25. Chapter Twenty-Five
25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ELODIE
I snuggled down deeper into the warmth of my bed, reaching a hand out to push into Titan’s fur, seeking out the familiar comfort of his large form. Except my searching fingers found nothing but an empty bed. The haunting realisation dawned on me then that this was not my bed. That one moment where everything was back to the way it was had passed in a heartbeat, and bleary-eyed, I glanced around from my cocoon of blankets.
It was as though my very bones ached from the sadness of being away from him, the thought of Titan alone back home was borderline agonising.
Did he think I had abandoned him?
I knew Nanna would be looking after him, but his dog brain wouldn’t understand what had happened. He had always slept in my bed since he was a puppy. Was he snuggling up with Nanna?
I hoped so.
I hadn’t slept alone last night either, though the emptiness in the bed told me Kaius was gone. I ran my fingers over the pendant he had given me, magik humming at the trace of his that still lingered.
Stretching my arms across the empty space, I brushed over something hidden under the covers and pulled them back with uncertainty.
A rose in full bloom lay nestled against the sheets, every inch of it shimmering gold. I picked it up marvelling at its perfection, running my fingertips carefully along its velvet smooth petals, magik dancing over them.
I had no idea how long ago Kaius had left. My only way of judging time was through the darkening of the sky and the delivery of food.
I should ask for a clock — that wasn’t such a hard ask, was it?
There was nothing to do except wait for breakfast, and there wasn’t even much point getting up and showering until after I’d eaten. I stared at the blank TV in front of me; maybe I should ask for the remote?
Reaching over to pull one of the curtains open, I settled back into the pillows, watching the thick clouds that, from my limited knowledge, looked heavy with snow drift across the moody sky. Rolling the rose between my fingers I enjoyed the way the remnants of Kaius’ magik and the prick of the thorns played over my skin.
As the sky slowly brightened, people began milling around in the garden, which my window overlooked. I’d moved into the chair I dragged over yesterday in order to better people watch. It wasn’t exactly thrilling viewing, but it was more interesting than what was going on in here.
As I watched, my mind went back to my conversation in the gardens with Kaius. According to him, all those people down there were Fae, and he believed I was, too. How was there a palace full of Fae tucked away somewhere in the world?
A kingdom of Fae.
My initial reaction of disbelief was chafing at me because of course that wasn’t possible. But then neither should have been the fact that I had magik, and even before I ended up in this place, I had magik.
So had Nanna, so had Briar.
I got the feeling that nothing Kaius had told me would be news to them. A seed of anger planted itself inside me as I wondered how much I had been kept in the dark.
I studied the people closer, searching for any signs of magik or any other confirmation of what I had learned yesterday, anything extra I could add to my secret notebook.
For as long as I looked, there had been no overtly magikal displays—no balls of fire or flash floods. Not even some sparkles. I thought I had seen a few of them push magik into a flower here and there but nothing I could be certain of.
Other than the four elements, there were other affinities, too. Prophecy, Death and Animalia, Kaius had said. I had no idea what a display of magik from any of them would look like. Would grim reapers start stalking the grounds in their hooded cloaks? And what the fuck was Animalia?
Am I supposed to belong to one of these kingdoms?
I pushed the thought aside along with the little voice that was telling me which kingdom it would most likely be.
I wondered if the tall lady would even be back this morning after my outburst yesterday or if they would just let me starve in here?
Fuck, I hope that creeper isn’t coming back.
Anxiety gnawed at me as the minutes dragged on, and I couldn’t decide what would be worse—having no food or having food brought by him. I wouldn’t be eating anything he handed to me.
I swallowed down my dread as the knock finally came. Clenching Kaius’ rose in my fist, the sharp thorns cut into my palm as I made my way to the door. The cup of water I had dropped last night had been put back on the table.
There was no way of knowing who was behind the door before I pressed my hand on the handle and let it swing open. My breath came out with a whoosh as the tall woman stood in front of me, tray in hand and smile on face. I sagged slightly in relief and stood back to let her in, glancing out into the corridor.
There was no longer a guard face down on the floor, his replacement stoic in his inspection of the wall.
The tray was already on the table as I turned back to the room, finding myself unsure on what to say or do. I relaxed my hold on the golden rose, feeling the wetness of my blood smeared in my fist. She looked down at my hand with a small frown before reaching out to grasp my wrist, bringing it up between us. Unclenching my fist, I swapped the rose to my other hand. I fought the desire to hide it behind my back as her eyes landed on the necklace resting against my chest, recognition widening them before they softened.
