Chapter 17
Arm in arm, we stepped up to the entrance, pausing at the top to absorb the magnificent sight—the face of the castle so wide we couldn’t see either end. Pale stone walls towered high into the sky, and I had to crane my neck to spot the tips of the spires.
The deep-chestnut doors swung open in a slow arch, so large three men were needed to push them ajar. An incredulous giggle escaped me at the sight. Extravagant and excessive. Everything I had learned to expect from the King of Torglea.
Eleanor released me to rush through the open doors, but I walked slower, taking in every detail of the black iron embellishments decorating the timber. It was molded into Terym’s house crest, the eagle’s wings stretched over the width of the double doors.
When I finally pulled my gaze from the intricate design, I froze.
If I thought the large doors were ostentatious, the entrance hall was beyond words.
Pale stone floors so polished my reflection shone back at me, and walls covered with exquisite colorful tapestries depicting a variety of scenes from our history. Wars. Sickness. Even magic.
Two staircases rose on either side of the room, curving in a wide arch to meet at a large mezzanine overlooking the massive room and leading to the next level.
The ceiling made the room truly magnificent, a high dome with intricate molding and dominated by an enormous iron chandelier, black like the iron decorating the doors.
I spun in a slow circle as I took it all in, the room buzzing with the arrival of our party.
Servants and nobles filled the space, greeting the king and his lords.
I drifted to the walls to study each of the tapestries, drawn to one partially hidden beneath the large staircase.
A soldier in a blood-strewn battlefield.
I thought it was a life-size depiction, but the soldier rode a horse so large it couldn’t be real.
I had never seen a beast of that size. Its black coat shimmered with sweat and speckled blood, muscled forelegs lifted off the ground.
The man on his back pointed a sword forward.
Something about his face was oddly familiar, twisted in a fierce expression of determination and rage.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” I released a small squeak at the king’s voice, clutching at my chest to stop my heart from jumping out of it. Heat flushed my cheeks at Terym’s wry amusement to my reaction.
He nodded to the tapestry, surveying it with his arms behind his back. “The Fortenax was the King of Beasts. A breed so strong they could move mountains. At least, that’s what they say.” He chuckled, and I forced a small laugh of my own, willing my heart to slow into a more reasonable beat.
“Were they really that big? The horses?” I asked, it was unbelievable an animal so large could have existed.
“History tells us so. They were bred for war and endurance to travel longer distances than regular horses. It’s said the Kingdom of Galisordis was forged on the back of the Fortenax, and only with the extinction of their breed did it eventually fall.”
“And the man?”
“A forgotten king, in a forgotten war.” Terym waved his hand, turning his back to the magnificent tapestry. “Come, my dear. I’ll show you to your rooms.”
We joined Harkin and Eleanor in the center of the room, whose discussion cut off at our approach.
Together, we headed up the staircase where servants lined the wall of the mezzanine.
Terym snapped his fingers to summon one, and the woman who approached curtsied low when she reached us, her navy skirts brushing the clean floor.
“Please show Miss Eleanor to the Raven Wing. She will be staying with us for some time and will join the other students.” Acknowledging her orders without a word, the woman curtsied again and led Eleanor down a hall to the right.
“We’re not staying in adjoining rooms?” I asked when we didn’t immediately follow, dread filling my chest and settling in my stomach.
“Oh no, I have a very special room set aside for you.”
Harkin cleared his throat. “Fear not, Miss Adelia. I will be on the same floor as the Raven Wing. I’ll keep an eye on Eleanor.” That didn’t ease my anxiety at all. Before I could respond, he uttered a formal goodbye and followed Eleanor, with another servant trailing him.
“Come.” Terym took off down the hall opposite with long, purposeful strides, and I hurried after him.
“My king, I’m sure these rooms are beautiful, but I would prefer to be closer to Eleanor.” I despised being separated. In a building so large and heading to opposite ends, we would be very separate.
“Your sister is quite safe within my castle. You need not worry.”
“I understand that, but I would feel much better with her close by. She can even stay with me.”
Terym spun around, the barely concealed rage splashed across his features stunning me into silence. His cold blue eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. He had never directed that expression at me before.
“Do not question me, Adelia.”
I swallowed thickly and inclined my head, now wasn’t the time to make this argument. I could try again later. “Of course, my king.”
He started down the hall again, and I followed, barely taking in the beautifully decorated halls as we got farther and farther from Eleanor.
The castle was a maze of corridors. I wouldn’t be able to find my way back to the entrance hall, let alone wherever the Raven Wing was. I would have to enlist Wista’s help to keep an eye on Eleanor and Harkin. It seemed a little too convenient that he found himself on the same floor as my sister.
Ahead of us, Wista waited in front of two white doors beautifully decorated with intricately painted small golden birds. Some were mid-flight while others perched on delicate branches with equally delicate gold leaves. A plaque fixed to the wall beside the doors read Dove Suite in elegant script.
She opened the doors at our approach, and Terym glided through without acknowledging her.
I shuffled behind him, flashing her a tight smile as I passed.
We entered a small foyer, a circular room opening into a large sitting room, bigger than the entirety of Port’s Tavern, with those delicate golden birds spotted sporadically along the crisp white walls.
To the right, sat a table large enough to fit ten, and to the left, several gold chaise lounges circled a luxurious white rug.
I walked in on a daze, the back wall beckoning me closer. Made entirely of stained-glass windows, the center panel featured a beautiful red-haired woman, a color contrasting vibrantly against her deep-green dress, her face ethereal in her beauty, eyes closed as if in immense pleasure.
