59. Chapter Fifty-Nine
59
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
ELODIE
A s the thick fog of sleep lifted, I had the uncomfortable feeling that eyes were on me. Which was made even more unnerving when I realised that beneath the silky sheets I lay in, I was completely naked. Memories of drinking around the campfire surfaced from where sleep had hidden them behind the dark cloud that had invaded my conscience. Explaining the pounding in my head and parched throat as the lingering result of too much alcohol.
I kept my eyes shut, a prickle of unease pulling at my magik, and I willed it to flood my skin with varying degrees of success. I was sure that my entire left arm had been passed over.
“I’m aware you are awake,” an unfamiliar voice said, and my eyes flew wide in alarm as they zeroed in instantly on the figure sat cross-legged on the bed next to me.
The need to shield myself with energy didn’t dissipate as I saw a young girl sitting there. If anything, it increased ten-fold, which logically made no sense, but some intrinsic part of me knew what I was seeing on the surface was not what lay beneath.
Slowly, so very slowly, I sat up. Ensuring the blankets hid my nakedness and keeping my eyes fixed on her as she watched me right back, her inexpressive face following my every movement.
So much for all the security this place was supposed to have.
The dull pounding in my head made its presence known as I scrambled to come up with an explanation as to what was happening and found none.
Opening my mouth to speak, she got there first. “I didn’t see him, and you got hurt. That hurt Kaius, and I don’t like that.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the effects of whatever Alouette kept in her flask, or perhaps the fitful sleep I had endured, but I was pretty sure none of that made sense.
“What do you mean, you didn’t see him. See who?” Her eyes were a soft brown, almost the same shade as the hair that hung over her shoulders.
“I find the bad ones. And then break them,” she said with finality, as if somehow that explained everything.
Maybe it did.
She continued. “But I didn’t find him.”
With that, I knew what she was talking about, who she was talking about. I swallowed against the phantom fingers that gripped my throat, the sharp pain on my wrists that I knew wasn’t real. I pushed it away, grasping onto something else she had said.
“You know Kaius?” On instinct, my hand lifted to the place where his emerald sat, finding nothing but the soft fabric of my sheets could be felt under my fingers.
A quiet panic built inside me as my eyes darted around the room before landing on my discarded pile of black clothes I must have stripped out of before falling into bed. A soft sigh of relief left me as I saw the length of silver chain peeking from within them, along with a bangle and a single gold earring.
“Yes.” A complete sentence apparently.
“How?”
“He saved me.”
“Who are you?” I asked, frowning at her, failing to understand why this child was finding and breaking people, or better yet, what she was doing in my room.
“I’m called Blair.”
“And Kaius… looks after you?” I could feel the energy that she radiated churning through the air, was almost certain I could see it. A writhing, dark aether that rippled under her pale skin, teasing me with a glimpse before it was gone again.
“I don’t need looking after, but yes, if that’s how you need to look at it.” Blair’s face remained a blank mask as she kept her unnerving focus on me.
“What about your family?”
“No, I have no family. I come from nowhere. I just am.”
I had no idea what the fuck that meant, but I had a feeling that was all I would be getting on the matter.
Silence settled over us, its heaviness compounding my aching head, nudging me to do something about it, but I didn’t know how to break this moment.
“Kaius likes you, doesn't he?” Was how it finally broke.
“I think so,” I replied, still unsure just what the fuck was going on here.
She hummed softly in answer staring at me, the time between blinks a little unnerving.
“Should he not?” I questioned.
“Well, you can’t really do much, can you?”
Ouch.
“Thank you… for that.” I shifted on the bed, twisting the remaining bangles around my wrist as I scrambled for a way out of this awkward situation, but feeling an intense need to keep her in my line of sight. Part of me knew that despite its outward appearance, what was in front of me wasn’t something you could run from.
Before I could find a way, a pressure pressed into my mind, a needle-sharp jab of something so alien, so unlike anything I’d ever felt before I recoiled from it. It was a void, a vast space that belonged at the beginning of time and at the end of worlds, and it was currently combing through my being. Digging through all I was with that tiniest of breaches. I could taste the edge of agony it contained, though none of it spilled over into me as I sat frozen under its touch, my heart racing uncomfortably.
