripping through my blood. I wished my magic was what it used to be so that I could wipe this pathetic excuse for a queen from Avalea. She might have been Pure Fae, but her heart was dark as ink.
“When I break the curse, you’ll regret those words.” Golden light pooled in my palms, but it was faint.
She gave a humorless laugh at the sight of my sad magic, at me saying I was going to break the curse. She obviously didn’t believe that I could.
“Yes,” she mocked. “I’m trembling already.” Elonara stepped back toward the window, daring to turn her back on a Dark Fae.
My magic might have been too weak to kill her now, but a knife would still slide into her cold heart all the same.
I had just grabbed the blade hidden at my back when Elonara tsked.
“Unless you would like me to pay your girl a visit next, I suggest you quit while you can.”
The fight drained from me at the threat against Maren, the knife slipping from my hand and clanging against the tile floor.
The queen smiled over her shoulder at me, full of triumph, knowing she’d won.
A flash of white light blinded me.
Then she was gone.
I instantly turned, finding Nico cowering in the corner. I hadn’t seen him afraid—of me especially—in quite some time. Though I was furious, the sight of him like that made me take a calming breath.
“What was she talking about, Nico? What request?”
His small frame was trembling. “The day I helped Maren get the ash…On the way back, I left her and went to the border of Aeros.”
“You what?” Why would he put himself in danger like that? He could have been killed.
“I was trying to help. When Maren said she wouldn’t give up her desire to go home for a chance of being with you, something in me cracked. I wanted to find a way to save us. You.”
Maren had said that? My heart squeezed in my chest, sucking the air from my lungs. I couldn’t really blame her after everything she’d told me about her father.
But it still hurt.
“What request?” I asked, pain shooting up my jaw from how hard it was clenched.
Nico sighed. “I asked her to reconsider the curse.”
“You what?”
Nico shrank back a little more at my fury, and it forced me to take another calming breath. I would not be a monster. I would not take my wrath toward the queens out on him. He was only trying to help.
He sniffled a couple times before answering. “When Maren said that, I panicked. I thought if I went to the queen and begged her to free us from the curse, she might reconsider. I even offered a trade. She told me she would think about it.”
I rubbed a hand over my face. Of course she had. She dangled hope like a carrot in front of him, only to crush him in the end. That was the plan all along.
I already despised the queens before, but now all I wanted was for them to pay for the false hope they’d given Nico.
“But why did you go to her?”
I didn’t understand why he’d go to the Queen of Aeros. At least Queen Valianna was the smallest bit nicer. But Elonara never would have agreed to his request. He should have known that.
“Elonara would be the harder of the two to convince, so I figured I would start with her, and maybe buy us some time.”
A frustrated breath escaped my lips, catching when I realized the last thing Nico had said.
“Nico…you offered a trade?”
The young Fae was not stupid by any means, and yet that was possibly the stupidest thing he could have done.
“What did you offer?”
Now he really did shrink back, making himself as small as possible.
“My life for yours,” he whispered.
The tiny embers of my magic instantly exploded, fueled by rage, and I turned toward the fireplace just in time for it to release, sending a roaring fire up through the chimney.
I hated that I couldn’t control my magic anymore, hated that I had almost just hurt the one person I would never want to hurt.
I took several deep breaths, trying to calm the embers still burning away in my veins before I went to Nico, kneeling down before him.
“Nico…why? Why would you do that?”
“You don’t deserve to die.”
“I deserve a lot of things, Nico, death being one of them. You know who—”
“You’re not who you used to be, Rhydian.
” His voice rose, tears welling in those crystal blue eyes.
“If anyone has redeemed themselves, it’s you.
You don’t deserve for the curse to take your life, your kingdom.
I tried to tell the queen that. Begged her to release you from the curse.
If she wouldn’t, then she could take me instead, as long as it meant you’d live.
” He was panting for breath around the tears streaming down his face.
“I want you to live.” It was a whimper of a plea.
My stone heart cracked wide open.
I pulled him into my arms, his body shaking with sobs as he cried against my chest. When his cries finally quieted, I leaned back to look him in the eye.
“I understand why you did it, but please promise me you’ll never do anything like that again.
If Maren doesn’t break the curse, then I deserve my fate.
There’s nothing more to be done. You’re like a brother to me, Nico.
You’re the only family I have. I’ve lived a long enough life.
When that petal falls, you need to do as you promised me and leave Eroth.
You have too much life ahead of you to sacrifice it for someone like me. ”
Nico looked like he wanted to argue, but I silenced him with a look.
“Besides, all is not completely lost yet. Maren still has to make her choice. The last petal hangs on, and until it falls, she has time to break the curse.”
“Are you telling me to hope?” Nico said sadly, sniffles punctuating his words.
“Yes, Nico.” I pulled him back into my arms. “Never stop hoping.”