24. Chapter 24
24
Chapter 24
Violet
The pastries filled the air with a fruity scent and intertwined with the faint scent of violets coming from the garden. That was the only enjoyable part of breakfast today.
I readied myself early this morning and rang for Yara well before she would have brought me breakfast. I wanted to eat with Bronwen. I shouldn’t spend the limited time I had here wasting it in my room. Even if we stayed in touch after I went home, it wouldn’t be the same as the days spent here with her, and in the years to come I didn’t want to regret my time here.
I wasn’t even sure if Bronwen sat down and ate a formal breakfast, or if she had other plans, but I had hoped, at least, that I could join her in whatever she was doing.
Instant regret.
She ate breakfast with Adar. Her brother. Her twin .
I still didn’t understand it. Even if they weren’t fae like she said, and their actual appearance was hidden—for whatever reason that could be—it didn’t change their polar opposite personalities.
I didn’t know why she would choose to start her day with such darkness and gloom or how she managed to stay in high spirits after spending an hour with him.
I didn’t think I could.
We ate on the patio that overlooked the garden. I would’ve expected to be cold from the lack of sun rays and the cool breeze in the air, but it was refreshing.
“Have you had any luck finding it on the castle grounds?” Bronwen asked Adar while she plucked a grape from the assortment of fruits sitting in the middle of the table and inspected it between her fingers.
His eyes shot up and looked at me before bringing his focus to Bronwen.
“She knows about the object. We can speak freely in front of her,” she said, never looking up from the grape that seemed so interesting to her. “I trust her.”
Bronwen trusted me. How could she possibly trust me when I kept my relationship with Calum from her? And I was still keeping secrets from her. She didn’t know how I knew about the object, yet she didn’t care.
She trusted me.
“Well, good for you, sis. But I don’t,” Adar said as he slammed his fists on the table before he stormed off.
“I’m sorry about him.” Bronwen looked at me as she reached for my hand.
“Why does he hate me? He doesn’t know me.” I didn’t understand it. We hadn’t even had a conversation and yet he had already formed his opinion on me.
“He thinks he does. But don’t give him a second thought. He can go brood in his room alone. It shouldn’t damper your day.”
She was right. His anger seemed innate, and I just seemed to get the brunt of it.
“So are you no closer to finding the object?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Adar.
She paused for a moment before simply shaking her head no.
“What will happen if you never find it?” I asked.
“He will be weak enough to kill. And I’m sure whoever is behind this will come forward to kill him themselves.”
My stomach dropped at what she said.
Bronwen sat up straighter as she said, “But don’t worry. If it comes to that, which it won’t because we will find it, but if it does, I will bring hell to this world before I let something happen to him.”
I didn’t know how she could do that, but I believed her.
After we finished eating, Bronwen left to do some finishing touches on the decor for Lulenacht, which was tonight, and I decided to go to the library.
I had not yet been able to explore the massive library the way I wanted to. The last time I was in there, I only made it through a few sections before Sebastian interrupted that. I wanted to read the title of every book that filled the two-story walls and find one that I could sit for hours and read—one that I hadn’t read before. Yara had only brought me books about the Night Realm and the rest of the volumes of the Book of Healers. I didn’t ask her for anything different because I already felt guilty for having her bring them to me in the first place.
I headed straight for the right wall this time and found one in the first section that sparked my interest just by the look of it. It was an older book, based on the wear on the binding. One half of the front was covered with etches of fire and the other half, water.
A few chairs sat at one end of the library. I chose the one tucked in the corner hoping that if anyone came in, they wouldn’t notice me so I could read undisturbed.
It told a story of two feuding tribes who were polar opposites. One tribe controlled fire while the other controlled water. They feuded for thousands of years causing mass destruction to the homeland they shared.
“Did you have enough alone time yesterday or are you going to kick me out of my own library?”
I had managed to get almost a quarter through the book by the time he interrupted me.
“I guess you can stay,” I said before I continued reading.
