Chapter 12
Maren
He lied. He didn’t spend the rest of the night with me. But he did sing me his lullaby to lull me into a fitful, restless sleep before he left.
While oscillating between sleep and half-wakefulness, I heard Kye walk up and down the spiral staircase several times through the night. He didn’t spend every minute in the tower with me, but he was looking out for me in the darkness, guarding me from the monsters that lurked in the deep.
As the sun rose in the morning, there was nowhere to hide from it in the glass tower. Bright sun rays found me under my sheet that I’d pulled over my face. I wrinkled my nose and sneezed, then rubbed my eyes before finally opening them to face the day.
A soft chuckle greeted me. “Morning, butterfly.”
Kye sat on the floor, with his back leaning against the wall and his right forearm resting on his bent knee. A grin brightened his face, but it didn’t melt the weariness from his eyes.
At the memory of last night, all remnants of my sleep disappeared. But sunlight held the magic of banishing nightmares away, both real and imagined. It turned the glass walls of the palace below from sinister to almost whimsical, sending the lights dance inside it with playful iridescence.
“You’re adorable when you sleep, little minnow,” Kye murmured.
“And you’re pretty creepy for watching me,” I parried.
There was no bite in my words though. I couldn’t be angry with him in earnest, not with that overwhelming sense of relief that washed over me at finding him close. I didn’t even have it in me to get annoyed at the ridiculous nicknames he kept calling me.
“Oh no, my dear, I’m too handsome to be creepy,” he protested, a smile lighting up his weary eyes.
I exhaled a laugh and stretched my legs under the sheet, wincing at the ache in my muscles.
“I’m not going to ask if you slept well,” he said in a more serious voice. “Not after the night we’ve had.”
I sat up, stretching my neck and shoulders while holding the sheet to my chest. “And I’m not going to ask if you slept at all. I heard you walking up and down the stairs all night.”
“Am I that heavy-footed?” he asked, the glint of a smile returning to his expression.
I soaked up his playful mood; it energized me as much as the sunshine did.
“You’re not,” I admitted. “Rather opposite actually. You’re so graceful and light on your feet, you can be a ballet dancer if this royalty gig doesn’t work out for any reason. But I’m sure you know that, so stop fishing for compliments.”
His smile widened.
“I so rarely get any compliments from you that I’m forced to resort to fishing for them,” he said with a pout that made me laugh again and shake my head.
“Everything is good then?” I wasn’t sure if my question referred exclusively to the monsters being handled for now or his own wellbeing after so many sleepless nights. Overall, he looked better this morning. All his cuts had already turned into pale streaks of scars. Sirens did heal fast.
He pushed away from the wall, smoothly shifting toward me along the glass floor.
“It’s been better than good, dear Maren,” he said softly. “Ever since you came into my life. You make my days brighter and turn even the darkest of nights wonderful.”
His voice dropped suggestively. His smile turned wicked. And I knew he was talking about the part of the night before the monsters showed up. The part when I let him see me through the glass screen.
I’d been having sex for over a decade now. I’d long stopped blushing when talking on all possible topics with men. Yet I felt my skin heating in the wake of his intense gaze that was exploring my face.
“I enjoyed it immensely,” he murmured, not taking his radiant eyes from me. “You gave me the biggest joy I’ve had in over a century and possibly in my whole life. Thank you.”
He spoke the last two words so softly, I could barely hear them. I sensed the king wasn’t used to saying “thank you” often or to many people. The emotion in his voice, however, made those two words sound even more poignant, especially when combined with that intense stare of his.
“I...I had fun too,” I mumbled, blushing violently despite my best intentions.
“We shall do it again soon,” he added in a more upbeat tone, then got up to his feet in one fluid movement. “Breakfast is being served outside this morning. Ready when you are.”
KYE INSISTED ON ELINA dressing me outside on the patio that morning, too, as far away from the treacherous pools of the palace as possible. Even during the day, he didn’t entirely trust the ocean, not when my safety was concerned.
Our old dining room hadn’t been damaged during last night’s attack. But Kye didn’t want to take any chances here either, ordering the table and our chairs moved out to the patio too.
Over breakfast, Kye jested and shamelessly flirted with me, making me laugh and further lifting my spirits.
