12. Chapter 12
Chapter 12
M ore than a month goes by, the bright September turning into gloomy October. As usual, the first thing I do in the morning is check on Raven. I find her perched on the kitchen windowsill, gazing out at the sky.
“Morning, Raven,” I call out as I pad into the kitchen.
She turns to blink at me. “Morning, Anna,” she greets me in a flat voice.
For a moment, I just keep looking at her, sadness and helplessness knotting my insides. Then I walk over to her and hold one of the sticks from my stash out for her. If I’ve managed to figure out the criteria, it should be an especially tempting one.
And she does take it, but it doesn’t seem to bring her any joy.
It’s at that moment that a servant comes knocking on the door to give me the details for today’s dance lesson.
Realizing I’m risking running late, as soon as he leaves, I rush to start getting ready for work. I’m almost out the door, when I realize this is something that Orpheus should know as well, despite the fact he probably won’t show up.
No one’s told me much, but the royal wedding he and I will be attending is important for some reason. And it’s in less than a week, so I’m required to learn the dance everyone else seems to already know.
I turn on my heel and start walking in the direction of the workshop. It’s long before I reach the stairs leading up that I stop, feeling an urge to look to my left, into a room that’s like a half-furnished sitting room, with a single couch and a low table in front of it.
It surprises me, when instead of an empty space, I find one that’s occupied. There’s Orpheus, sleeping sprawled on the couch with one arm thrown over the headrest, barefoot and shirtless.
For a moment, I just stand there with unblinking eyes. Then this low, familiar sound snaps me out of it, and I spot Nymeria lying curled up on his lap, hissing at me as if warning me to stay away.
At the same time annoyed and endeared, I decide to indulge her. I rip a piece of paper out of my notebook and write the details of the dance lesson appointment on it.
I move to walk away, planning on leaving it on the kitchen table, when I spot Orpheus stirring from sleep. He opens his eyes, locking them with mine for a split second before I see the self-awareness kick in. He abruptly gets up, almost knocking the table over and making Nymeria let out a grumble as she darts off him. Clearing his throat and running his hand through his hair, he just stands there, frowning at me in confusion. I think it’s the first time I see him embarrassed.
Clearing my throat, I just walk over to him and hand him the piece of paper.
Then I leave the room, picking the pace up so as not to be late for my shift and finding myself thinking about my dreams.
I can’t exactly say I like it, that I’ve kept dreaming of Jericho in Orpheus’s body.
At the same time… I. Could. Not. Care. Less.
Those dreams are the closest I’ve felt to him in a long time, and now that they’re becoming more regular, I’m even getting more sleep and suffering through fewer nightmares.
Smiling, I keep walking in the direction of the Library.
My shift turns out to be an incredibly boring one. Students are still insisting on not letting me do any actual work for them, but on a regular day, they’re at least buzzing around the Service Desk.
Today, despite the First Round of Trials still being two whole months away, everyone seems to be at the first training session open for public.
I use the time to keep perusing my textbook.
It’s been a month and a half, and I still can’t get properly oriented while using Sight — which is blocking me from unlocking any of my Runes, but this particular book is proving to be of great help.
It’s like a spelling book for faes. You can only read it using Sight, and since everything is two-dimensional, it’s easier to get used to the way things work than diving straight into all three dimensions.
I only stop practicing my reading once my stomach starts rumbling. I walk out of the Library, go down the gallery steps and start crossing the Entrance Hall, where they’ve recently put up the Brothers Grimm statue.
And the hall seems to be deserted, but there’s still this sense of someone being here with me.
Frowning, I keep walking in the direction of the cafeteria.
Then, just as I’m about to pass the statue, I see that someone has vandalized it. I stop midstep, something nudging me to use Sight to take a closer look.
My jaw drops open when I see a couple of students spotting me and breaking into a sprint in the opposite direction. I yell out after them, but they’re long gone.
What surprises me even more, though, is when de Groot appears right in front of me, and I just keep using Sight, perfectly capable of doing everything I wasn’t so far. Determine exactly how far she’s standing, for example.
“What did you do to the statue?” she demands as she gets in my face.
“Nothing,” I protest.
