30. Chapter Thirty
30
CHAPTER THIRTY
ELODIE
T he monotony of the next few days grated against my patience—wake up, breakfast, down to the courtyard. They stretched on into a routine I was reluctant to rely upon, yet wholly unable to deviate from in any way.
Not a single chance to escape presented itself to me.
Once I had returned from my first time outside, I had immediately been drawn to the soft ticking. Unexpected warmth flooded me at the thought of the tall woman getting the clock that was now hanging on the wall opposite the table I ate at.
There had also been a new flower every day, placed around the room for me to find once I was back from my allotted outside time. Each one different, grown with magik I could sense came from Kaius. After the arrival of the first few, I realised they matched whatever colour underwear had been brought that morning, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
It didn’t make up for not seeing him this whole time, but strangely knowing he was thinking of me was almost enough.
There had been a different escort each day. I told myself it was because they rotated and not because the first one didn’t want to watch over a crazy person.
Or they thought I was a master of manipulation and could convince one to let me go.
I was waiting for the water lady would turn up again, and this time I wouldn’t be so blindsided and could ask some questions of worth. But, so far, I had been alone.
Despite the cold earth, I laid back on the soft clover by the edge of the pool, eyes closed and ears straining for any hint of her arrival. All I could hear was the soft babbling of the water falling over the rocks and the singing of the birds from the jumble of ivy that covered the walls, teasing me with the freedom only wings could provide.
I had been sleeping well, no burning trees—or people—haunted my sleep, and laying here I felt relaxed, well rested.
My waking mind, however, was anything but. Continuous questions plagued me, and no matter how much I pored over the newest addition to my pitiful library, I found no answers within its aged pages.
Could I list the seven kingdoms which made up Avelin? Sure.
Did I know that a bleat was the proper term for the mating call of a Chimera, and that a Trustan Wyrm could only be found in the caverns of northern Jusari? Yep.
All useless information that meant nothing. I was starting to believe it was some sort of joke Bastian was responsible for, and he was spending his time laughing his royal ass off at all the hours I was wasting on it.
I missed seeing Kaius, but without me screaming in my sleep or getting into fights I couldn’t get myself out of, what reason did he have to come to me? It was probably for the best. I didn’t need to get attached, no matter how gorgeous he was or how amazing it had felt when we connected. I was still set on leaving here even if I hadn’t put all the pieces together.
The flowers Kaius left were reminders that it had been days since I had last seen him, his scent long gone from the jacket he’d given me. The clock I had been so excited about was another way for me to measure the time I spent here, each minute ticking away into nothing. My life going nowhere fast.
I breathed in the clean air; the smell of roses that bloomed untended filled my lungs, and I could feel my body singing with the energy that floated around me. The sun was hot today on my face though my fingertips still ached with the ever-present cold that leached into me from the frosted grass I was sat upon. I didn’t know how long I had been here or how long they would let me stay today. She would either come or she wouldn’t.
Rolling onto my side, I picked up the book I had brought— One Hundred Tales of the Fae of Old —and flicking through the pages picked a story at random. They were all short, so it didn’t matter which order I read them in. I was mostly sure it was a book meant for children, even if some of them were a little questionable.
Like the one where a Fae man had fallen in love with a woman who didn’t return his affections. After she had rejected his advances for the millionth time, he lured her to a beach cave, where he attacked her brutally before leaving her for dead at the water’s edge. The goddess of water, Adria, had found her and transformed the dying woman into a half human, half fish, and that was how the first mermaid was created.
Most of these stories were pretty gruesome, with little detail held back. Not something I would read to my kids if I had any, but I enjoyed them, and the small insight they gave me into the minds of the Fae I had found myself surrounded by.
Time passed absorbed in the stories, as I sat in the frigid air for longer than usual, hunger began to creep in. Birds chattered to each other as they hopped along the vines that crawled across the outer wall, and I put the book down to watch them.
The door to the courtyard was thrown open, in that angry way some of the guards had. Knowing that was my signal to go, I stood, lifting my face to the sky to catch a few more seconds of watery sun before I went back in. Stepping back into the dark corridor, I looked around for the guard to lead me back to my room, but it was empty.
With an ominous creek, the door closed, blocking out the light with a soft bang. A chill swept over me as I turned, and I felt magik thrum inside me as I saw the figure leaning beside the now shut door. His light-blue eyes danced with malice in the dark of the corridor, and I felt the blood drain from my face as they swept up and down my body.
Why the fuck was the creepy guard here?
“Where’s my guard?” I demanded, my voice surprisingly steady despite the unease that was winding its way through me.
