Chapter 14 #2
“When I was younger, Aeric was assigned as the head of my personal guard. Apart from being captain, his duties also fell with protecting me since I am—was—to be the next in line to the throne. Until I started growing ill. The council having advised my father against seeing me in the case I would pass on my illness to him. Slowly but surely, I was left with no choice but to lock myself away in my chambers. With only the physician left to administer his treatments, and Aeric.”
When the kettle began to whistle, Castian stood and retrieved the pot.
Placing it atop a cloth on the table he poured them each a cup of steaming hot water, steeping the red dried berries and tea leaves long enough that a blood red color began to seep out.
The taste pleasantly sweet when she brought the cup up to her lips.
“One day, it was I who begged him to take my life,” Castian continued as he stared into the cup, watching the leaves swirl within.
Anelize stilled, his confession taking her by surprise.
“It is quite difficult being in so much pain, living in a body that does not feel like your own anymore. When it refuses to obey you. So I asked him, and he chastised me for a full day, even made me cry. If I was anything like my father, I would have had him cast out of the castle for making his prince cry as though he were a child.”
Anelize fought the smile that threatened to tug on her lips, despite the sad confession he’d just made to her. Why he’d told her of all people was beyond her. However, in no way did she take it for granted. Voicing such terrible things was incredibly difficult. She would know.
“It was then that Aeric revealed to me that he suspected it was not an illness I had contracted, but that I was being poisoned. At first, I’d refused to believe such a thing.
Until I remembered how truly devious my father’s council can be that I thought better on it.
Instead, we came up with a plan to get me out of Castle Rime.
Fabricated a story of how I disappeared into the night and simply ceased to exist. I am convinced that the passing of the blame to the Vedrans was all the council’s idea.
They do so enjoy stirring trouble where they can. ”
Anelize was silent for a long time, weighing his words.
“Anya, about your sister…” She tensed as she took another sip before slowly setting the cup down. “I heard how this all came to pass from Aeric. I am sorry for it. All of it. I know that Aeric also feels terrible about what happened to you two, especially after you saved his life.”
“He…mentioned us?”
Castian paused, as if realizing he’d said something he shouldn’t have.
“What I mean to say is that while your sister has been taken, I’m sure he’ll do everything that he can to ensure nothing truly terrible happens to her to the best of his abilities.”
“That is kind of you, Prince Castian. And while your optimism is something to be envied, I do not believe I can grant myself the luxury of hope at a time like this. This world hasn’t exactly been kind to the likes of us to afford it. Nor do I know if I can do so without knowing if she is alive…”
“She is,” came a voice from the hall.
Anelize stilled, heard the way her breath caught as she turned to find Aeric leaning against the doorframe. He wore a slate gray tunic and black pants; the strands of his black hair were wet as if he’d just finished washing. His eyes trained firmly on her.
“Aeric, when did you arrive?” Castian asked, his relief seeped in his greeting.
“Over an hour ago.” Aeric did not tear his eyes off her as he said, “Enid is alive.”
“Really?” She made to rise from her seat before stopping herself. Relief and hope came crashing down all around her at his words.
“Yes. I saw her last night tucked in one of the cells with other Vedrans. She is unharmed. Wellyn was there as well.” Such simple words, so easily said, yet they were capable of making the bleak world around her shift entirely. The sun rising over the horizon.
“She’s alive.” Her hand went up to her chest, and his eyes roved over her before returning to her face. Their eyes locked, held each other in a brief silent reassurance.
“I have no reason to lie.”
“Oh, thank the saints. You see, Anya? This is good news,” Castian said, but she could not bring herself to look away from Aeric.
It was not lost on her that he had no reason to care what she thought about him, but he had granted her a gift she would not trade for anything.
For that, she was grateful. More than he would ever know.
She’s alive.
“Well, I shall leave you two to continue your discussion. Castian, don’t forget Zara’s tonic,” he said as he pushed off the doorframe.
“Anya said she would make me a different tonic,” Castian chimed, as if that would get him out of drinking Zara’s bitter medicine.