She takes a step back, squinting. Then she relaxes. “Well, it was probably some hired hand of Urryse’s. She hates the Brothers.”
It’s not the comment that gives me pause. It’s the fact that she’s making it. She’s hesitant about ending the interaction with me, which gives me enough hope to try again.
I motion at the Brothers Grimm. “So does Baldur. In my timeline, he also vandalized the statue. In fact, he took over the Academy and made it his headquarters. Who knows what he’ll do once he manages to gain enough power.”
For one long moment, she just keeps looking at me. Then she glances around, making me spot the man walking across the Entrance Hall as well.
She pulls me into the hallway leading to the gyms. Then she takes a deep breath and asks, “What exactly would you need me to do?”
Unable to believe my luck, I just blink at her. Once. Twice.
Then excitement floods me and I launch into it. “Go into hibernation and wake up in a hundred and fifty years.”
Quirking an eyebrow, she lets out an exasperated sigh. “ And ?”
“Right,” I rush to say. “There will be an Opening Ceremony during which I’ll awaken my shifter powers. Don’t react straight away, wait until you can get me alone. Then tell me that I’m the Aurora, that Serra Naehorn is my enemy, and that Jericho Bane is my mate.” I pause to make the words sink in. “Make it very clear to me that by trusting Naehorn, I’ll end up losing the love of my life and letting Baldur run wild.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. Then she keeps observing me for a while. “I’ll need some time to get my affairs in order. How does December 1st sound?”
What the… “You’ll do it?”
“I’ll do it,” she says with determination in her voice.
“Yes,” I say with a vigorous shake of my head. “December 1st sounds great.”
*
Later that day, I go to the classroom where the dance lesson is supposed to be held. I find Sylmarilla, Farryn and the cousins already having started, a tall fae man giving them instructions. None of them will be attending the wedding and they all seem to know the dance already. They just want to have some fun.
I watch them twirl around the empty classroom, feeling nervous because this is not the type of dancing I’ve ever done in my life.
The instructor spots me and walks over to me with a smile on his face and a hand held out. I place my palm on his, put my other hand on his shoulder and give him a nod to start the lesson.
I quickly prove to myself that I was right about being nervous. All of a sudden, it’s like I have two left feet, and nothing my instructor is telling me is helping to correct that.
Just when I start wondering if the torture will ever be over, it gets worse.
“Afternoon, brother,” I hear Farryn chirp.
My heart skipping a beat, my eyes dart to the door, where I see Orpheus acknowledge everyone with a single nod before he leans against the wall, lifts the sole of one boot to the wall and folds his arms, training his gaze on me in silence.
My self-consciousness skyrocketing, I almost trip over the instructor’s foot.
We all keep dancing and still, Orpheus doesn’t move a muscle.
I frown. Is he just going to stand there and stare at me? He wasn’t even supposed to be here.
Still being spun around, I throw daggers at him the first chance I get.
Finally, I see him tear himself away from the wall, but only to start approaching, the instructor almost immediately making us come to a stop. Without a word and with an indecipherable look on his face, Orpheus dismisses him and holds his hand out for me.
I sense everyone else slow to a stop and fix their eyes on us.
But they are not the ones making me anxious. Hesitant to repeat my glowing success with the man standing in front of me, I let a long moment pass before I take his hand. He wraps an arm around my waist, waits for a second and then clears his throat, throwing me a pointed look.
I frown. Then I realize I’m keeping my free arm hanging, avoiding touching him any more than is absolutely necessary.
Fighting not to let out a groan, I lift my hand and put it on his shoulder.
He tugs me a little closer and starts dancing.
It makes me frown, when I realize how good he is, his every movement controlled, smooth and effortless all at once. It’s at the fifth step that I myself falter, color rising to my cheeks as I anticipate some grumpy comment about my terrible dancing skills.
And he does slow us to a stop, but he doesn’t say anything. He only very slowly repeats the first step.
Not slow enough for me to avoid stepping on his foot, but slow enough to make me realize exactly what I’m doing wrong here. I’m rushing, approaching the whole thing like a task that needs to be done as quickly as possible.
It makes me breathe a sigh of relief, when he starts picking the pace up again and I find myself not tripping all over him.
