3. Three
After a much-needed bubble bath, I get dressed for bed and walk to my room. The fireplace has already been lit, so my quarters are nice and cozy the second I step inside. I slip underneath the soft quilt and lay my head on one of the fluffed pillows, but instead of being able to relax, I find my mind is wide awake.
Did I make a mistake in agreeing to the king”s terms?
Could I have said something different or fought harder to make a more beneficial deal with him?
I”ve never been in the position of making bargains or political deals with anyone. Being the heir in title alone truly means nothing in the halls of kings and rulers. Although, I”m not entirely certain I could have made out any better than I did. My terms were simple: I wanted to stay in the Harland House, be given proper training at the School of Magic, and granted access to Calmara. King Soren granted all three of my requests.
I can”t go back to Midori until I get some answers, but maybe Atlas” concern should be reason to worry. It”s far too late for regret. I”m here now. I have classes to attend in the morning and when I can, I”ll be combing through every book I can get my hands on at Calmara.
Damn you, Atlas Harland.His reaction to the deal I made causes me to second-guess myself.
Even though I know I”ll probably be awake, staring at the ceiling for hours, I make myself comfortable in my bed, when I hear a tiny knock on my door.
I sit up and scrunch my drying hair a bit in hopes of making myself look decent, just in case it”s Atlas on the other side. ”Come in,” I say.
”Are you sleeping?” Eris pokes her head inside.
I smile and shake my head. ”No, I”m wide awake.”
”Good!” She opens the door wider to show me a red and white pinstriped rectangular box with a green ribbon tied around it from the pastry shop across the street. ”I thought you could use something sweet after the day you had.”
My mouth waters the second I see the pastry box from Treats and motion for her to come inside. ”Get in here before Nyx smells those!”
Eris barrels in and quietly shuts the door, so it doesn”t squeak and alert the snack-loving Harland brother at the other end of the hall. She claims the spot I pat on my mattress and once she is settled, she crosses her legs and places the box in her lap. She grins widely before opening the box, as if she”s a pirate showing off her trove of treasure. There are twelve perfectly sculpted pastries of sugary goodness staring back at me, and I have to restrain myself from snagging two and taking bites from one and then the other.
”Take one,” she insists, so I grab the one covered in chocolate drizzle and bite into the flaky morsel.
I moan and my eyes roll back in my head. ”This is so good. I swear I”ll gain ten pounds over the next week, if I”m not careful.”
”Gain the weight, girl!” Eris waves a flippant hand as she rips into a caramel topped pastry. ”You”ll still be gorgeous.”
I giggle. ”I”m sure a few people in Midori might argue with you on that, Eris.”
When I see her eyes water and notice that she stopped chewing, I realize I might have ruined the moment. I immediately clutch her hand in mine and squeeze. ”I say, we finish this box tonight and tell Nyx all about it in the morning.”
Eris laughs, the sound melodic and peaceful, and she nods in agreement. ”So,” she breaks the momentary silence. ”How did your meeting with King Soren go?”
I shrug, ”Like I told you and the brothers, it went as well as I could have expected.”
”How do you feel about what happened?”
”I”m scared,” I admit, and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. ”I feel this enormous pressure to make a lot of life altering decisions quickly, and I”m not sure what I”m doing.” I take another bite of the dessert and through a mouth filled with food, say, ”Atlas is of the opinion I made a mistake in agreeing to his uncle”s terms, but I don”t see what other choice I had. It was either agree or be shipped back to Midori and I…”
”What do you want, Shaye?” She asks when I trial off.
”Answers.” I meet her gaze and realize she”s only halfway done with her treat while I”ve already demolished mine. She offers up the box and I take one covered in raspberry jam, but I hold off on eating it. ”I just want the truth. I want to know who I really am, where I come from, why I have magic reserved for the Celestials, why I have Frost Elf features but Midorian parents.”
She pats my knee. ”It can be terrifying searching for the truth, and I won”t lie and tell you it will be smooth sailing, because it won”t. Eventually you will find what you seek, you”ll have your eyes opened, and it just might break your heart.”
”Well, that”s… comforting.” I suddenly lose my appetite.
”You find what you”re made of and what you”re truly capable of when there is no other choice but to rise. Your professors will be tough on you, especially with the type of rare magic you wield. When you train, you will be injured. When you discover the truth about your past, you might be crushed. But once you are equipped with what you need to survive, you will grow, and you will thrive.”
