8. Chapter 8
8
Chapter 8
Violet
I had never been allowed to do anything but stay within the castle walls, read, and learn new things. My father didn’t let me leave, which never felt like a bad thing because there were plenty of places to explore within the walls. He was too scared that any little thing could cause too much excitement and cause my heart to stop.
He was also particular about the things I did within the castle walls. If he caught me running around or playing tag as a faeling, I had to stop immediately. I couldn’t do anything that would get my heart rate up, which left lying outside staring at the clouds, gardening (which was hard because I seemed to kill every plant I touched), reading, and working my mind.
Don’t ask me to play any type of sport but if you need a history lesson or want to learn a new language, I’m your girl.
It’s funny when I thought about it, though. My father forbade anything that could elevate my heart rate, but he couldn’t stop me and Calum. Calum could get me going with just one look.
Bronwen told me that I needed to change before we left because I would stand out with my Mountain Realm fashion, and she didn’t want to cause any unwanted attention. She told me I could borrow some of her clothes so we went to her chambers. I’d only ever worn dresses due to the Mountain Realm’s strict rules for females, and they were always simple, modest, and only in earth tones. Based on what I’d seen Bronwen wear so far, I was a little nervous about what she would pick out for me. She seemed to have no issue showing as much skin as possible.
“I’m not going to ask you to wear pants, even though that would be best. But we have to get you out of that awful brown dress,” she said as she started looking through the clothes in her obscenely large closet.
“What’s wrong with this dress?” I said as I looked down at my dress trying to smooth it out. “It’s one of my favorites.”
She immediately stopped moving hangers and turned around to look at me. She looked as if she was repulsed by what I said. “I know you’re from the Mountain Realm, but what was the vision? Dirt?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her remark. She never had an issue saying exactly what she was thinking. I needed to learn from her, but I knew it wouldn’t matter once we got back home. Even though I’d only been here for a few days, I’d gotten so comfortable around Bronwen.
Without overthinking my retort, I said, “And what was the vision with your leather outfit? Battle or sex dungeon?”
Bronwen’s mouth fell wide open. “Oh, I like this Violet,” she said as a smile grew on her face.
“I’d like to wear pants. Not leather pants. I think leather would be a little extreme for my first pair,” I said.
“You’ve never worn pants?” A look of both shock and pity replaced Bronwen’s smile.
“Mountain Realm. Remember?” I said while motioning to the dress I was wearing.
“It makes me sick just thinking about that misogynistic place.”
“It’s not that bad,” I said while thinking back to the life I had in the Mountain Realm. With Calum, I wasn’t held to the same standard as any other female in the realm would be. For the most part, I could speak freely and spend my days doing what I wanted. But I knew if I wasn’t with Calum, I would have had a completely different life.
I would be either betrothed to a male and spending my days preparing to become his wife, which meant learning how to care for a house, or I would already be married and doing everything possible to give my husband babies.
And honestly, neither one of those things sounded like something I wanted to do.
“Violet, it’s quite possibly the worst of the realms.”
“You’re saying that while we are standing in the Night Realm. The realm where your literal nightmares come to life,” I said while narrowing my eyes at her. How could anything be worse than what lurked in the darkness in the Night Realm?
“I would rather take my chances fighting demons than have to submit to a husband,” Bronwen said before she turned around and began looking through her closet again. Her words had hurt in them, like this issue was personal and something might have happened.
“How about this?” She turned around and held up a pair of black pants with pockets on the sides and a black long-sleeved shirt. They still looked like I was going to battle but at least they weren’t leather.
“Those are fine,” I said while grabbing the clothes from her. I went to her bathroom to change. Luckily, other than the height difference—Bronwen had several inches on me—we were the same size. I folded the bottom of the pants so they wouldn’t drag on the ground. I stood in front of the mirror and just stared at myself. I had never seen myself in clothes like these. They were so simple but so different. While the neckline of the shirt was high, so I wasn’t revealing anything, it was skintight. Between that and the pants, you could see every curve of my body.
I wanted to throw that dirt-colored dress in the trash.