As we keep spinning around the room, I start realizing this dance is not that complicated after all. Once you let go, it’s actually kind of fun, especially since it seems my partner and I won’t be doing any talking.
Then, to make things even better, I see Sylmarilla and Farryn go back to dancing themselves.
But the moment they do, my partner leans closer. It makes my heart skip a beat, when I I feel his breath on my ear right before he whispers, “My wife is hiding something.”
*
For a moment, I just let him keep moving with me in silence, my mind reeling. “And my husband really is like a cat,” I finally say, trying to throw him off.
He pulls away just enough to frown at me. “What are you on about?” he demands.
Success. I shrug, making sure to act nonchalantly despite the alarms blaring in my mind. “I thought we were making observations about each other.”
His lips curl into a smirk. “Don’t you understand deflecting only serves to confirm my suspicions?” he leans to whisper again. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
“I’m so flattered,” I quip, trying to keep stalling.
He pulls away again, but this time, the look he throws me is a warning one.
I grit my teeth. “Alright, why would you think I’m hiding something?”
“Would you like the entire list? It’s a lengthy one.”
“I get the impression you’re thorough. I’m sure you won’t mind.”
He observes me for a moment before he starts listing. “You're eloquent, yet sometimes you use the oddest of terms. You’re fae, yet often it seems as if you don’t know the customs at all. You’re a commoner, yet you’re strangely accustomed to being around royals—”
I cut him off with a scoff, starting to feel relieved. “ Those are your arguments?”
“Not all of them. I said it was quite a list, didn’t I?”
“Do go on then.”
“You say you want us to stay away from each other, but you seem to be spending a lot of your time snooping around Graf Hill—”
I frown. “Why would you think that ?”
He leans to grit out, “You’re leaving your scent all over my house.”
I laugh. “You mean to say, our house?” I pull away to quirk an eyebrow at him. “What’s yours is mine or some such, right?”
His jaw clenching, he narrows his eyes at me. “Don’t get smart with me.”
“I haven’t once been upstairs since you told me to stay away,” I protest.
“You’ve been in other rooms you have no business being in, but you’ve also been snooping around the Grimm Tower and certain persons residing at the Academy. One of whom happens to be a professor you’ve been sneaking around with.”
My breath catches. “How do you know about that?” I ask, almost failing to keep my voice flat.
He lets out a scoff. “I assure you, at least three different people have had this particular event recorded, along with everything else you do, no matter how small.” He pauses to throw me an incredulous look. “Did you think becoming a royal would have no effect on your privacy?”
I roll my eyes at him, but it’s then that it hits me. “Alright,” I start with a smile tugging at the corner of my lips, “let me make sure I understood you correctly.”
“By all means.”
“When you say you know I’m hiding something, you’re actually only basing it on two different arguments.”
“Am I?” he drawls, but there’s a flash of interest in his eyes.
“Yes,” I start smugly. “The first one is basically the fact that I , a fae who didn’t grow up in your province, don’t always act like a fae from your province.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Smugness is not an attractive quality.”
But the fact that he finds nothing else to say to me only makes my smugness grow . “ That we can discuss after I address your second argument,” I say sweetly. “The second argument is the fact that I , a Librarian with an unquenchable curiosity about all things magic, have questions for some of the most knowledgeable professors at the Academy.” It’s in a voice dripping with smug sarcasm that I conclude, “You’re right, it’s all so very odd, it must mean I’m hiding something.”
It makes the smile slide off my face and my breath catch, when he tightens his grip on my waist and comes to whisper in my ear again. This time, the voice is more forceful. “Perhaps, if you ever talked to me, I’d know what was odd and what wasn’t.”
It takes me a second to collect myself. I pull away enough to throw him a cordial smile. “I’m sorry, haven’t I been an exemplary wife in public?”
I see a muscle in his jaw jump. “You have.”
“I’d say that’s all you need to know right there,” I insist in a forceful voice, praying I succeed in making him drop it.
For a moment, he just stares at me with an indecipherable look in his eyes. Then he slows us to a stop and says, “Fine. Then I’ll see you at the wedding.”
It makes me breathe a sigh of relief, when he lets go of me and walks out of the room.