Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Suns-cursed
MAGNOLIA
Iwoke up still on the floor.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t think beyond the fact that my lungs weren’t expanding and my head felt like daggers had embedded into my temples with the blades twisting.
The suns flickered into the room, making my already pounding headache unbearable. It was the only reason I knew I’d been in and out of consciousness all night.
I threw up three more times, but now it was all bile. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like this.
The pounding against my head grew to the point where it was all I could focus on. Every time I tried to open my eyes, the room spun, making everything so hazy that I clamped them shut.
At some point, I heard another knock on the door. I counted twenty ear-splintering pounds against the wood before someone cursed and opened the door.
“Suns-cursed,” a deep voice swore. “What in Dahes’ Hell are you doing on the floor?”
I felt my body being turned over. I squinted against the brightness, moaning, and trying not to vomit all over again.
Strong arms scooped under my knees and around my back, carrying me to what I assumed was the bed as I sank against soft cushions.
“What are you doing, Bran? King Elion requested her at breakfast. You can’t put her back to bed.” It was another voice. Softer. Lighter.
“In case you haven’t noticed, she’s not fit to dine with anyone,” he—I assumed Bran—said. “She has altitude poisoning. Tell Charlet to inform the king.”
“We cannot refuse an order—”
“Do you want me to drag her unconscious body to the royal dining room? Should we strap her to a chair so she doesn’t fall face first into her food?” he snapped. “She’s not fit to dine with anyone right now, king or not!”
The girl mumbled something under her breath, but I couldn’t make it out before the door slammed shut again. I groaned, the sound felt thunderous against my skull.
“Drink.” Fingers gripped my jaw, and I felt a glass of cold liquid meet my lips the next second.
I downed the entire cup, not caring when half of it spilled down my chin.
“It’ll wear off soon,” Bran said. “The next few hours will be the worst, but you should start to feel better and…”
I had no idea what else he said before oblivion swallowed me again.
My eyes fluttered open as I slowly came back to myself. Mercifully, the nausea faded, but I was still fighting the urge to pass out and my head was throbbing with the worst headache I’d ever had in my life.
“You need to eat,” a deep voice said, and it sounded vaguely familiar.
I thought about responding, but couldn’t muster my thoughts yet.
The most I could do was keep my eyes open.
It was still daylight, judging from the light shining through the curtains in my peripheral.
I was still lying in the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Intricate designs of gilded molding ran across the paneling that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Menders pumped your veins with fluids,” the voice added, “but you need food of real substance. And a bath.”
My eyes narrowed, but I was just glad I could keep them open. Food actually sounded wonderful.
I repositioned slightly on the bed, just enough so I could scan the room. A man was standing by the foot of the mattress. My eyes traveled up, his head coming to just below the door frame behind him that I knew he had to be so much taller than me.
I forced myself to sit up, leaning my back against the headboard. My entire body throbbed, and the movement made everything feel worse.
“You’re Bran?” I guessed.
He nodded. He had dark wavy hair, chestnut eyes, and freckles painted over dark skin. My body relaxed at that, he looked so different from Dahes that I immediately liked him for it.
“And you’re about to get me in more trouble.
” My brows scrunched, but before I could ask him what he meant, he answered for me.
“The king is furious that you’re only just waking up now.
No one has ever come back to Viven after being in Moriann, so we had no idea how long it would take you to recover. ”
“How long have I been out?”
“Five days.”
Shit. Five days? Fear ran through me, wondering if Dahes tried to contact me, but I was too out of it to respond.
It also meant five days of not gathering information, of not focusing on the hunt…
I had no idea how long he planned on keeping me here, but I knew my time was limited.
“I pushed off interactions for as long as I could,” Bran said, “but seeing as you’re functional now, you’ll dine with the king for breakfast.”
I nodded, rubbing at my eyes and stifling a yawn, having no idea why I was so tired if I’d been out for so long. I felt like I’d fallen down the Senith, and I needed to be more awake to properly pull this off.
My body jostled and my head slammed against the headboard as Bran clapped his hands—loudly—in my face. “Hello? Do you have a brain cell left in that pretty head of yours, or are all Morianns this dense?”
I leveled his gaze with a stare of my own, but he wasn’t backing down.
He shifted, moving from the foot of the bed to my side, and that’s when I noticed what he was wearing.
Silky cream linens made up his pants and top, the color matching perfectly.
It was simple, but polished, and I couldn’t stop thinking how it contrasted from the Wielders and drakins’ uniforms I saw in the throne room.
Was he a commoner then or had his Token just not manifested yet?
I had no idea what their societal norms were, and it was hard to gauge anyone’s age.
“That means you needed to get ready like five hours ago,” Bran snapped as he placed his hands over his hips in front of me. “You’re nowhere near presentable to meet the king.”
“How old are you?” I asked, unable to stop the question from rolling off my tongue.
He looked taken aback. “What does that have to do with—” He stopped himself, letting out a frustrated sigh. “If I tell you, will you get your ass out of bed and into the bath?”
I nodded.
“I’m thirty, and you’re absolutely disgusting.” I went to open my mouth, but he stopped me. “No more questions until after you’re clean. Everything you need is in there.”
Bran pointed to an arched doorway behind him. I pushed the comforter off my hips, twisting myself so my legs hung over the bed. A clean gown now clung to my body. I had no idea what happened to the torn slip Dahes had given me or how I was changed, but right now I was too tired to care.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself to stand, but it took more effort than I thought.
