Chapter 14 #2
I smirked. She didn’t realize there was a door waiting for her at the top of the stairs. Any number of unseelie fae would know all they needed to do was open a door—any door. She should have merely strode down the hall of the kitchens and opened the same door I’d come through .
But of course she didn’t know any better.
And if the castle was still in a mischievous mood, it might take advantage of her ignorance.
When Sybelle reached the top of the stairs, she uttered a soft, “Shit.”
I had to refrain from chuckling.
The door creaked open, and blinding sunlight illuminated the darkened stairwell.
I shrank against the walls, afraid the brilliant light would alert her to the beast lurking behind her.
She lifted a hand, shielding her eyes as she slammed the door shut.
With another whispered curse, she shook her hands two times, then tried again.
More sunlight. The smell of oak trees and fresh grass filled my nose.
The training yard. The castle was trying to send her to the training yard.
I wanted to laugh.
Sybelle groaned and shut the door. “Could you take me to my rooms? Please?”
She opened the door again, but nothing changed.
“What about the library? You tried so hard to get me there the other night.”
She opened it again, and it was still the training yard.
“ Damn it all !” she hissed, stomping her foot in frustration.
I couldn’t keep hiding like this. Clearing my throat, I murmured, “It doesn’t quite work like that.”
Sybelle jumped and let out a soft squeak of surprise, her hand covering her mouth as she stared at me with wide eyes. “ Stones , how long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know the castle is toying with you.” I leaned against the stone wall and flashed her a grin. “You are making it too easy.”
“I—I just—” She sighed and let her hand fall against her thigh. “I just want to get back to my rooms. Why is it making it difficult for me?”
Ignoring her question, I gestured to the jar in her hand. Her eyes fell to my long, black claws, and I sensed her pulse quickening. “Why do you need that?”
If it weren’t for my fae senses, I might have missed the faint blush that crept across her cheeks. “Birch root is known to cure severe headaches.”
My eyebrows lifted at the obvious lie. “Is it, now?”
“Yes. My people have been using it for centuries. Is that a problem?”
I cocked my head, assessing her. Her free hand fisted her skirts, and she kept biting her bottom lip. “Do you have a headache, wife?”
She swallowed. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”
I smirked at that, remembering our midnight rendezvous in the library.
There was something odd about the way she was speaking, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
“If you need better accommodations, all you have to do is ask. In fact, it’s probably time to move you over to the queen’s suite. Right next to mine.”
Her face drained of color. “N-No. That won’t be necessary. I’m quite comfortable in the guest quarters.”
I took a step up so that we were practically at eye level. Her breath hitched at the nearness, but she did not flinch away from me.
“But you are not a guest any longer, Sybelle. You are my wife.”
Her breathing was sharp and ragged now. Fear emanated from her in thick waves, and I marveled at this. When I revealed my true nature and yelled at her in the library, she did not fear me. But now, she did. Why?
Was it the prospect of sleeping in a room that shared a wall with mine ?
“I will not touch you,” I vowed to her. “I swear it. Not unless you invite me to. You will still have your privacy.”
She let out a huff that sounded somewhere between a cough and a laugh.
My eyes narrowed. Did she not believe me? “What is your objection to this? Does it disgust you to be so close to a creature like me?”
Her jaw slackened, and indignation flashed in her eyes. “Of course not!”
“Then, what is the issue?”
“I don’t—” She took a breath and tried again. “You’re right. I do like my privacy. And I have… appreciated how secluded the guest wing is.”
Yes, so you can wander about as you please, I thought. What had she been looking for when she’d stumbled into the library that night?
“Your maid, of course, is free to move to the east wing as well,” I added. “And I will see that Enzira will come, too.”
“You know Enzira’s name?” she asked in surprise.
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Aren’t there hundreds of servants in this castle?”
I chuckled. “The minds of you humans are so fragile. We live for thousands of years, dear wife, and so it is not as easy for us to forget our people’s names.”
Her brows knitted together, and something akin to disappointment crossed her face. But I couldn’t fathom why.
“Come.” I swept past her and grasped the door handle. When I opened it, the training yard greeted us once more. Stubborn castle, I thought. If it wanted us to go here, there was no fighting it. I had learned that long ago.