“It is late. I doubt she’ll be making you anything tonight. Drink your tonic,” Aeric drawled over his shoulder, leaving no room for discussion. “Zara will be up with supper soon. Don’t give her a reason to chastise you.”
“You treat me like such a child,” Castian muttered under his breath as he turned to reach for one of the books on his table.
The prince hardly seemed to mind as she excused herself, already preoccupied with another story.
By the time she stepped out into the hall, Aeric was down the corridor and rounding the corner before she could catch up to him. Her pace quickened as she followed, only to gasp as she slammed into a hard chest. She stumbled back a step with a curse, rubbing her forehead with a scowl.
“Looking for me?”
Aeric’s eyes were bright with amusement as he stared down at her. Anelize was by no means short in stature but standing before this man—who was at least a head taller than her—made her feel as such.
She straightened as she dropped her hand back down to her side. “About Enid.”
“What is it?” he asked, his tone soft.
“Did you speak with her in any way?”
Aeric offered, “Nothing beyond how I’d usually speak to the prisoners.
The Vedran prisoners see me as the captain of the Watchmen, someone to be feared.
It does not matter how I wish for them to see me, that is all they can know.
Should they come to find that I am a Vedran, either they’d all try to kill me for being a traitor or give me up to the Watchmen to save themselves.
Desperation drives even good men to commit unspeakable acts. ”
Anelize reasoned that made perfect sense. With so much on the line, there was no room for error, none for a tender heart. That could be why Aeric was the one named captain in the first place.
Admittedly, she still couldn’t quite bring herself to see him in a better light, no matter how much the others appeared to praise him.
If not for the night they’d met, she doubted she would have seen him as anything other than a Watchman, even now.
Strange, how circumstances could change so much, and at the same time, not at all.
Taking that as answer enough for now, she murmured, “Thank you.”
He nodded, watching her step aside and walk past him when she heard his footsteps following behind her.
“How was training?” Her scoff made the corners of his lips tug upward when she glanced over her shoulder at him. “That bad?”
“You should really teach your friend on the importance of patience. I find him extremely lacking. No wonder he’s managed to step into the role of a Watchman.”
“Ah, the lack of restraint. It is no surprise why you two don’t get along. But you do know that the mastering of your power is dependent on you going to the castle.”
“Are you threatening me now?” she questioned flatly.
His answer came naturally with a shrug of his shoulders. “Not at all. Merely reminding you. Then again, you can, of course, choose not to come along. I can find another nevit somewhere around here, I’m sure. Found you easily enough.”
“I think you mean to say that it was I who found you. Being prideful doesn’t suit you, remember?”
“Mm, pride does seem to get in the way of one’s most inner desires. I’m sure you can’t relate to that, Temperance.” Aeric’s eyes flashed with amusement when she caught onto his meaning.
As they walked into the opened hall, they were met with the sound of lively voices chiming below.
“It’s not as simple as conjuring for me. It never has been,” she muttered below her breath, though she knew he could hear her.
He was quiet for a moment, taking her words in, before saying, “Every Vedran comes about their power at different moments. What’s important is to nurture it and learn how to coax it into becoming an extension of yourself, rather than having it obey mindlessly.
We all hear the call in our blood, but we choose when to answer it. ”
“It’s easier said than done. I just wish…I felt that connection the way you all seem to say I should. It feels as though something in me is missing. A piece I have yet to find. Or maybe I never had it at all.”
“Being a nevit is proof enough that you do.”
“You seem to be the only one who thinks so. Adan would gladly claim otherwise. Perhaps it is my ignorance that is getting in the way after all.”
It should have hardly come as a surprise, seeing as how she and Enid weren’t born amongst the Vedrans the way she assumed the twins or Aeric had been.
Their powers all but mastered compared to her.
In many ways, she felt just as much like an outsider amongst her own people as she did with the folk in the port district.
Leaving her to wonder if she wanted to be a part of either at all.
He stared at her for a long moment, then said, “Very well.”
“What?”
“If it is a connection you seek, an understanding for the Vedrans and what they’ve lost, I’ll take you.
Back to where it all began. For you to understand the true extent of what the king is capable of and the destruction he left behind.
But I can’t promise what you’ll see there will be all that pleasant. ”