“What would you like to do today?” I asked, smiling at him over the rim of my glass of jasmine iced tea. “I don’t think I have much more to teach you as far as swimming goes. You’re doing great on your own now, but we can still go in for a dip?”
With his elbows on the table, he rested his chin on his steepled fingers and met my gaze across the table.
“Tempting,” he said. “I haven’t seen your naked body for a few hours now, and I’m beginning to despise that dress for hiding it from me.”
At his words, my skin tingled under the light material of my pink dress. I imagined all that could happen when I got naked with him in the ocean again. My thighs clenched in anticipation, and my heart sped up. Yet no matter what we did and how far I let it go, it would still not be enough.
How could it ever be enough with Kye if I couldn’t even touch him?
A guard exited to the patio, but stayed close to the doorway, ready to flee at the first sign of danger from his king’s murderous touch.
“Your Majesty, the glass has been cleared in the great hall and the bedroom. Would you like us to replace the broken floors in both rooms?”
Kye ran a hand over his face. When he removed his hand, it appeared as if his palm had wiped away his smile, replacing it with a weary expression.
“No,” he sighed. “There’s no point. Just leave it as is for now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard bowed, turning to leave, but I stopped him.
“How are Seraphine and Enric doing today?” I asked.
The guard stared at me as if shocked to discover that I could speak.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected on his part.
Other than with Elina, I didn’t normally talk to anyone in the palace.
Since my stay here was only temporary, I hadn’t made much effort to interact with the people of Lyrei.
But Seraphine and Enric were hurt last night while protecting me, and I wanted to make sure they were okay.
“They’re with healers and recovering well,” Kye replied instead of the guard who remained speechless while blinking at me. “I checked on them both earlier this morning. They will be fine, Maren.”
I nodded in reply, and Kye pushed away from the table, getting up.
“On second thought,” he said to the guard, “let me see what the floor looks like. Is there enough of it left for the guards and the servants to move around safely?”
I got up too and followed him into the dining room. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw me and stopped.
“I’d rather you stay outside, butterfly. It’s safer there.”
“You said the Abyss creatures don’t come up to the surface during the day,” I reminded.
“Yes, but they also never came to the surface twice in one week before. There is simply no way to predict what they’ll do next.”
I looked out into the ocean. Sunlight shimmered in the lazily rolling waves.
A light breeze played in the lush vegetation on each side of the patio.
Colorful butterflies fluttered their vivid wings over the bushes between the glass branches of the dead coral.
The picture was almost idyllic, painted in watercolors and filled with soft sounds.
In contrast, the glass depths of the palace looked like a menacing reflection of the abyss below.
The ripples of the water in the numerous pools inside, reflected in the myriad smooth glass surfaces, creating a mesmerizing but nauseatingly sinister light show.
Yet Kye was there, always standing between me and the danger.
I couldn’t come close to him, but I didn’t want to see him walk away any further.
“You’re safer out here,” Kye repeated gently.
I tilted my head, surprised by the realization I was about to voice.
“Funny thing,” I said. “But I feel safer next to you than anywhere else in this world.”
It was understandable, I reasoned. His curse gave him the power to kill on touch. There simply wasn’t a more effective weapon out there. And if so, then who could guard and protect me better than Kye?
A flash of vulnerability crossed his face and disappeared behind a neutral expression, as if he was afraid to show or even feel the emotions my admission caused in him.
“Alright,” he said quietly. “Come along then. Keep close but...”
“...not too close,” I finished for him. “I know. I’ll keep beyond arm’s reach.”
He nodded before walking across the dining room, then down the short corridor that led to the great hall.
Either timidly or respectfully, the guard stayed behind, and I joined Kye on a narrow ledge by the wall.
That narrow ledge with its jugged edges was all that remained of the floor in the great hall.
All the glass walkways and bridges were now gone.
The many artfully arranged pools had merged into one giant gaping hole in the middle.
“It was stupid of me to post guards here. Stupid and selfish,” Kye muttered, thoughtfully.
“You didn’t post them here to fight the monsters for us,” I argued. “You needed them just to raise an alarm.”
He flinched, stretching his neck uncomfortably. “Which proved useless. Had I known those abominations would raise such a racket—”