Silence filled the air, and I looked up, thinking he must have left or had gone to another part of the library.
Nope. He was just standing there, looking down at me.
“What?” I meant to say that with more of a bite than I did, but instead it was more of a murmur as his dusty-blue eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul.
“How’s your heart?” he asked with a smug look on his face.
I slammed my book shut. “Seriously?” There was the bite.
“Have you ever skipped a pill just to see what would happen?”
“Do you not see me trying to read a book?” I asked while I waved the book at him.
Ignoring my not-so-subtle hint to leave me alone, he said, “Have you, though?”
“Um, no. I do not wish to die.”
“But you won’t,” he said as he shook his head.
“Yes I will! My father said—”
“What your father said is bullshit. I,” he paused and let out a sigh before continuing, “I have spent countless hours contacting healers and reading bloody books trying to find proof. Proof that your heart is broken and that you need those pills.”
“And?”
“And the only explanation I can come up with is if your mother was human, and I don’t believe your father traveled through the Sea of Mavrola to fuck a human.”
I rolled my eyes.
“One day your eyes are going to get stuck like that.”
I shot him a glare.
“You should be spending any free time you have trying find the object that’s draining you instead of putting your nose where it doesn’t belong,” I said, looking back down at my book.
“Are you worried about me, love?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I snapped back.
Something crossed his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
“Can I please get back to reading my book in peace?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“Sure,” he said as he turned to the bookshelf right next to him and grabbed the first book he saw. He then took the seat directly in front of me before he opened it and started reading.
I waited for a moment, watching him to make sure he wasn’t going to say anything else before I started reading again. Nothing irritated me more than being interrupted while I was deep into another world of a book. After he seemed to have read a couple of pages of his book, I slowly opened my book and began reading where I had left off.
“I never asked you how your little shopping trip went with the witches.”
Before I could stop myself, I slammed my book shut and threw it at him. He caught it inches from his face, never taking his eyes off his own book.
“Was it not a good book?” he asked while bringing his eyes to meet mine with a look of concern.
When he saw the look I was giving him, the worry left his face, and he quirked a real smile.
I was reacting exactly how he wanted me to. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let him have the satisfaction. I remembered what he had asked me and decided to answer him before I let his little game aggravate me anymore.
“It was hell, which was expected. But what I didn’t expect was Bronwen showing up.”
“Oh, you saw Bronwen?” he asked, bringing his attention back down to the book in his hands. “Strange.”
My eyes narrowed as I said, “She told me you sent her.”
He stopped flipping through the book at my response but kept his focus on the book.
“You told me you’d protect me, so you sent her. Did you think they would hurt me?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Sebastian mumbled.
“Why didn’t you just kill Nathara and Lilian after you killed your father?” I asked. I didn’t even know where that came from. Their deaths would have made my life a lot easier. I wouldn’t be in the position I was in right now if they were dead. But would I really wish someone to be dead?
He brought his gaze to meet mine as he said, “Nathara was still in infancy. Do you really think that low of me that I would kill a faeling?”
With the look he gave me, I instantly regretted what I had asked. “No, I don’t. I’m just angry at my life. Why didn’t you just send them away, then? You could’ve sent them to Lilian’s home realm.”
“I’d rather have my enemies close to me. Where I know everything that goes on.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Nathara is the true heir. With her here, she has no connections, no one that would dare to go against me. If I sent her away, that would risk her gaining allies and she would attempt to come for me.”
“Do you not suspect Nathara could be behind your weakening powers? If she wanted the throne, that would give her means to hurt you.”
“Nathara and Lilian were the first I suspected, but they have done nothing but focus on this engagement since Calum’sfather died.”
“I just don’t understand. If you don’t want her out of your control, why would you make a deal for her to marry Calum?”
“Because the Mountain Realm does not believe in female Sovereigns. While every other realm’s line of succession goes to the firstborn regardless of gender, the Mountain Realm doesn’t believe a female has any claim to the throne because they are only meant for breeding and taking care of the house. Calum’s father was the only ally I had. He believed that even if I wasn’t legitimate, I was the only male heir, so it was my right to the throne.”
