Chapter Fourteen Lore
FOURTEEN
Lore
PRINCE SLOTH, KING of brooding, assassin of fun, enemy of a good time, certainly knew how to slaughter the mood.
The famous—and mind-blowingly delicious—lager I’d downed suddenly didn’t make me feel so relaxed, and my bathwater sent shivers racing along my spine.
I wished he’d saved his “end of the realms and portent of doom” speech until after I’d finished soaking.
I was having a really difficult time accepting this twist.
My muscles were wound tighter now than when I’d first gotten into the tub.
“To sum this up, you’re saying the old gods punished one of their own by binding her magic into a book, banished her here—to this realm where she can still manipulate dreams and nightmares—and if I don’t somehow manage to beat it in Trials that test my darkest fears—with magic I had no idea I had—then you’ll die and I’ll what?
Be stuck here like a mindless puppet for the goddess and or her dark book to use to create more nightmares to torture humanity with? ”
The grin he flashed reminded me why I initially thought he was a sociopath, especially with the addition of his black eye.
“More or less.”
“Try not to look so excited about mass casualties; you’ll scare the children.”
He chuckled softly.
The sound was deep and rumbling and perfectly distracting.
Gods. There was something different about him tonight.
He was not quite so cold, and the fact that he was capable of having a real conversation and joking was messing with me.
I knew he was trying to distract me, probably because he thought I might drown myself in the tub after the revelations, but still.
The sociopath was, dare I say, pleasant when he smiled.
He was either about to turn into the villain or I was fast approaching a different kind of danger.
I really needed to stop thinking about romance novels during inappropriate times, but the more I tried to ignore them, the more my devious mind sent images from my favorite books waltzing through my brain.
They were my preferred form of escape, so it made sense that I’d keep latching onto them while under so much stress. And I was wildly stressed.
I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes, begging my brain to take a day off. The traitor would do no such thing.
A parade of debauchery marched by with me proudly twirling a baton in the lead. I prayed to whatever god watched over lunatics to end my suffering.
“You’re intelligent and quick-witted.”
Sloth’s unexpected compliments yanked me straight out of my spiraling thoughts.
“You have a keen understanding of books. And you have an exceptionally sunny disposition, even under duress. You’ll be a force to be reckoned with once you’ve harnessed your power.”
I wasn’t sure if the rumors about the Princes of Sin not being able to lie were true, but I comforted myself by believing they were.
Bolstered by my newfound praise kink, I sat straighter in the water.
I loved stories with my whole heart and soul. And if that played a key part in winning these Trials, maybe I could succeed.
I would do anything to keep my family safe. My village. My beloved library and my book club. Blake and Agatha, Fable… I couldn’t imagine a world without them in it. That would be a true nightmare.
It was time to stop panicking and doubting the strange new circumstances I found myself in.
On second thought, this seemed to dovetail with the quest the old woman had offered me.
Regardless of who was pulling the strings, the fact remained the same: I needed to overcome my fears and then life would be good.
Where Lord Stoic failed at gently passing along bad news, he gave an exceptionally good motivational speech.
I felt like a soldier ready for war, as long as I ignored the fact that I had no uniform or weapon.
“So… how do I make a mental shield?”
He gave me an appraising look.
“Imagine your mind as a fortress with an impenetrable wall around it. Some envision building a wall of water instead of a stone wall—it’s ultimately about creating a barrier.
It will come naturally to you. You just need to seek out the divide and reinforce it.
The trick is believing in it, wholly. No doubts, no distractions. ”
“Build an imaginary wall. Have complete faith in said wall. Simple.”
The lies I told myself were truly astounding. But I decided it was best to fake it until I believed my own tall tales.
Sloth arched an imperious brow.
Right. Time to make my mind a fortress. Possibly one with a moat.
I closed my eyes, forcing my thoughts to still.
It took longer than I’d anticipated to center myself.
I hadn’t realized how much my mind constantly spun with images and daydreams and random information. But once I did, it was much easier to picture the divide the prince had mentioned.
I’d always had an active imagination.
Something that would’ve been a glaring indicator I was a dreamweaver if my family had known to look for the signs.
Which made me wonder again how in the realms I ended up with this power and they didn’t.