“Violet, are you okay in there? I can get you a dress if you’d rather wear that.”
I opened the door, and Bronwen’s face lit up. “Damn, Violet! I never would’ve thought you looked like that under all that fabric,” Bronwen said as she moved her hands around, exaggerating the curves of my body.
Bronwen also gave me a pair of black boots to wear because she said my shoes would “ruin the look.” I asked her if we could avoid seeing my father on our way to the carriage because he was already upset about me going to town, and I thought my clothes would put him over the edge. I also didn’t want Calum to see me, but I couldn’t tell Bronwen that. At least avoiding my father meant avoiding Calum also.
Adar was waiting for us at the carriage. He was leaning on the carriage, looking the opposite way but Bronwen must’ve said something to him mentally because as soon as we got down the stairs he started fussing as he turned around.
“I’ve been waiting out here for damn near half an hour. What took—” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw that I was in Night Realm attire. Adar closed his eyes and started rubbing his head. “You’re just asking for trouble aren’t you, B.”
“He’ll get over it,” Bronwen replied as she walked past him and climbed into the carriage. I guess Adar really cared about my father. Must be some Commander Honor Code or something.
I quickly climbed into the carriage after Bronwen. I was too excited about going to the city to wait another minute. I sat next to Bronwen while Adar sat opposite us. He wouldn’t stop staring at me, like he was trying to figure something out about me. I wished I knew what he was thinking. I tried to ignore him by looking out the window, but I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.
Bronwen must’ve noticed because she kicked him. “Adar, will you stop? You’re creeping her out.”
“If my staring is bothering her, how do you think she is going to handle the city?” he shot back. They were talking about me as if I wasn’t there. I wasn’t sure if they thought they were mentally communicating or just that they were so caught up in their conversation that they didn’t care that I could hear them.
They continued to argue for the rest of the ride, so I just looked out the carriage window at the woods we were traveling through. The trees were very slim and looked like they were dead. There wasn’t an alive plant in sight. No greenery. No flowers. A fog covered most of the space between the trees, making it hard to see further into the forest. It was odd. It looked how I pictured the Night Realm, but it was nothing like the path we traveled down to get to the castle a few days ago.
When the carriage stopped, I waited for Adar and Bronwen to exit first. The city had a long road with buildings on either side. The outsides of the buildings were different shades of deep blues and grays. The windows and doors had wrought iron details, similar to the castle’s. Faeries in conversation with each other walked past us, not even glancing our way. I guess that was why Bronwen made me change. A Mountain Realm fae in Mountain Realm attire would cause attention this deep in the Night Realm, and I’m sure they wouldn’t be welcoming with open arms.
“So Violet, how do you know what a sex dungeon is?” Bronwen’s break of the silence took both me and Adar by surprise.
“What?” I asked.
“I mean I wouldn’t expect a modest Mountain Realm lady to know what a sex dungeon is.”
Adar whipped his head around as he waited for me to answer. Why couldn’t she had asked me this when we were alone?
“I . . . read a lot.” I wasn’t lying. I do read a lot. But I couldn’t very well say the real reason I knew.
“And to think you were about to sound interesting,” Adar said as he turned back around and began walking up the street.
As we walked through the city, I looked at every sign for each store and anything I could see in the windows. An apothecary, an art gallery, a cafe, and a few clothing stores. I had never seen any of these places before, and I wanted to observe every detail I could.
“I need to pick up a few dresses I had designed for me. One is for the dinner party tonight, and the others are for a few upcoming events we have.”
“I’m going to the bar,” Adar mumbled with the same look he’d had on his face since the first time I saw him. Like there was a stick shoved up his ass.
“I thought you came with us to watch over our delicate flower?”
Delicate flower. I’d only been called that one other time, and it was only a few hours ago by Sebastian. Had they talked about me? And if so, when did they even have the chance to talk about me? I had been with Bronwen almost the entire time since my conversation with Sebastian this morning. Was he the reason Adar came with us? Was he concerned for my safety?
“The bar is right next door to your dress shop. If danger interrupts your shopping, tell me and I’ll be right there.”