More golden birds dotted the glass, and every one decorating the walls flew in the direction of the window, flocking to the beautiful woman as if she entranced them with her presence alone.
I hovered my fingers over the birds perched on her outstretched arms. Sunlight streaked through the panes, reflecting dancing colors along the white walls. Making it clear why white was chosen; any other color and you would lose the beauty of the reflections.
“Leave us.” Terym’s command pulled me out of my admiration of the exquisite room. Three women, along with Wista, filed out the door, all of them dressed in neat blue uniforms. My pulse beat an erratic rhythm, and I counted to ten in my head. Did he finally want to discuss his plans for me?
The king joined me beside the window and nodded to the beautiful woman. “Ammoraelis, Goddess of Earth.”
I internally cringed away from the Giver of Love. She was the last thing I needed right now, not with my insane attraction to a mysteriously intriguing man currently residing in the humming lamp in my right pocket. To the king, I said, “She’s beautiful. It’s all beautiful.”
He hummed, gazing out the window to the manicured garden beyond, the flower beds set in a design of swirls and shapes. Men plotted between them, trimming hedges or pulling weeds, with some even picking the last of summer’s lingering fruit.
“There is something I wish to discuss with you.” He motioned to the closest lounge, and we settled onto it. He was close, far too close.
I shifted away from the heat radiating off his body. The sour scent of stale pipe smoke tickled my nose, and I tried not to sneeze. Terym pulled my hands into his, rubbing the inside of my wrist with his thumb. The unwanted touch soured my stomach.
“As I’m sure you know, I was married once, to my dear Jade.
She fell ill several years ago, a terrible sickness that weakened her body until it eventually gave out.
” His unreadable face settled on mine, and sweat gathered in our joined hands.
Where was he going with this? “My greatest regret is that she could not provide me with an heir before Mobitus took her.”
If he noticed the way my body stiffened at his words, he didn’t show it. “Enough time has passed now that it is appropriate for me to remarry.” The gossipmongers were right after all, King Terym was indeed searching for a new bride. “Finding a suitable wife is important, as I still need an heir.”
My pulse throbbed loudly while my heart drummed against my ribs. He couldn’t mean …
“You are of ideal child-bearing age—”
“I’m not. I’m twenty-five.” And I refused to have a child. Not when my responsibilities were wrapped up in caring for my sister.
His grasp on my hands tightened, and he bit out through clenched teeth. “Do. Not. Interrupt me.”
My shallow breaths quickened and my body trembled. I was barely able to hear his words when he continued, “You control the power of the lamp. You command my new army. And you will have my heir.”
I ripped my hands from his, standing to put distance between us as hot tears stung my eyes. I had been trying to play this carefully, to give him what he wanted while I found a way out. For me. For Eleanor. But he had been making plans of his own. Plans that would tie me to him forever.
No. Not me. The lamp. Shade and the wishes he could grant. That was all Terym wanted, forcing me to have his heir was just a benefit of securing them.
“If I bear your heir, I won’t be a virgin, you won’t be able to make your wishes.” At least, that was a stipulation Shade spoke of when he was first released.
She who has remained true to the Giver’s virtue.
I had to be a virgin to make the wishes.
Terym’s lips crooked into a wicked smirk. “Won’t I?”
He knew something I didn’t; there’s no way he would risk access to Shade’s wishes so I could carry his heir. He could have any other woman.
My stomach roiled with the thought of being married to him. Of him touching me the way a man touched his wife. I doubled over as the next wave of nausea took me with visceral force.
I had submitted to him from the moment he asked—no, forced me to break the curse. But this … I wouldn’t give him this.
I managed to straighten, my vision blurring with unshed tears.
“No.”
My voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the denial, the word hanging suspended in the air between us. All warmth in Terym’s blue eyes drained away, revealing something deep and dark, something he had kept hidden before this moment.
His true nature.
“No?” He seethed in a cool and deadly calm, slowly rising from the lounge.
I didn’t move; I couldn’t. Panic dug sharp claws into my soul, holding me frozen as malicious intent approached. Darkness filled the corners of my vision, my breathing nonexistent.
My head snapped to the side, and it took a moment to register the sharp sting blooming across my cheek. He moved so fast I hadn’t seen the hit coming, the shock of it dispelling the panic attack I’d been so close to succumbing to.
I stared at the king wide-eyed, my hand flying to my throbbing cheek. There was no remorse in the ice-blue eyes staring back at me.
A fist flew next, the force of it sending me to the soft white rug covering the ground. Spots danced in my vision at the impact, a result of pain, not panic. The king towered over me, a psychotic grin tugging at his lips as he looked down on me.
“I’m going to marry you.”
No.
Gripping my shirt, he wrenched me up until his face was level with mine, and spittle sprayed as he hissed vicious words. “I’m going to fuck your little virgin cunt.”
No.
“You’ll take my seed and give me an heir.” Another fist to my face sent me flying again. This time, a loud crack echoed when my skull hit the stone floor. The room spun, making it seem like several Teryms surrounded me.
He could hurt me, but I wouldn’t yield. Not to this. Not when the niggling in my chest, the one that always arose when faced with the chance to give myself to someone, sparked vigorously, screaming at me to refuse.
“No,” I croaked out, trying to blink the room back into focus. Four Teryms became one, and the snarling grin settling over his face sent icy fear flooding my veins.
“You will, or I will do worse to your sister.”
Then he struck me again.