“The best way out is forward,” I said, stepping through the doorway and extending my hand to Sybelle. She eyed it for a long moment before taking it, her tiny fingers interlacing with mine. When she stiffened, I wondered if she thought my claws would tear her soft flesh to ribbons.
These humans always thought us nothing more than savage, feral beasts with no control. If we were intelligent enough to possess magic, we were certainly nimble enough to keep our claws from slicing open poor, defenseless humans.
Sybelle’s eyes darted from my crimson fingers to my face and back again, as if she were utterly shocked. Was my skin hotter than she anticipated? Were the claws too terrifying?
But none of those seemed to suit the curiosity burning in her gaze. She lifted our entwined fingers so she could better scrutinize my hand.
“Does your skin… change color?” she asked. Her voice was full of awe. Not a hint of disgust or horror.
I cleared my throat, unsure of why such a close inspection made me feel uncomfortable. “Sometimes. It is not all one color, but I cannot change it at will. It often gets darker in the winter and lighter in the summer, though.”
A small smile lit her face as she turned my hand over, her eyes traveling from my knuckles to my wrist and back down again.
It felt oddly… intimate. As I followed the path of her gaze, I realized what she was seeing.
The skin on my hand ranged from bright cherry to dark burgundy, creating an ombre of colors.
When I looked at the contrast of her pale fingers, I realized human skin was not like this; it was one uniform shade.
Interesting.
“Your Highness?”
I started, turning to find Murvo, my captain of the guards, standing in the grass, sword drawn as he looked at us with curiosity and confusion. He was tall and bulky with amber skin and two large sets of wings folded at his back. Behind him stood a row of soldiers, also holding swords.
We had obviously interrupted a training exercise. I heard Sybelle suck in a sharp breath beside me, but I kept her hand clamped in mine.
“Forgive us, Murvo,” I said in Agnarrish. “You know how the castle is. We’ll just be going.”
Murvo’s dark gaze flicked from me to Sybelle. Something flashed in his gaze when he looked at the human, but it was gone in an instant. He nodded, turning back to face the soldiers as I guided Sybelle toward the east side of the castle.
“What are they training for?” Sybelle asked, her voice tight.
I glanced at her. Her eyes were hard, and her mouth formed a thin line. “They are soldiers,” I said slowly. “They train to defend our home against outside threats.”
“Or perhaps they train to invade other lands,” she said.
Rage simmered in my blood at the accusation in her tone. I abruptly dropped her hand and stopped walking so I could face her fully. “Go ahead and say what you mean, human. Don’t mince words.”
She squared her shoulders, inhaling deeply. Her chin lifted, but she still only reached my collarbone. She didn’t seem to notice; her eyes were full of venom as she looked up at me.
“Those are the very soldiers who have been slaughtering my people for years,” she said, her voice trembling with rage. “Are you saying that we pose a threat to your home? Or do you simply not have any control over your men?”
My rage deepened into an all-consuming fury that rocked violently through my body. I felt my wings spread behind me, and my claws elongated. Sybelle’s eyes flared wide as she noticed it, too.
I loomed over her, teeth bared as I growled, “So you believe your people are completely innocent? That they are not invading my lands and plundering my villages first?”
“Why would they do that?” she demanded.
“Why indeed,” I hissed. “It must be easy, to be human. You can lie and tell your people there are good reasons for attacking the horrid unseelie demons across the border. But I cannot lie, human. And I have seen firsthand your soldiers stealing from innocent civilians, beating women and children, and burning down homes all for their own amusement. So perhaps you should be interrogating your own people before throwing accusations at me.”
It wasn’t until Sybelle gasped that I realized black shadows had pooled at my feet, surrounding us both. They continued to inch upward, reacting to my anger.
I took a step back, and the shadows receded slightly. I was breathing heavily, my heart thundering in my chest. “I’ll have Enzira move you to the east wing as soon as possible,” I said, unable to look her in the eye. “If you’ll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to.”
I strode past her, sensing her watching me as I made my way back to the castle. I would place her next to my rooms so I could watch her and uncover her secrets. She was the key to breaking the curse, and she could not do that unless I steered her in the right direction.
But that did not mean I had to enjoy the situation, nor did it mean I had to like her in any way. She had proven her prejudices against my kind spoke more loudly to her than common sense. If that was how she wanted to live and think, then fine.
For now, I needed to put as much distance between myself and my human bride as possible, before my shadows choked the life out of her.