Turning her attention to the tears in my skin, she hovered a blackened nail over them, a trail of light following in its wake. I winced as her magik sunk into me, pulling the skin back together until all that was left were the streaks of blood, but it didn’t race through me like Kaius’ had last night.
There was an aura about her, something innately spiritual that made no sense yet all the sense in the world. Up close, I could see the black beads that wrapped around her were actually small, rough rocks threaded together, and her clothes did indeed spark with her movements.
“Thank you.” Clearing my throat, I avoided eye contact— and any contact with her smouldering dress —as she smiled before collecting my empty trays and leaving without another word.
More clothes were folded on the table, this time black. Sitting down, I pulled breakfast towards me ready to appease my empty stomach with the warm golden pastries covered in flaky almonds that sat next to a bowl of cut fruit.
For a prisoner, I wasn’t doing bad on the food front. It was certainly a million steps from gruel and mouldy bread.
I laid the rose on the table while I ate, staring into the layers of petals and wondering if I could make something as beautiful. It would be a poor imitation of the magik that had created it, but my fingers itched with the need to create. To fold sheets of gold until they mimicked what was in my mind.
Chewing on the last piece of fruit and wishing it had taken longer to eat, I stood and stretched. Plucking the rose from the table, I put it into the cup of water with the white peony, brushing my fingers over the white flower that was as perfect as yesterday.
My dirty clothes had conveniently disappeared, and I unfolded the new ones, running my hands over the soft material. Pulling the bundle apart they were pretty much the same as yesterday’s except in a thick black, tightly-woven wool. The cropped jumper was covered in little black gems and as I rubbed my fingers over them, magik skipped across my hand, and I knew on instinct they were onyx.
Tiny scraps of lace were on the table that I was sure were too small to be of any actual use, and I hoped they had a bit of stretch to them.
Pink. I looked over at the flowers on the dresser—pink and gold.
Maybe if Kaius came tonight, I could show him them on?
For fuck sakes, Elodie, no!
You’re supposed to be finding a way home. Not trying to sleep with your kidnapper.
My beautiful kidnapper who holds me when I have nightmares and remembers my favourite colours .
Dismissing the thought, I took the clothes into the bathroom, squealing with joy at the hairbrush, toothbrush, and toothpaste that had appeared.
What luxuries I was allowed.
My hair would take some time to detangle, which was fine because I had nothing but time. Arms aching by the time I had worked the knots from the long strands, I couldn’t help but laugh at the complete mess that looked back at me from the mirror.
I removed all the jewellery I had with me—except Kaius’ pendant—before peeling off the clothes I’d slept in and kicking them into the corner. The shower responded to my touch instantly, and I took my time standing under the hot spray.
If they’d given me a razor this would be perfect.
Wrapping a clean towel around myself as I finished up and stepped out, I dressed, putting my jewellery on piece by piece enjoying the small zip of energy that shot through me as I did.
I felt restless with the need to fill my time. Back home I would get my tools out and make pretty things. There was nothing pretty in this room. Its blandness almost as frustrating as being stuck in here. Especially when the grand sum of any sort of personality was the painting of a fruit bowl, and that really wasn’t my style.
Yes, I was lucky to even have a room, but being grateful whilst still being held against your will was a mind-fuck.
Maybe I could offer my talents in exchange for things—like the remote or a razor. Or something to look at that didn’t include food.
Kings and Queens loved jewellery and fancy things, didn’t they? If I showed them what I could do, they might agree. Excitement rolled through me at the thought of creating something as I wondered if my magik would come into play more than it had before.
Like I had been sent out into the frigid lands that ringed the palace, my excitement was doused as I realised I would have to put the suggestion to Bastian—unless the King came back anytime soon—and I really didn’t want to ask that asshole for anything. I could ask Kaius, but that would look like I was too scared to approach Big Man and that wasn’t the case; I just didn’t want to deal with him.
Climbing onto the bed and wondering if I should try and nap my boredom away, I immediately jumped back up as something hard poked me from under the covers. Eyes wide, I stared at the rectangular lump which was now fairly obvious on the bed. Throwing back the already messy covers, I stared in disbelief at the thick, green, leather-bound book which I knew, without doubt, I hadn’t slept with.
The room was way too small for a sneak attack, but I glanced around wearily anyway. ‘ Encyclopaedia ’ was stamped in large cursive letters across the cover, and I picked it up, testing its weight in my hands.
I had no clue how, or even why, this book got in here, and when angry guards didn’t burst in as it sat heavy in my hands, I turned my attention to the book.