The corners of my lips tug upward. ”You seem to be putting a lot of faith in me, Eris Talay.”
”And I always will.” She smiles and rips another piece of her pastry between her teeth. ”So,” she says between bites, a mischievous look flashing in her blue eyes, ”tell me about Atlas.”
Without thinking, I blurt, ”He”s a pain in my ass.”
”Shaye.”
I groan, taking another bite of my food, before meeting her knowing glare. ”What about Atlas?”
”Come on, Shaye. Clearly there is some kind of tension, some attraction between you two.” She uncrosses her legs to wiggle into a more comfortable position before saying, ”Everyone can sense it.”
”There”s nothing to tell.” I lean back against the stack of pillows piled against my headboard and stretch my legs out in front of me, crossing at the ankles.
Eris rolls her eyes and huffs, ”Fine. Keep your secrets.”
”What secrets?” I laugh. ”There”s nothing going on between me and Atlas other than the occasional argument.”
Another knock sounds against my door and before he says anything I already know who”s standing on the other side. ”I smell Treats,” Nyx whispers loudly.
”Come on in, you bloodhound.”
Nyx opens the door with a smile, notices the box, and stretches across the bed on his belly. ”Am I interrupting something?” He snatches a pastry from the container Eris extends, tears a piece and pops the tiny morsel in his mouth.
”We were just talking about what”s going on between Atlas and Shaye.” Eris”s eyebrows bounce playfully.
”Nothing is – ”
”You mean the crazy sexual tension between them?” Nyx interrupts with food in his mouth. ”Yeah, everyone has noticed, Kitarni. That carriage ride alone was brutal.”
”I told you!” She points an accusatory finger at me, triumph written across her face.
”Eris!”
”Oh please!” She waves a dismissive hand. ”Nyx caught you two sleeping together and saw you holding hands in the carriage to the castle. I”m just waiting for you to kiss.”
Memory of our shared kiss in the Bavan Brothel District flashes in my mind, but I don”t say anything. Instead, I take another bite of the raspberry pastry, wiping the jelly that squirts down my chin with the back of my hand. When I glance up at Nyx and Eris, I notice their mouths are agape. ”Why are you two looking at me like that?”
”Oh my stars!” Eris squeals like a child on their birthday. ”You”ve already kissed him, haven”t you?”
”Wait! What? I didn”t say that!” I attempt to divert the unwanted attention but fail.
”You didn”t deny it either,” Nyx chimes in, pointing his second pastry at me for emphasis.
”Whose side are you on?” I snarl at him.
”Honestly,” he turns to his side, smacking his lips and licking his fingers, ”I”m just here for the pastries. The drama is a bonus.”
”Tell us everything!” Eris claps her hands together, abandoning her half-eaten treat. ”I need details.”
Rolling my eyes, I realize they”re not going to let this go, so I surrender to their will. ”Fine. It happened in Bava –”
”In Bava!?” Her eyes widen.
”Let her tell the story, Eris!” Nyx swats at her, just as invested as she is in my tale. ”So, you kissed him in Bava. And?” He motions a hand for me to continue.
”Technically, he kissed me.”
”Where?” Eris clutches my blanket in her white-knuckled grip, gaze pinned on me.
I finger through my drying hair, and nervously start braiding it. ”When we were running from Vesper, we found ourselves in the Brothel District, and he pulled me into a dark alley and kissed me. It was just so we could blend in with everyone else. There is nothing more to it.”
After a second”s silence, Nyx asks, ”Did you kiss him back?”
I open my mouth, a lie ready at the tip of my tongue, but nothing spills out. My words have once again abandoned me.
”Hot damn, you kissed him back!” Nyx smacks his hand against my mattress. ”I didn”t think you had it in you, Kitarni.”
”How was the kiss? Was it good?” Eris speaks over him, clearly wanting more details than what I”ve already offered.
”I think you two are forgetting I”m engaged.” What a flimsy excuse. Even though I no longer have any intention of going through with marrying Bastian, I still feel this sense of loyalty to him. After all, he”s all I”ve ever known since I could even comprehend the idea of marriage. It was always supposed to be me and Bastian until the day we breathed our last. Now, there”s a good possibility that we might end up on opposite sides of a war between realms.
”Wait!” Nyx”s voice slices through my thoughts. ”That”s still a thing?”
Eris swats his chest with the back of her hand and scoffs.
”What?” He furrows his brow.
”Leave her alone,” she chastises.