Pushing off the wall, he stepped forward, and I stepped back, mirroring his movements before I realised what I was doing and held the Faerytale book tight to my chest.
“ I’m your guard,” he smirked.
“No thanks, I much prefer the other guy.”
He was between me and the stairs that I knew led to my room. The only other way would be to continue down the corridor, but the thought of turning my back on him made my stomach churn.
“Too bad, beautiful. I’m here now.” He took another, and it took everything not to move away from him.
Oh joy.
“And why exactly is that?” There had never been a change of guards at this time before.
He ignored me, eyes lingering uncomfortably long on the curve of my breasts. There was a slight buzz of energy in my fingers, but it wasn’t much, and I had no idea what this man was capable of. As his own magik pulsed lightly around him, I knew he would have more control over his than I did.
He was too close. I had to come up with a way to get away from him, fast. My only real option was running, but I wouldn’t get far before he caught me.
I looked into his plainly handsome face, wondering how many other women he had managed to corner in dark parts of the castle, and bile rose sharp in my throat. His hand reached towards me, and I stiffened, his fingers cold and clammy as they ran down the side of my face following the line of my jaw. I called power to me, felt it shift beneath my skin. Not fast enough.
Not fast enough to stop his hand from wandering down my neck, each second his skin touched mine sending my heart into overdrive as I was unable to move. Unable to get away.
He smiled sickeningly sweet, and a pulse of his magik reached out towards me. It was stagnant. There was a staleness to it that coated my skin, and I cringed away from it.
“I’ve wondered for a while why they were keeping you locked up in that room. It seems they want you all to themselves. What makes you so special that the Prince is keeping you hidden, huh?”
“No idea,” I managed to grind out, which annoyingly was the truth, as I risked looking away from him in order to facilitate any sort of escape.
Fingers skimmed my collar bone, and I shuddered in disgust. “I wonder if you’re wearing the blue ones.”
I pulled at my magik, felt it within me, but I couldn’t move it. Couldn’t make it obey. I hadn’t belted my jacket around me, and his hand travelled lower until it danced across my breast and panic overruled all reason as I snapped, bringing my knee up hard and slamming it into his dick. With a sharp cry of pain, his hands flew to his damaged goods as I sprinted away without wasting precious seconds looking back—knowing I’d only got an opening to run due to the fact I had surprised him.
After the shock and pain had worn off, he’d be after me again.
I raced directionless down the halls, book slipping from my fingers. I didn’t care where I ended up, and it only felt like seconds before his footsteps pounded the floor behind me.
“You little bitch!” he shouted from much too close, and again I tugged at the energy that flowed through me, silently begging it to do as I asked—it didn’t.
I screamed as a hand fisted my hair, using it to twist me around—strands ripping from my scalp—before slamming me into the wall. Pain ricocheted down my spine at the impact, and he pressed his body against mine, knee spreading my legs to press between my thighs. Despite the agony that radiated through me, I fought to push him off, but he was too big, too heavy. Panic was clawing its way through me, the feel of him against me akin to insects burrowing in a frenzy under my skin.
That might have been preferable.
A sharp tug in my heart pulled hard as though trying to guide me away, but I was pinned. I couldn’t fucking go anywhere.
“That wasn’t very nice, was it?” he snarled, jolting me back into the wall once more, my head cracking painfully against the surface before he leaned in close, the smell of his breath nauseating as he licked a wet, slimy path up the side of my face. I cringed away as best as I could.
He pulled back, releasing my hair, hands now pawing at my chest as his oily voice dripped across my skin. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”
He tugged hard, the sound of tearing fabric jarring me from the panic I was descending into, and the pain that was pounding in my head turned into drums of anger instead.
I wasn’t going to let this creep touch me without putting up a fight. I tried once more for the power that was raging through my veins; I could feel it. This vortex of magik that was mine, my body was vibrating with its force, but I couldn’t do anything with it. I couldn’t make that connection to form it to my will. Frustration grew on both sides. It wanted release, but in this moment, as a steady thud filled the air, I didn’t know how to do that.
Was that my heart? Or just the blood rushing in my ears?
The tug grew insistent and as another rip echoed through the corridor and cool air touched the skin on my breasts, I let out a scream of fury. Or was that a roar?
I managed to press my hand against his face forcing his head back, and I felt it then, my magik bunched inside me like a coiled spring. As I made the connection with him, it released. Whipping through my hand to shoot straight into his face, it sent him flying away from me and crashing into the opposite wall, landing with a sickening wet thudbefore he slid to the floor—a red smudge streaked down the wall in his wake.