Easing the cover open, the binding creaked through the quiet of the room. There were a few pages of author notes along with a page containing a red library stamp. I flicked the rest of the pages confirming that it was indeed an encyclopaedia. Neat blocks of alphabetised facts filled the pages, and my eyes skimmed over the unfamiliar words.
It wasn’t until I’d turned to a few pages at random when a word I did recognise jumped out at me—Ylva.
Images flew through my mind, one after another, of the tale I had read the other day. I looked at the small story book which was currently squashed between the one I was using as a secret journal and the rest of the boring collection.
The story was about a goddess who could turn into a dragon, and her ‘Religamicus’. As far as I could work out, that meant they were some sort of cross between a best friend and a soulmate. Faolán—her ‘Religamicus’—was dying, and despite all the powers at her command, she could find nothing in the kingdoms to heal him. She was so distraught that before he could take his last breath, she poured almost every ounce of her godly power into healing him, and he transformed into a beast. The description was vague on what beast he had been turned into. Faolán then became immortal, but since she had used up so much of her magik saving him, she was forced into her shifted form and withdrew from earth to remain in the heavens in the hope that one day she would regain her strength and return.
Her name had been Ylva.
Ylva — Reigning goddess of Fera.
I flipped through the book until I found the entry for Fera, my eyes greedily drinking in the wealth of information I suddenly had at my fingertips.
Fera — One of the seven kingdoms which make up Avelin. Predominantly populated by Animalia.
Animalia.
It was one of the elements Kaius had told me about, and I had written that word in the margins of the mushroom book.
Again, I thumbed through the yellowing pages to the beginning of the book, running my finger down the paper until Animalia appeared on the page.
Animalia — Collective name of Shifter Fae which inhabit the Kingdom of Fera. Some subspecies may take up residence in other kingdoms due to climate/population control.
The words were unfamiliar, but I soaked in every one, excited anticipation swirling within me; this was how I would get answers.
My muscles were cramped from sitting hunched over the book, and the ache in my stomach signalled it must be lunch soon. I closed the encyclopaedia, mind fuzzy with the information I had consumed while trying to make sense of.
Every description was vague, and without more context, much of it didn’t make sense. I had spent most of the time flicking from entry to entry, flying back and forth through the book as more unfamiliar words were thrown at me.
Opening the top drawer of the dresser, I put the encyclopaedia inside. The watery sun was pretty much overhead as I looked out the window. I was hoping that meant food wouldn’t be long and sure enough, as I watched a lady wearing thick gloves kneel down to tend to some weeds in the garden, the knock came.
Opening the door, I expected to see kind eyes and short blonde hair, but stormy grey ones alight with mischief stared back instead.
Leaning against one side of the doorway, arms crossed over his muscled chest, stood Kaius. Dark hair fell past his shoulders, framing a face that had been blessed by the gods, and I resisted the urge to reach up and run my fingers through it. He was wearing all black again and tattoos peeked out from the collar and cuffs of his long-sleeved top. Again sparking my desire to inspect every. Single. One.
“I think black is my favourite colour today,” he said, eyes working their way over my body.
Same, Kaius, you beautiful man. Same.
I cleared the roughness from my voice, whether that was from disuse or my reaction to him I wasn’t sure. One thing I did know was that he hadn’t brought food, and as tempting as he was, I wasn’t going to be eating him.
Not today anyway.
“Mine’s still pink.” His eyes hooded with undeniable lust and that was all the confirmation I needed to know it was him who had picked the underwear I was currently wearing.
“You’re coming with me for lunch, Goldie.” Straightening, he tucked a strand of white hair behind my ear, and I was glad I’d washed it.
“And where is it we’re going?” I asked. Kaius hesitated and I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.
“For lunch.”
Vague.
“For lunch where?” I mirrored.
“In the palace, of course.”
“Who else will be joining us for lunch in the palace?”
“Technically,” he began, “he won’t be joining us as he’s the one who has asked us to join him.”
Fuck. I knew who that was. And I highly doubt he had asked. He had definitely demanded.
“And if I say no?” He grimaced apologetically. Yeah, there was no asking going on here.
“He’ll behave, I promise.”
There was no point fighting it, he was the Prince. If he wanted me, all he had to do was tell one of the guards to come get me, and I would be dragged from here kicking and screaming.
“Will you be there the whole time?”
“I won’t leave you, although I have a feeling it wouldn’t be you that needed my protection.” He held his arm out towards the corridor, and I slipped my feet into the soft shoes I had left by the door then stepped past him, the door shutting behind me.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” I murmured as we headed off through the palace.