”Listen, if my fiancé was hell bent on releasing an ancient demon king and sent Soul Eaters after me, I might reconsider tying myself to them for the rest of my life.”
”You”re one to talk.” Eris rolls her eyes. ”You”ve had one night stands act just as rashly.”
”And did I marry any of them? No. Thanks for proving my point.” Nyx shakes his head before turning his focus back to me.
”I know you both mean well,” I speak before Nyx has a chance, ”but even if everything you say about Bas is true, I won”t stop caring about him overnight. He”s the only man I”ve ever loved. Giving him up is like giving up my home. I”m not sure I can yet. At least, not until I”ve had a chance to talk to him; to hear his side of the story.”
”What about Atlas?” Eris” question feels like a slap to the face. ”You”re at the very least attracted to him.”
I bob my head, sitting up straight, abandoning the rest of my dessert. ”I suppose there”s no denying that, but I don”t know what I”m doing or what I want. Atlas and I are becoming… friends.”
”Your eyes light up when you hear his name. It”s gross.” Nyx smirks.
”We aren”t saying you should forget about Bastian and be with Atlas but – ”
”That”s exactly what we”re saying,” Nyx cuts Eris off, and she shoots him a menacing glare.
”You”re not helping.”
Ignoring the Sea Elf, Nyx places his hand on my ankle to garner my undivided attention. ”When you close your eyes and picture yourself in the future. Who do you see by your side? Bastian?” He frowns and says with obvious disgust. ”Or Atlas?” He smiles with a cheerful tone.
”Wow, Nyx.” Eris shakes her head. ”Way to be impartial.”
He slaps a hand to his chest before hopping up off the bed. ”I thought I showed great impartiality. If I were you, Kitarni, I”d take a chance on the unfamiliar, and I”m not just saying that because Atlas is my brother. You both deserve to be happy.”
”And you think Atlas would make me happy?” I ask, truly curious to hear his answer.
Nyx ponders a moment before bobbing his head. ”I think you”d make him happy, too.” Snatching one more pastry on his way out, he tips his head and says, ”Good night, ladies. Thanks for the midnight snack.” With one final wink, he slips out of my bedroom, and we don”t speak again until we hear his door close at the opposite end of the hall.
”I suppose I should head to bed, too.” Eris stretches her back, before slipping off my mattress. ”I”ve got to get back to work tomorrow.”
I knew once we came to Tronovia, the Harland brothers and Eris would go back to their regular routines, but I never gave much thought to what they all did during the day as an average citizen.
”Where do you work?” I ask.
She smiles, ”At Finn”s apothecary shop. I”m his assistant.”
I don”t know what I was expecting her to say, but being Finn”s assistant wasn”t it. ”Really?”
She picks up the almost empty box of pastries and offers it to me once more, but I decline. I couldn”t possibly fit another bite in my stomach.
”I thought about finding a job where we wouldn”t be together all the time,” she explains with a shrug. ”I figured Finn would grow tired of me. Working together, living together, going on the occasional mission together, but so far, so good. We just seem to enjoy one another”s company.”
”Can I ask you something?” My heart beats rapidly just thinking of asking her such a personal question, but my curiosity gets the better of me.
”You can feel free to ask me anything! That”s what friends do.” She sits back down on the bed.
Once I”ve gathered the courage, I ask, ”Do you have feelings for Finn?”
Her eyes widen slightly, as if she”s been caught, but she recovers quickly, masking whatever feelings she harbors behind a sweet smile. ”We”re just really good friends.”
I might not have mastered the art of deception yet, but I can spot a liar. ”It seems like you two…” I pause, knowing I need to proceed with caution on this touchy subject. ”I don”t know. It seems like both of you are repressing your feelings for each other.”
Eris takes a moment to mull over my words before responding. ”Don”t get me wrong, Finn is handsome, but we”re just friends. Not much more to it.”
I desperately want to argue with her, pointing out everything I observed between them on our journey through Bava. All the adoring glances, the whispered conversations, how Finn would watch her every move with a longing or how Eris would know exactly what Finn needed before he asked. They spoke volumes with just one look. But I keep all of that to myself. Eris is either in denial about her feelings, keeping them private, or there”s a slim chance I”ve read both of them completely wrong and there really is nothing going on between them.
I bob my head and smile. ”I”m glad you two are friends.”
”Me too,” she returns my smile. She pats my leg before standing up again. ”Get some sleep, Shaye. You”ll need it.”