My thighs shook and my entire body felt on the verge of falling over.
I wavered, my feet wobbling, before I straightened myself.
Inhaling slowly, I tried to mask how weak I felt before forcing myself to meet his gaze.
I had to crane my neck up, confirmation he was a good head taller than me before I froze.
I gasped, my head whipping back down to my feet as the sensation registered.
He rolled his eyes. “What in the two-Suns is stalling you now?”
I couldn’t answer. I just kept staring at my toes. I had skin there. There wasn’t a blister in sight. Bran’s gaze drifted down as he sighed. “Yes, a mender healed your feet from the Sands, now wash.”
Still speechless, I made my way to the bathroom.
I locked the door, slowly undressing, before sinking into the bath. The hot bath—and despite the growling ache in my stomach or the lingering headache, it might have been the most relaxed I’d ever been in my life.
The bathroom was my new favorite thing. A huge porcelain tub was carved into the floor, large enough to sprawl out in. I could lie completely flat, submerging myself under the water, and my feet still wouldn’t reach the other end.
A ridiculous amount of soaps and lotions lined the far shelf for me to choose from. I had no idea what scent I doused myself with except that it wasn’t jasmine. It was all Dahes ever gave me, all I ever smelled like, and I hated it.
There was a large mirror off to the side of the room, but I couldn’t get myself to look. I was a coward. I didn’t want to know how much I changed in the seven years I’d been his slave. Wasn’t ready to see the physical toll he caused me.
So instead, I turned the knob to the absolute hottest temperature the water could go. My pale skin had turned bright red by the time I got out of the bath, but I didn’t care.
I’d heard exiled Vivenians complain about the cold, how they claimed Wielders had Tokens that worked with the plumbing.
Heat happened instantaneously instead of having to use fire and coals.
I used to dream about it, used to imagine what it would be like to have warmth at the snap of your fingers, but to actually experience it…
I couldn’t tell if I wanted to laugh or cry or scream from how glorious it felt, knowing that it wouldn’t last.
A soft peach robe was draped over the side of the bath, waiting for me. I pulled the dress I was wearing back over my head before yanking the robe on top and nearly sighed.
Between the warmth the suns added to the air, the thick comforter on the bed, the scalding hot bath I just took, and now the robe…
I hadn’t felt this warm, this comfortable, this clean…
in my entire life. In Moriann, I was always cold, but the past seven years had been something else entirely. I was numb. Frozen. Dead.
“What part of ‘we don’t have a lot of time’ did you not understand?” Bran’s voice shouted through the wood.
I unlatched the door, pulling the robe around me. “I’m ready.”
Bran started laughing, belly-curdling laughter. “You’re joking, right?”
I pulled the robe tighter. “There weren’t any other clothes in there—”
“And you thought a robe was fit to meet a king? Tell me you wouldn’t meet the Dead King wearing that?”
“The Dead King?” I asked.
“Yeah. The King of the Dead. The devil incarnate.” When I still didn’t say anything, he added, “King Dahes.”
My body revolted. He’d seen me in worse. He’d seen me wearing nothing. He’d been the one to remove all my clothes before—
“You aren’t wearing a robe, Nollie,” Bran said. “I didn’t think growing up in Moriann would make you incompetent, but here we are.” He huffed. “You’re naked under it for crying out loud.”
“I never told you my name.”
He didn’t answer. “Come on. I’ll show you to your closet. You can pick a dress to wear.”
“I’m already in a dress.”
“No, Nollie. That’s a robe—”
He stopped talking as I slowly rolled the robe off my shoulders. “See. I have a dress on under it.”
“Oh my two fucking Suns. You did NOT just put your dirty dress back on.” Bran started cursing and swearing profusely, begging the Goddesses for all the help in the world as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
I blanched. I never dealt with this before. In the streets of Moriann, you only wore what was on your back, and if you wanted to risk it, you could wash in the Adrian Ocean, but most didn’t.
And with Dahes—I didn’t get to pick out what I wore, never had to think about it. Whatever he wanted me to wear would be neatly folded on my bed, so when I saw the robe, I thought…
“Come on,” Bran sighed as he grabbed onto my arm, or tried to.
My Token manifested, and he tripped forward through air.
His gaze snagged on me the second before he caught himself.
I was gray, completely transparent, barely there.
He straightened, taking me in and trying not to have his dark eyes bulge out of his head.
His throat cleared. “Follow me. I’ll show you to your closet.”
Bran had to repeat five times that I could wear anything I wanted as long as it wasn’t a robe. There were hundreds of dresses taking up the length of the room, all different styles, different cuts, different fabrics. He left, giving me privacy to pick out a gown and change.
I reached for a simple, pale blue dress with long sleeves, and I loved it. The only part of my skin still exposed was my neck, hands, and face. It was the complete opposite of the see-through slips Dahes forced me to wear.
“Okay. I know I said you could wear anything, but you might want to rethink your choice,” Bran said as he came back into the closet.
“Why?” I asked. “I love this one.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it suits you, but that’s more of a lets-go-for-a-stroll-in-the-garden-where-no-one-will-see-me dress rather than a I’m-about-to-dine-with-the-fucking-king dress.”
I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t care about impressing another king, all I needed was to stay here long enough to find out information on Hael. “If I can wear anything I want, then I’m wearing this,” I said, not backing down.
Bran sent another curse to the Suns before he finally led me out of the room to dine with the King of Viven.