Fable seemed like he would be much more capable of slaying the dragons of the world.
Or even my parents. It was hard to fathom that I was the one with a secret power.
That this adventure was, for better or worse, my chance to live my best main character life.
I thought of the old woman at the caravan again.
How had she known magic flowed through my veins when the people I was closest to had no idea? And did she know if my quest and these Trials were linked?
That had been quietly bothering me, but the mystery would need to be solved after I learned to shield my mind. Sloth hadn’t seemed fazed when I’d mentioned a quest, and he seemed to know a lot about this realm and situation.
I forced myself to focus on the task at hand.
I used my innate skill at daydreaming to visualize a pile of smooth, flat stones.
I figured they’d be easier to stack, and I was nothing if not practical.
Step one in building an imaginary wall complete; I now had supplies.
I hefted the first stone and laid it where I was pretty sure my natural barrier began.
For some reason, I pictured it like a wall surrounding a stone country house with a large yard of wildflowers and dreamy pale blue shutters.
Very provincial.
At the last minute I added a tower to each side since the sociopath seemed to feel strongly about it being a “fortress.”
I bet there was a library inside one of the turrets, complete with a rolling ladder and spiral staircase.
Before I decided to check out the nonexistent books, I wrangled my thoughts back to the wall outside.
Mass casualties. Complete destruction of the realms. It was amazing how fast that reminder put pep in a girl’s mental shield-building step.
Without further distraction, I added stone after stone to the wall around my mind, working as quickly and diligently as I could.
I was wholly focused on my task, determined to succeed.
If I paused for even a minute, I feared I’d start panicking about the stark reality we faced. I couldn’t be the reason my family or world met a horrific end.
When the pile of supplies grew small, more stones magically appeared.
It took a while, and I swore I mentally broke a sweat by the time I finally added the last stone in my modest wall, but it was done.
Fists planted on my hips, I spun in a slow circle, taking in the new barrier that surrounded the entire perimeter of my imaginary country estate fortress.
I prodded the nearest section with the toe of my boot, relieved when it didn’t topple.
Thank the gods that was done. I might just survive the evil book’s power and save the day after all.
I opened my eyes and blinked back my surprise.
Outside the world had darkened and a single candle flame danced in a sconce I hadn’t noticed mounted on the wall by the door.
Shadows stretched from the corners of the small room, spreading inky fingers across the floorboards.
I must have been lost in my daydreams of wall building for hours.
My attention drifted to the bed and halted.
The prince was lying back on the mattress, his arms folded behind his head, his focus resting solely on me. His eyes glinted from a swath of moonlight that carved him out of the darkness like a silver blade.
He was so breathtakingly… dangerous.
To avoid accidentally dragging us into a romance novel, I skimmed over the triangle of tanned skin peeking out from where his tunic had been loosened.
I definitely didn’t notice how hard his tattooed chest appeared or think about how safe I’d felt when he’d been wrapped around me last night.
He was a master at masking his expression, but I noticed a few details that hinted at his mood.
His pale hair was tousled more than it had been during the spider attack, like he’d been running his fingers through it the whole time I’d been playing build-a-wall in my brain.
To an outside observer, his position would probably seem relaxed, but I sensed an undercurrent of tension roiling through him as he kept that sharp gaze locked on me. He was wound so tightly I feared he might snap.
I pretended like his worry didn’t worry me.
“Done?”
“Done.” I tapped my temple and offered him a wide smile. “I bet even you can’t get past this mental roadblock.”
A devilish spark ignited in his eyes, banishing some of the tension from his body in an instant.
“Are you inviting me into your mind, little dreamweaver?”
Absolutely not. It’s a terrifying place.
“Like a vampire? Sure, come on in. If you can.”
I could seriously kick my own overconfident mental ass.
Taunting a Prince of Sin to magically invade my mind wasn’t one of my finer ideas. But—like I’m sure he’d intended it to—his newest pet name got me all riled up, and I’d decided to dive headfirst into his villainous clutches anyway.
“Do you need to hold my hand to form a connection or—”
An electric bolt shot through my body, making me suck in a sharp breath.
I jolted forward, splashing water onto the floor, and scowled at the deviant.