I was shocked at the last little bit of information he had given me. Sebastian knew Calum’s father personally? And if that was the case, did Calum’s father have a part in this engagement? I had assumed that this was all Celine’s doing, but maybe I was wrong.
Maybe this engagement was planned far before mine and Calum’s relationship began.
Sebastian continued, “So I feel with the values of the Mountain Realm, they would never support Nathara’s claim to the throne. They would just want her to submit, lie on her back, and make little Mountain Realm babies.”
I grabbed the book sitting on the small table next to me and began flipping through the pages. I needed something to focus on. We sat in silence for a while. It seemed like we both weren’t sure what to say after what he had just told me.
I now understood what the most powerful and feared realm wanted with a marriage alliance with our realm.
The only thing Sebastian needed was to be rid of the headache that Nathara and Lilian gave him, and the Mountain Realm was the perfect place to send them to.
Even so, it would have been simpler to kill them. Sebastian wouldn’t have had to deal with unwanted guests in his home or had to plan and pay for a wedding for someone he didn’t care about.
The shadow king wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Nathara and Lilian would be long gone. Maybe there was good in him.
Or maybe he saw the Mountain Realm as more torturous to them than death. Two ladies being forced into a life of submission where they would have to be given permission from Calum before they did something as little as buy a dress.
That would make more sense. If Sebastian knew Calum’s father personally and they agreed on some things, that could mean that Sebastian viewed females as objects. Objects used to satisfy male needs.
I got up and walked over to the wall of books to my left. I ran my hands down the binds trying to keep my focus on anything other than what I was thinking.
But I just couldn’t help myself.
“Since you had a friendship with Calum’s father, do you hold the same values as him?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“If you’re asking if I feel that females are less than, I don’t. Females are just as capable as males to rule kingdoms and to lead armies in battle. The only time a female should submit is . . .” he paused as he stood up and closed in the distance between us, “in the bedroom.”
He looked down at me and watched me squirm as a grin crept across his face. He knew what he was doing. He knew what to say to make me uncomfortable.
“Why do you always do that?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Do what?” he asked innocently.
“We have a normal conversation, and you say something like that to make it inappropriate,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Are you that naive, love?”
Butterflies formed in my stomach at his response. But before I could give it a second thought, I said, “I’m . . . with Calum.”
“And do you think he is the one that you can truly be happy with? As his mistress, while you watch him for the rest of eternity be in love with Nathara?”
“He doesn’t love her,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
“What?” He asked, taking a step back from me.
“He’s faking it. Nathara and Lilian found out Calum had a lover. Calum overheard them talking about how when they figured out who it was, they would kill her. So Calum started to fake being in love with her so they would stop looking for me.”
“So does he expect Nathara to immediately submit and not try to hurt you when you get back home? I know she will have to eventually, but she’s headstrong and it will take some time.” I stayed quiet for a moment too long. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed as he said, “What else are you not telling me?”
I looked down as I felt the tears form. I didn’t understand how I always got myself in positions like this with him.
“I thought we were past this,” he said as he gently grabbed my chin, forcing me to look back into his eyes. I knew I couldn’t lie to him.
A few tears fell from my eyes before I said, “Calum isn’t planning on following through with the marriage.”
“He doesn’t have much of a choice in that, love.” Sebastian stared at the tears on my cheeks before he raised his thumb and gently wiped them away.
“He’s the reason I know about your weakening powers. He overheard someone talking about it and he is trying to find the object. He hopes that you two can form an alliance without the marriage and that would be enough to satisfy Queen Mother and his council to get his throne.”
He paused for a moment before he said, “Do you honestly believe that if I can’t find the object, that he will be able to?”
His question forced me to think about something that I had tried to push away for so long. Something I knew deep down, but didn’t want to admit to myself.
Calum wouldn’t find it.
He would marry Nathara.