Lazily, it brushed against places I didn’t even know existed, its darkness illuminating them with the contrast of their intentions. As panic rose through my body, as I clumsily threw energy towards that punctured part of me, it left. I was under no illusion that it did so from anything more than its own will.
And if I had still been under any such delusion that what sat on my bed was a child, it evaporated fast as I sucked down a breath, my hangover doing me no favours as my magik swirled in alarm.
The encounter showed me my control over the influx of magik that coursed through me was very much left wanting, and despite Bastian’s declaration that I receive training, I wasn’t holding my breath.
“It’s all there,” Blair said more to herself than to me, the smallest frown creasing her young face as if she hadn’t just psychically attacked me.
“Just what the fuck was that?” I asked, my voice coming out in a strangled whisper.
“The Fire Prince would never think to call on me, so I came myself. To see what Kaius sees, and to tell you I won’t miss another one. It’s unusual to me to look into a mind and leave it as I found it, but yours was interesting.”
“I have a block,” I offered stupidly, still reeling from the intrusion and nowhere near ready to unpack the other things she had said.
“I saw,” was all she offered in return, unfolding from the bed and sliding off, her feet silently hitting the floor.
Unnerved by what she had just done, I couldn’t help but ask, “What else did you see?”
“Things.”
Things. Of course.
“And will you tell him, Bastian?”
“Why would I do that?” Her face a blank mask void of expression.
“Well… because he’s the Prince.”
“I don’t care for such things as Princes. I’m only here because Kaius is. Where he goes, I go.” With that, she turned for the door, leaving me gaping after her and wondering what the fuck had just happened. The soft creak of the door opened and closed, the only indication she had moved through the rooms.
Slumping back on the bed, I ran my hands over my face, the dull headache knocking against the jumble of thoughts I was racing through. Knowing that sleep could provide the escape I needed, I let it pull me away, hoping that once I woke, things would make a little more sense.
The nap hadn’t done much to shine any light on my current situation, but after waking an hour or so later and finding breakfast had been left on the table, thankfully the aftereffects of my night out had ebbed away.
I spent the hours after bored out of my mind, and for a good chunk of time, I stood at the tall, yet locked , doors that led to the balcony, letting the scenery sweep me away. It was easy to get lost in the motions of the vast expanse of trees that stretched ahead. The rocky slopes of the volcano with its constant plumes of smoke created its own artwork against the pale sky.
But it wasn’t enough, I needed more. To do something, make something.
I wasn’t even sure I knew how long I had been here now, the longing to be around things of my own growing within me every day. I was itching to create, to get my hands back on my tools and use the power that flowed within me. Gods, I’d even be happy with clothes that had come from my own wardrobe.
Being surrounded by not a single item you owned was disconcerting. I’d even lost the little collection of things I’d hidden away when my first room was destroyed.
Now all I had that didn’t belong to the palace was the gold that I kept on at all times, and a book which had been left for me that first day. The copy of the one I had lost.
I left the view, the smoking mountain and verdant carpet of trees. The heat from the floor soaking into my bare feet as I let them carry me back to my room, and the drawer I had hidden it in.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I held the book cradled in my hands as my eyes traced over the stamped letters. I turned it over, taking in the used edges and creased spine that showed how well loved it had been before it arrived on my table.
The binding creaked gently as I opened it to the page I had looked at the most, the hand-written inscription of parental love, the scribbles of a young child.
My fingers ghosted over the message, hoping to pull those feelings from the paper and wishing I had had a piece of my parents to hold onto like this.
Slowly, I flipped through the book, hoping to see a glimpse of another drawing, more notes. Midway through, as the paper slipped past my thumb, something thicker than the aged pages fell from inside, fluttering to the ground at my feet.
The rectangular card lay sidewards, neither up nor down, and I stared at yet another tarot card from my deck that as far as I was aware, was back in my drawer at home.
Laying directly across my path, with its shining silver sword clenched in a tight fist and a glittering crown adorning its pointed tip, was the ace of swords.