When Bronwen and I stopped at the entrance of the dress shop, Adar continued walking to the bar and went straight in, not even looking in our direction.
As we stepped inside the shop, I was overwhelmed by the dresses lining the walls. There were deep purples and blues on one side and the other side was full of black dresses. I went over to the black side and ran my hand down the dresses. There were so many different styles and materials, but they all had the same overall theme: fitted, revealing, and sexy. They were the complete opposite of anything I’d ever worn.
“You should get a few to wear while you’re here. I know you can’t wear them in the Mountain Realm, but it wouldn’t hurt to play dress-up while you can,” Bronwen said as she looked over my shoulder at the dress I was eyeing.
“Oh, I don’t have any money,” I said as I ran my hand down the beaded silhouette of the dress before me.
“It’s on me, Violet.”
I turned to look at her as I said, “I would love to, but I don’t think my father would be okay with me wearing something like this.” I didn’t really think my father would care. Unless it was something that would affect my heart, he was pretty lenient. I was more worried about Calum.
“Suit yourself,” Bronwen responded as she shrugged her shoulders and walked toward the back of the shop to a faerie with skeletal fingers that was busy working on a dress.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the dresses. They were so beautiful, and I knew that in the next few months I would be back home, and I’d never have a chance to wear something like this again. My mind kept going to Calum and how he would react to seeing me in something like this. He loved when I dressed to please him, but that was always when we were alone, in the privacy of his chambers. I knew he wouldn’t be thrilled about me dressing like this where others could see my body, but then I thought about his hands rubbing on Nathara’s body while she wore dresses similar to these.
It may have been immature of me, but I couldn’t help what I said next. “Actually, I think I would like to wear some of these dresses.”
Bronwen turned around and clapped her hands. “When in the Night Realm.” She winked at me.
Bronwen asked the faerie to pack up her dresses while she helped me pick a few. She then sent the faerie to the carriage with our dresses ahead of us while we slowly walked through the city.
“Are you hungry? We can go to the cafe before we go back to the castle,” she asked.
“What about Adar?” I asked while we were slowly getting farther from the bar. Even if I’d rather not be around him, I was so used to having a male around to protect me that it made me nervous being without one.
“I’ll tell him, and he can grace us with his presence when he feels ready.”
I nodded and continued looking at the buildings around us, taking note of every little detail.
“What is it?” Bronwen asked, noticing my mind was elsewhere.
“I’ve just never seen anything like this before,” I said while looking at the entrance to a small bookstore. I took extra time looking at the bookstore. A place where you can choose the books you want to read, unlike our library that was filled with books chosen by someone else. It had a warm, inviting feel to it, even from the outside. It was in a smaller building than the ones surrounding it with a glass door, worn wood framing, and two large windows on either side that peeked into a room filled to the brim with books.
“I’m sure this is completely different from the villages in the Mountain Realm,” she said as she smiled at the beautiful architecture that surrounded us.
“I wouldn’t know,” I mumbled as I looked closely at a stack of books near the window I was walking past. The Pleasant Place. An odd title for a book here, but nevertheless intriguing.
Bronwen stopped walking and turned to face me. “Wait, you’ve never been to a city?”
I brought my attention back to her as I said, “I haven’t stepped foot outside of the Mountain Realm’s castle walls since I moved there when I was a faeling. Well, until I left to come here.”
“That’s . . . tragic,” she said with sadness in her eyes.
“I grew up in a castle. I’d say that’s far from a tragedy,” I said, trying to reassure her.
“You see how many new things you’ve seen in the short time we’ve been out today? Imagine all of the things you’ve missed out on. There is an entire world out there far more beautiful than the castle you spent half a century in. To me, that’s a tragedy.”
I had never thought of it that way. My father always told me how grateful I should be to live in such a beautiful place where servants take care of me, and I was always protected. He always said that I wasn’t missing anything from the outside world. The only knowledge I had was from the books I read and the stories I heard. Reading about cities, clothing stores, and Night Realm faeries and creatures was nothing compared to experiencing it for myself.