Facing upwards, it would have signified a breakthrough, some sort of clarity of mind which would be wholly fucking welcome right now. Facing down, confusion and chaos. Impending brutality.
And yet, it was neither.
Or was it both?
Seemed a little pointless to show up if it was neither.
On instinct, my head whipped around the room despite knowing I was very much alone. How long had it been in the book? It was reasonable to think I’d missed it the last time I’d picked it up, but there was also a real chance it had been put there for this exact moment.
Though its portent was a little wasted considering its current placement.
Had that itself been intentional?
And who was even doing this?
With confusion reigning prevalent, I had to hope that going forward it wouldn’t continue, and the path would become clear.
A sharp knock interrupted my thoughts, and I walked away from the undecided omen on the floor, leaving the book on the dining table as I passed it. The knock sounded again, an impatient rap at the extra few seconds it had taken me to cross my room, and I pulled the door open—unsurprised—to find my least favourite of the palace's occupants standing in the doorway. A lingering ripple of anger travelled through me, but I schooled my face into indifference as I flicked my eyes over him, every curl neatly in place. His large being taking up too much space.
“Let’s go,” Bastian said by way of greeting.
Well, hello to you, too, asshole.
“No, thank you,” I shot back, knowing it wasn’t a game I should play, but I was going to anyway. A little thrill going through me as his jaw clenched. It soon smoothed into the calm, collected mask of a prince.
A mask I delighted in removing.
I went to slam the door in his face, but he moved quicker, his foot pushing forward to halt its closure. We both knew there was no chance I could physically move him without using magik, and while I could feel it rearing its head at the seed of anger that was growing within me, it offered nothing.
“Move your foot, you absolute psycho.” I all but growled; the last thing I wanted was to go anywhere with him.
“I thought you wanted to remove that convenient block on your mind,” he said, eyes as hard as emeralds yet otherwise ignoring the well-deserved insult, much to my annoyance.
He had a point.
I fucking hated that.
“I’d hardly call it convenient.”
I just loved having my magik chained, and my memories hidden behind a brick wall in my own mind. Super fun.
“Where’s Kaius?”
If I was going anywhere, it would be with him.
“Busy.”
“Well then where’s Alouette?”
Another great option.
“Again, busy.” He folded his arms across his thick, broad chest, foot still jammed in the door, stopping me from smashing it into his frustratingly handsome face.
Instead, I gave him my sweetest smile as I placed my hand on the wood, ready to slam it the moment he moved his big ass self out of the way. “That’s a shame, because I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“This was what you wanted, was it not?” Bastian asked, far too smug for my liking.
“Yes,” I answered reluctantly, smile dropping as my eyes narrowed. I really did want this block removed, I just wished it involved literally anyone but him.
“Then what’s the point in fighting it, Princess?”
“Why in the gods should I believe you’re not going to try and remove it yourself? Again .”
Bastian’s eyes flicked shut at my question, a short, exasperated sigh leaving him—which was laughable, because it was pretty fucking relevant—before he levelled his gaze on me once more. “Because despite the fact I couldn’t care less about your wellbeing, I have been informed that should the kingdom be made aware I turned your brain into mush by my own hands , it would not be a good look for the palace.”
Was he born with this level of audacity, or was it something honed by the privileged life of a prince?
“But by someone else’s, it’s acceptable.” That seed of anger began to vibrate inside me ready to grow into a fucking beanstalk at every word that came from his lips. The charcoal scent of him seeped into my skin and I wanted to scrub it from my skin.
“Glad to know you’re paying attention. Now let’s go.” He stepped back, finally moving his foot, and as much as I wanted to continue with my previous plan of introducing his face to the door, I wanted this block removed more.
“I don’t have time for this. Come, now.” The edge of anger that was just creeping into his voice had my pulse racing, my magik fluttering low in my belly.
Oh, I would, but in my own fucking time.
“If you want me to come , Prince, I need to get dressed.” I pushed the wooden door wider, stepping back slowly. Seeing the way his eyes slid down my body, I added, “Unless you want to watch me. Is that your thing?”
“Just hurry the fuck up,” Bastian growled, eyes darting back to my face and keeping himself firmly on the other side on the door. I laughed loudly as I walked away from him.